U.S. senators demand answers for Google, Apple and Meta’s donations to Trump
President elect Donald Trump is about to be sworn in on January 20 and many major tech companies have donated handsomely to his inaugural ceremony. These donations — notably larger than ones made to the previous administration — have now come under the scrutiny of two U.S. senators.
Senators Elizabeth Warren and Michael Bennet have demanded answers from the companies about why they have donated such large sums of money to the incoming president. The two senators have sent letters to the following companies:
Both senators are accusing the companies of donating to the incoming administration to garner favor and avoid any regulation. There is also the matter of Trump’s proposed tariffs, something that these companies are likely trying to be exempted from by getting on his good side. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman didn’t take kindly to the accusations.
These donations have been criticized in a lot of online circles with some users claiming that the U.S. is becoming an oligarchy. President Biden’s departing speech only gave more fuel to this claim as he said that he feared the country was turning into a “tech industrial complex”.
Senators Warren and Bennet have said that these donations are an example of corruption and corporate influence and that the public deserves answers. While there will certainly be some answers from the PR teams I think it’s highly unlikely that anyone is going to come out and admit to buying favors from the incoming administration.
Senators Elizabeth Warren and Michael Bennet have demanded answers from the companies about why they have donated such large sums of money to the incoming president. The two senators have sent letters to the following companies:
- Apple
- Microsoft
- Meta
- Amazon
- OpenAI
- And Uber
Both senators are accusing the companies of donating to the incoming administration to garner favor and avoid any regulation. There is also the matter of Trump’s proposed tariffs, something that these companies are likely trying to be exempted from by getting on his good side. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman didn’t take kindly to the accusations.
funny, they never sent me one of these for contributing to democrats... pic.twitter.com/xjpanXSb5D
— Sam Altman (@sama) January 17, 2025
The senators have given the aforementioned companies until the end of this month to respond. While most of the listed companies will have to come up with a reasonable answer, Apple has an out. CEO Tim Cook made the donation from his personal funds and so Apple can likely get away with claiming that it had nothing to do with this.
Cook has already held talks with Trump about the difficulties Apple is facing when conducting business in the EU. Like Trump’s first term I also expect Cook to pull some personal favors and get Apple exempted from the tariffs. Similarly, Altman will probably also claim that the donation was a personal gesture.
The iPhone 16 is a very different phone in the EU. | Video credit — Apple
These donations have been criticized in a lot of online circles with some users claiming that the U.S. is becoming an oligarchy. President Biden’s departing speech only gave more fuel to this claim as he said that he feared the country was turning into a “tech industrial complex”.
FCC OKs Cingular\'s purchase of AT&T Wireless
Things that are NOT allowed: