Mark Zuckerberg Praises Trump for Being ‘Proud’ of American Big Tech, Says He Will ‘Defend Values and Interests Abroad’

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg praised President Donald Trump’s new administration on Wednesday, saying it was nice to have leaders who are “proud” of America’s Big Tech companies.

Zuckerberg, without naming Trump or Joe Biden specifically, made the comment during Meta’s Q4 earnings call.

“We now have a US administration that is proud of our leading companies, prioritizes American technology winning, and that will defend our values and interests abroad,” Zuckerberg said. “I am optimistic about the progress and innovation that this can unlock.”

He made his comment just minutes after it was reported Meta — the parent company of Facebook and Instagram — would pay Trump $25 million to settle a lawsuit. Trump filed the lawsuit in 2021, after Meta “indefinitely” banned him from its platforms, following the Jan. 6 Capitol Riot.

Zuckerberg, at the time, said “the risks” of keeping the president on Facebook and Instagram were “simply too great.” Meta later reinstated Trump’s accounts in 2023.

The 4o-year-old CEO has looked to improve his relationship with Trump following the 2024 election, including visiting Mar-a-Lago and having Meta donate $1 million to his inauguration fund. Zuckerberg was also prominently featured behind President Trump at his inauguration, sitting alongside other Big Tech executives like X owner Elon Musk and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

Despite his cozier relationship with the president, many Trump supporters told TheWrap last week they are skeptical of Zuckerberg’s sudden embrace of the president.

Zuckerberg recently criticized the Biden Administration while appearing on Joe Rogan’s podcast. He said one of the key drivers behind his decision to end Meta’s fact-checking operation was the pressure he felt in recent years from the Biden Administration, particularly in regards to COVID-19 posts.

“I’m generally like, pretty pro-rolling out vaccines. I think on balance, the vaccines are more positive than negative,” Zuckerberg said.

“But I think that while they’re trying to push that program, they also tried to censor anyone who is basically arguing against it. And they pushed us super hard to take down things that honestly were true, right?” he continued. “I mean, they basically pushed us and said anything that says that vaccines might have side effects, you basically need to take down. And I was just like, well, we’re not going to do that. We’re clearly not going to do that.”

The post Mark Zuckerberg Praises Trump for Being ‘Proud’ of American Big Tech, Says He Will ‘Defend Values and Interests Abroad’ appeared first on TheWrap.