Monitoring Desk:Â
WASHINGTON: Tech moguls Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos took center stage at Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday, marking a significant display of Silicon Valley’s influence in Washington. Their attendance reflected a notable shift, with many tech leaders previously critical of Trump during his first term.
Musk, a strong Trump supporter, contributed $277 million to his campaign and transformed X into a pro-Trump platform. Zuckerberg aligned Facebook and Instagram policies with Trump’s views, eliminating fact-checking and relaxing hate speech restrictions. Bezos, owner of The Washington Post, reportedly sought favorable treatment for Amazon, including reduced regulatory oversight, amid controversies surrounding his decisions at the newspaper.
Other notable tech figures included Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Sundar Pichai. TikTok CEO Shou Chew also attended despite the platform’s uncertain future due to its ownership by ByteDance.
Their prominent seating at the event, surpassing that of some cabinet members, highlighted their growing clout in shaping U.S. policy and the evolving dynamics between Silicon Valley and Trump’s administration.
