Mark Zuckerberg will cohost reception with Republican billionaires for Trump inauguration

Advertisement

Advertise with us

WASHINGTON (AP) — Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is cohosting a reception with billionaire Republican donors next week for Donald Trump’s inauguration, the latest sign of the Facebook founder's embrace of the president-elect.

Read this article for free:


or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Subscribe and receive a limited-edition Free Press branded hat or tote.

Digital Subscription

One year of digital access for only $205*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 14/01/2025 (599 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is cohosting a reception with billionaire Republican donors next week for Donald Trump’s inauguration, the latest sign of the Facebook founder’s embrace of the president-elect.

The reception cohosted by Zuckerberg is set for Monday evening, shortly before the inaugural balls, according to two people familiar with the private plans who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss them.

The other cohosts are Miriam Adelson, the Dallas Mavericks owner and widow of casino magnate Sheldon Adelson; Tilman Fertitta, casino magnate, Houston Rockets owner and Trump’s pick to serve as U.S. ambassador to Italy; Todd Ricketts, the co-owner of the Chicago Cubs; and Ricketts’ wife, Sylvie Légère.

Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer of Meta, makes a point during an appearance at SIGGRAPH 2024, the premier conference on computer graphics and interactive techniques, Monday, July 29, 2024, in the Colorado Convention Center in downtown Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer of Meta, makes a point during an appearance at SIGGRAPH 2024, the premier conference on computer graphics and interactive techniques, Monday, July 29, 2024, in the Colorado Convention Center in downtown Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Zuckerberg once seemed a foe of the former president, banning him from Facebook and Instagram after a mob of Trump’s supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. But lately, he’s been endearing himself to Trump as one of a number of tech executives who have been seeking to improve their relationships with the new president.

Meta declined to comment Tuesday.

In November, weeks after Trump won the presidential election, Zuckerberg flew to Florida and dined with the Republican at his Mar-a-Lago club. Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, also donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund.

Zuckerberg announced last week that he was changing Facebook and Instagram content moderation policies, including replacing third-party fact-checking with user-written “community notes.” Trump said the new approach was “probably” due to threats he made against the technology mogul.

___

Associated Press writers Michelle L. Price in New York and Barbara Ortuay in San Francisco contributed to this report.

Report Error Submit a Tip

More Stories

Shared Health urges surgical patients to get tests ASAP as Dynacare strike looms

Erik Pindera 5 minute read Preview

Shared Health urges surgical patients to get tests ASAP as Dynacare strike looms

Erik Pindera 5 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 5:59 PM CDT

Shared Health issued an urgent call Friday to surgical patients who require bloodwork to get it done before Dynacare stops collecting blood on noon Saturday — three days before lab workers are set to go on strike.

The company, which conducts blood tests at 22 outlets in Winnipeg, Brandon and surrounding communities, is locked in a contract battle with the union that represents its 350 workers.

Health officials warned that any disruption would significantly impair the health-care system.

Shared Health said Friday its officials, as well as regional health authorities, CancerCare Manitoba and the government have been working together to prepare for the walkout.

Read
Updated: Yesterday at 5:59 PM CDT

NDP minister needs lesson in political civility

Dan Lett 5 minute read Preview

NDP minister needs lesson in political civility

Dan Lett 5 minute read Yesterday at 2:40 PM CDT

Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine’s decision to intercede in Winnipeg’s mayoral election may be surprising to some political observers. To others, however, it is entirely on brand.

On Tuesday, Fontaine posted a video on social media in which she expressed concern that former city councillor and Progressive Conservative cabinet minister Kevin Klein was entering the race to challenge incumbent Mayor Scott Gillingham.

The caption on the video was blunt: “I mean, really, who chooses to work for Count Dracula?”

“Kevin Klein once worked for Peter Nygard. Peter Nygard is Canada’s equivalent to (American sex offender) Jeffrey Epstein — had his own little island, did unspeakable, disgusting things to women and girls … anyways, I just thought that Winnipeggers would want to know that Kevin Klein, at one point, worked for Peter Nygard,” she says in the video.

Read
Yesterday at 2:40 PM CDT

FIFA president overshadowing the good of the game

Jerrad Peters 5 minute read Preview

FIFA president overshadowing the good of the game

Jerrad Peters 5 minute read Yesterday at 6:03 PM CDT

There is a big London Derby on Sunday (Arsenal-Chelsea), and the weekend schedule also features marquee matches in Turkey (Feherbahce-Besiktas) and the Netherlands (Ajax-PSV Eindhoven), as well as a showdown between the Italian teams with the last four Scudetti between them (Inter Milan-Napoli).

Then there’s the Under-20 Women’s World Cup, which is set to kick off in Poland (Canada plays England on Saturday at 11:00 a.m.).

And yet, clouding it all — and the world of football is a massive thing to overshadow — is the figure of FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who suddenly finds himself facing a protracted legal battle over his scheme to sell off the World Cup’s commercial rights.

Specifically, UEFA — the sport’s governing body in Europe — is “preparing to bring criminal claims in Switzerland against Infantino…for criminal mismanagement under Article 158 of the Swiss Criminal Code.” So reads its recent filing in a Florida court.

Read
Yesterday at 6:03 PM CDT

Complex dual production 'R+J: Closing Night' brings theatre audience in on panicked process of putting on a show

Ben Waldman 7 minute read Preview

Complex dual production 'R+J: Closing Night' brings theatre audience in on panicked process of putting on a show

Ben Waldman 7 minute read Yesterday at 5:55 PM CDT

Theatre Projects Manitoba will attempt to pull off an extraordinary feat of live performance next week with a metatheatrical experiment that walks the tightrope between on-stage drama and backstage chaos.

Read
Yesterday at 5:55 PM CDT

Letters, Sept. 4

7 minute read Preview

Letters, Sept. 4

7 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 8:22 AM CDT

I do think it’s important to stand up and be heard — and that is why I want to add my voice to the chorus of folks condemning U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth for his recent social media post that very obviously drew attention in a negative way to the physical stature of two Canadian cadets at a military training course.

Read
Updated: Yesterday at 8:22 AM CDT

St. Malo’s summer hot spot relies on dedicated community to make sure park-goers can kick back and relax

Melissa Martin 16 minute read Preview

St. Malo’s summer hot spot relies on dedicated community to make sure park-goers can kick back and relax

Melissa Martin 16 minute read Yesterday at 6:00 AM CDT

It’s shaping up to be a hot late-August Friday in southern Manitoba; the forecast warns of a thunderstorm in the late afternoon, but that won’t stop Manitobans from flocking to savour one of the last great beach days of the summer.

Read
Yesterday at 6:00 AM CDT