Big Tech's bet on Trump hasn't yielded special favors
Yet, months into his second term, the millions they spent on Trump — along with billions pledged by OpenAI, Apple, and Meta for US investment (Zuckerberg even bought a house in D.C. ) — hasn't won them any favors. Big Tech now faces relentless antitrust scrutiny, with a spate of recent reports suggesting their efforts to win over Trump have produced no real benefits.
Meta is facing a suit from the FTC over allegations the company's acquisitions have given it monopolistic power. Apple is contending with a suit from the DOJ over concerns it has created a monopoly in the smartphone market. Google is dealing with suits from the DOJ over concerns about monopolies in its ad tech and search businesses.
Advertisement
4 Tech billionaires were given prime real estate at the Inauguration — but that hasn't translated to special treatment.
Getty Images
'Zuckerberg pumped millions of dollars… and all he got was going to court,' one source with knowledge of Trump's thinking on tech said.
'They got nothing other than Inauguration seats,' the source added, noting that tech leaders opposed Trump's preferred antitrust nominees to FTC and DOJ Antitrust — Andrew Ferguson, Gail Slater, and Mark Meador — yet lost those battles. 'The Facebook lawsuit is still going forward and now there are rumors swirling of a potential lawsuit against Apple.'
Advertisement
Steve Bannon, who I interviewed earlier this week, told me those coveted inauguration seats were about Trump flexing — not about owing Silicon Valley any favors.
'They were all sitting there thinking they own President Trump … it turned out President Trump started crushing them, whether in federal court or with other anti-trust, anti-trust efforts,' Bannon said.
While tech leaders have ramped up their visits to the White House in recent months, the aides who Trump works with day-in and day-out are nudging him to take on Big Tech after what they feel was years of mistreatment.
'He was ready to make peace until we reminded him of the hundreds of millions they spent trying to silence him and run him out of office,' one of Trump's tech advisors told me.
Advertisement
4 Mark Zuckerberg went so far as to buy a house in Washington, D.C., to be close to the political action.
REUTERS
Trump's team, sources told me, are now pushing for aggressive measures, including a potential consent decree as part of an FTC deal that could force Meta to pay restitution to conservative users and businesses harmed by content moderation that was ratcheted up dramatically during covid.
While Meta has made recent efforts to hire more right-leaning employees and conservative Joel Kaplan recently got a promotion to head of public policy, it's not enough, some say.
'You're not going to fix this with Bush Republicans,' the MAGA advisor said sharply.
Advertisement
4 Tim Cook's efforts to win over Trump haven't won him any favors.
Getty Images
Mike Davis, a conservative legal strategist, echoed this sentiment, telling me 'Meta spent $400 million chasing Trump out of office and subjected him to four years of unrelenting lawfare. If they want to regain trust, they need permanent solutions—restitution for censorship victims and mass hiring of Trump-aligned officials. It'll take years and concrete steps, not empty promises.'
Conservatives aren't just focused on past grievances; they're wary of future threats.
'Meta censored doctors and scientists during COVID, potentially costing lives,' another source told me. 'Now they're trying to steal every copyright for their AI while pretending to make amends … they think they can steal data just like China because they say they want to compete with China.'
And in the back of many conservative's minds is the recognition there may be just a small window to make the necessary changes.
This story is part of NYNext, an indispensable insider insight into the innovations, moonshots and political chess moves that matter most to NYC's power players (and those who aspire to be).
Bannon, whose 'War Room' program shapes the MAGA agenda, remains adamant: 'Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, Google—they all need to be broken up. Big Tech is the most dangerous force in the country… we have to go after them,' he said in our interview.
4 Sources said Big Tech's recent efforts to make up with the president don't erase their long history of going after Trump.
Getty Images
Advertisement
'All the oligarchs are progressive Democrats … they became MAGA at 10 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on the 5th of November when President Trump was declared the winner. That's when they all had this Damascene moment,' he added.
And Bannon believes the moment the political winds change, they'll go back to the left.
And it's not just Trump they have to worry about. Even Trump's likely successor, J.D. Vance, is reportedly more hawkish on antitrust issues.
Advertisement
Vance has even praised Biden's aggressive FTC Chair Lina Khan who made it her mission to break up big tech.
For now, the tech titans' investments and gestures have bought them little more than a front-row view of their own reckoning.
Send NYNext a tip: nynextlydia@nypost.com
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Buzz Feed
a minute ago
- Buzz Feed
This Senator Made A Very, Very Good Point About Trump's Weird Comment About Gold
A bunch of Donald Trump's new tariffs went into effect on August 7. But there's one thing that won't be hit with a tariff, and that's gold. Yep, gold is off the table! Some people pointed how that this could be because of all of the gold in the Oval Office. Other people compared him to an Austin Powers villain. And this person said, "I miss when the federal government wasn't a meme." But one reply to Trump's post is going more viral than the rest, and it's from Senator Chris Coons of Delaware. Here's what he said: "Trump could have cancelled tariffs on groceries, clothing, back-to-school supplies – any one of a number of things that would have reduced costs for American families. Instead, he chose gold." NextGen America responded to that comment, "Trumponomics, simplified: More golden ballrooms for him, more tariffs for the rest of us." Thoughts?
The Hill
a minute ago
- The Hill
Trump tells Europe he won't negotiate territory with Putin, say leaders
European leaders said President Trump on Wednesday said he would not negotiate territorial issues with Russian President Vladimir Putin at their summit in Alaska this week, saying it is an issue that must be discussed between Ukraine and Russia. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emanuel Macron both said Trump made the comments during a virtual meeting with European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday. Merz made the remarks alongside Zelensky, who came to Berlin for the call. The German leader said Trump told them that he wouldn't negotiate territorial issues and pledged to ask for an immediate ceasefire in the meeting, the Wall Street Journal reported citing two sources on the call. Macron similarly told reporters that Trump agreed with European leaders during the call that any talks on territorial concessions must involve Ukraine. Trump described the call with European leaders as 'very good, I would rate it a 10' when speaking to reporters at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday. He said there will be consequences for Putin if he does not agree to stop the war after their meeting in Alaska on Friday. Trump also sought to set expectations for the meeting, saying he didn't believe he has the power to get Putin stop attacking Ukrainian civilians. 'I've had that conversation with him, I've had a lot of good conversations with him and then I go home and I see that a rocket hit a nursing home, or a rocket hit an apartment building and people are laying dead in the street… but I guess the answer to that is probably no.' While Trump set an Aug 8 deadline for Putin to stop the war or face sanctions, the president allowed that deadline to pass in exchange for the face-to-face summit. Trump said the first meeting with Putin is an attempt to feel out the Russian leader's commitment to negotiations to end the war, but that the goal is to move toward a second summit with Zelensky, and possibly Trump too. 'There's a good chance we'll have a second meeting that will be more productive than the first – because the first I'll find out where we are and what we're doing,' he said.
The Hill
a minute ago
- The Hill
Trump says he'll host Kennedy Center awards
President Trump announced on Wednesday that he'll be hosting this year's Kennedy Center Honors after prodding from his chief of staff, Susie Wiles. 'It's gonna be a big evening. I've been asked to host. I said, 'I'm the president of the United States. Are you fools, asking me to do this?'' said Trump, who named himself chairman of the cultural institution's board earlier this year. ''Sir, you'll get much higher ratings.' I said, 'I don't care. I'm president of the United States. I won't do it.' They said 'please.' And then Susie Wiles said to me, 'Sir, I'd like you to host.' I said, 'Okay, Susie, I'll do it,'' the president recounted, prompting laughter from the audience. 'So, I have agreed to host,' Trump said, though he stressed he 'did not insist' upon the job. Trump was at the Kennedy Center on Wednesday to reveal the 2025 class of Honors recipients, including actor Sylvester Stallone, country music star George Strait, disco singer Gloria Gaynor, actor Michael Crawford and the rock band KISS. He said he was '98 percent involved' in the process of selecting honorees, and appeared to suggest some contenders were turned down for being 'too woke.' 'I turned down plenty. They were too woke. I turned- I had a couple of woke-sters. No, we have great people,' the president said. Trump has also teased that his name could possibly replace that of the 35th president on the historic institution.
