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US business leaders are spending big on Donald Trump’s second inaugural fund, which is predicted to exceed even the record-setting $107m raised in 2017.

The donations, which are not restricted by campaign finance laws, come as industries and business leaders seek to curry favor with the incoming administration after the president-elect decisively won a second, non-consecutive term in November.

Some of the planned donations reportedly include $1m each from Jeff Bezos’s Amazon, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Facebook parent company Meta, led by Mark Zuckerberg.

Hedge-fund manager Ken Griffin has said he plans to donate $1m, Bloomberg reported; Uber and its CEO Dara Khosrowshahi are reported to be chipping in $1m each; and Toyota, Ford and General Motors are each peeling off $1m. Ford is also reportedly coupling its donation with a fleet of vehicles.

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[-] HellsBelle@sh.itjust.works 81 points 2 months ago

“EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE MY FRIEND!!!” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social on Thursday.

lmfao

What a fucking idjit.

[-] Rhaedas@fedia.io 17 points 2 months ago

He is. He is also the one getting paid, so he's not alone.

[-] breadsmasher@lemmy.world 64 points 2 months ago
[-] Entropywins@lemmy.world 3 points 2 months ago

True American hero!!!

[-] newthrowaway20@lemmy.world 45 points 2 months ago
[-] cybervseas@lemmy.world 23 points 2 months ago

This is way less than 10%. He's a bargain.

[-] meco03211@lemmy.world 8 points 2 months ago

The percentage isn't the point. The amount is. It's telling the world who is under his thumb.

[-] Bacano@lemmy.world 1 points 2 months ago

Did you ... Did you donate $420,000.69 to my inauguration fund?

[-] Blackout@fedia.io 35 points 2 months ago

Overthrowing a democracy is expensive

[-] fluxion@lemmy.world 15 points 2 months ago

Pretty cheap if you're a billionaire

[-] Blackout@fedia.io 8 points 2 months ago

That's because they socialize the cost.

[-] AlecSadler@sh.itjust.works 32 points 2 months ago

I guess this is how we make a list.

[-] snekerpimp@lemmy.world 29 points 2 months ago

Why is it trump’s fund? I thought musk was the president

[-] CmdrShepard42@lemm.ee 4 points 2 months ago

It must be like the charity bowl they put out at events. Musk doesn't need the money but Trump is desperate for it.

[-] WeUnite@lemm.ee 2 points 2 months ago

He's acting president.

[-] JeeBaiChow@lemmy.world 24 points 2 months ago

Anyone got a full list? Asking for a friend...

[-] tired_n_bored@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Jeff Bezos (Amazon), Sam Altman (OpenAi), Mark Zuckerberg (Meta), Dara Khosrowshahi (Uber), Jim Loree (Black and Decker), Toyota, Ford, General Motors, Intuit, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America and many other undisclosed in the article.

The part particularly concerning to me is

Trump aides have indicated that the fundraising isn’t about the money but a symbolic means to exact an apology for any previous perceived lapse of loyalty.

a very fascist wording. You don't have to be "loyal" to the President, unless he's a dictator.

[-] JeeBaiChow@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago

Heh. I only use one of those. Time to make a change, then.

[-] reddig33@lemmy.world 21 points 2 months ago

Will they be paying people to fill the mall during the inauguration this time?

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 10 points 2 months ago

No need to pay when you can force them at gunpoint.

[-] beansbeansbeans@lemmy.world 3 points 2 months ago

It's the only way they'll get anyone to show up. And with how fragile his ego is, this is likely high on his list.

It'll be hilarious if the crowd is even smaller than last time.

[-] jmcs@discuss.tchncs.de 20 points 2 months ago

To be fair, they didn't start the tradition of having ridiculous expensive coronation ceremonies paid with legalized bribes every four years. And even that is just a symptom of the monarchical nature of the US presidency.

[-] psmgx@lemmy.world 19 points 2 months ago

RIP US democracy.

[-] JiveTurkey@lemmy.world 17 points 2 months ago

One more reason to hate these guys.

[-] hightrix@lemmy.world 13 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

All these rich guys are donating the same amount? Yeah, that doesn’t feel like a donation but more like a purchase/fee/protection money.

[-] fluxion@lemmy.world 12 points 2 months ago
[-] Zier@fedia.io 11 points 2 months ago

Dumb Donnie will keep most of the money and everyone will get 1 cocktail weenie as a snack. Fleecing the idiots is his job.

[-] Diplomjodler3@lemmy.world 11 points 2 months ago
[-] avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 0 points 2 months ago

They donate to every inauguration. Apparently that's traditional. Expecting billionaires to show spine here is to expect them to go against their financial interests. They wouldn't be billionaires of they were willing to do that.

[-] Snapz@lemmy.world 7 points 2 months ago

Yes. But your statement seeks to normalize trump as any other president. He is not.

The point isn't that they've given before, it's that they are giving to him, now, with all of his clearly stated intent to harm people and American democracy.

Meta is least surprising, they hired one of the actual authors of Project 2025 and he still works there today AFAIK.

[-] avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

I think it's useful for people to consider that he's not that out of the ordinary. Instead he's just blatantly transparent, whereas others have been more covert. E.g. Reagan did receive a handbook from the Heritage Foundation. He implemented 60% of it within a year. That's the same Heritage Foundation that produced Project 2025. I think understanding that could help people look for solutions that stop perpetuating the ordinary that's gotten us to where we are today. And yes, of course there are differences between any two candidates or presidents, some significant in the way they affect the majority. Placed on a timeline however, they seem more like slight changes on the trend line towards a strong oligarchy.

[-] DrunkEngineer@lemmy.world 3 points 2 months ago

Indeed, here are some of the donors for the Obama inauguration: https://www.opensecrets.org/obama/inaug.php

[-] futatorius@lemm.ee 1 points 2 months ago

Take down those names.

this post was submitted on 25 Dec 2024
257 points (98.1% liked)

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