In a striking show of unity, tech giants like Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Mark Zuckerberg from Meta, Tim Cook of Apple, and Sundar Pichai of Google joined President-elect Donald Trump for a church service at St John's Church ahead of his inauguration. This gathering included media mogul Rupert Murdoch and FIFA president Gianni Infantino, reflecting a moment where tech leaders, once critics of Trump, show support as he prepares for his new term.
Adding more power to the guest list were TikTok's Shou Zi Chou, OpenAI's Sam Altman, and Uber's Dara Khosrowshahi, while Elon Musk, a significant campaign supporter, maintained close ties with the President. This was a rare occasion for such a multitude of tech moguls to assemble since a 2020 congressional hearing.
Despite the high-profile gathering, tensions linger as many of these companies face regulatory scrutiny from the government. Last week, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Michael Bennett accused the tech executives of attempting to win favor from Trump to evade regulation. Responding, Altman quipped on social media about the absence of similar letters addressed to him when contributing to Democrats.
As speculation grows around Trump's future collaborations with tech leaders, the president seems to relish the shift in his business standing, declaring on social media, "Everybody wants to be my friend!!!" However, reactions from Trump's circle remain mixed, with former strategist Steve Bannon vocally criticizing Musk’s closeness to Trump and hinting at tensions within the party.
