Outside the White House, just days before President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, preparations were underway for a ceremony that will be funded by a record number of corporate donations, including many new donors from around the world technology, artificial intelligence and crypto.
“I can see it both ways,” said Jr. Lopez, a tourist from Dalton, Ga., who was visiting the nation’s capital before Inauguration Day. Lopez said the ceremony — an American tradition that celebrates the new president, attended by politicians from both sides of the aisle — is meant to be a day for the people.
However, “if you have too much corporate influence in politics, it could cause problems. And this could neglect the interests of the people.” [in favour of] big companies,” he said.
Trump’s second inaugural fund has so far raised US$170 million, breaking the record he set in 2017 and eclipsing the total donations raised by the Biden and Obama presidential inauguration committees, which are appointed by the new administration to organize the inauguration day festivities.
These donations, although symbolic, show that some companies are vying to maintain friendly relations with the president-elect, hoping that he will keep his promises of deregulation and claims that he will fire the heads of watchdog agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission. UNITED STATES. and the Federal Trade Commission.
Others might offer the money as a mea culpa to Trump, who has publicly disparaged companies for perceived reasons. affronts against himincluding Meta’s Facebook – Trump once called the company an “enemy of the people” for banning him from his platform following the January 6, 2021 riots.
But CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently congratulated the president-elect and admitted that the company is making changes, like move away from fact-checkingto adapt to the current political climate. He’s attending the inauguration alongside other tech executives like Apple’s Tim Cook and OpenAI’s Sam Altman.
“Donations to the inaugural fund are all about currying favor and gaining access,” said Bruce Freed, president and co-founder of the Center for Political Accountability, a nongovernmental organization that advocates for transparency in corporate political spending.
“They understand that the relationship with Trump is going to be transactional,” Freed added. “Even Trump has made it clear that he will do what he wants, but he expects everyone to get involved.”
Republican lobbyist Ozzie Palomo, co-founder and chief executive of Chartwell Strategy Group in Washington, D.C., said there was even more uncertainty in 2017, when Trump took office. “People were very reluctant to align themselves socially and publicly. That stigma is gone,” he said.
“An inauguration weekend is by no means an opportunity to address all of your political concerns, but it does allow you to show your face and start building relationships with key stakeholders who will be in positions of power over the next four years.”
Which companies donated and how much?
CBC News contacted 20 companies, many of which confirmed they had donated to Trump’s inaugural fund.
Boeing contributed US$1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund this year, after giving the same amount to Biden’s inaugural fund in 2021 and Trump’s first inaugural fund in 2017. A spokesperson for the aviation giant said said the company is “pleased to continue Boeing’s bipartisan tradition of supporting the U.S. President’s Inaugural Committees.”
Google, Microsoft and Meta each donated $1 million to the fund. An Uber spokesperson said the ride-hailing company donated $1 million to the fund (the same as its contribution to Biden’s 2021 ceremony) and that its CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, donated an additional million dollars this year.
An OpenAI spokesperson said Altman, its CEO, made a personal donation of $1 million to the inaugural fund.
Spokespeople for oil giant Chevron, investment firm Goldman Sachs and automaker Toyota confirmed the donations but did not confirm the amount. And a spokesperson for crypto company Ripple said it donated $5 million of its own cryptocurrency, called XRP, to the inauguration.
Amazon, Apple, Adobe, Pfizer, Hyundai and Delta Air Lines did not respond to a request for comment. Except for Pfizer, which donated an unspecified amount, all reportedly gave $1 million each to Trump’s inaugural fund.
Biden’s 2021 inaugural fund raised $62 million, but in-person celebrations were curbed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Obama raised a record $53 million for his 2009 inaugural fund, even with a cap on donations — something that was removed for his 2013 inaugural fund, which brought in $43 million.
“They don’t want to be on the president’s bad side.”
The inauguration is widely considered a nonpartisan political event. But it can also be an opportunity for companies to show support for a president or a new administration, said Brendan Glavin, director of research at OpenSecrets, a U.S. nonprofit that tracks money in politics.
“They don’t want to be on the president’s bad side,” Glavin said. “If he’s angry at someone or a company doing something he doesn’t like, he doesn’t hesitate to call it out in public.
“I think that really comes into play a lot more this time than before. [the] past with different presidents,” he said. “I think past experience dictates some of the actions in this area.”
Although the inaugural fund may receive a small amount from Congress to cover municipal services related to the event, the funds are primarily supported by donations from individuals and businesses.
Front burner24h34Donald Trump’s billionaire administration
Corporations are not allowed to donate directly to presidential campaigns – they can donate indirectly to political action committees or other groups that support a particular candidate – but they generally stay out of politics so not to alienate their consumer base, Glavin explained.
Although the ban on foreign donations is still in effect, the inaugural funds are not governed by the same restrictions as electoral campaigns. Some companies make personal declarations. Otherwise, the presidential inauguration committee at 90 days disclose the full list of donors to the Federal Election Commission.
“If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu.”
Several industries are high on the list of companies contributing to Trump’s inaugural fund.
For the first time, several crypto companies, including Ripple, Robinhood and Coinbase, are said to be donate to the fund, reflecting a desire to make inroads with an administration that has enthusiastically embraced the industry and even appointed a “crypto czar.”
“They see this as an opportunity to establish a more formal regulatory structure to legitimize operations in their world. And this is sort of their political coming out party,” Palomo said.
American companies are “reading the tea leaves,” he added. “It’s not necessarily about Donald Trump per se, but it’s about Donald Trump’s voters… From a business standpoint, they need his voters to kind of buy into what they’re selling.
“There’s an old adage that if you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu. And I think people are trying to figure out how to be at that table where decisions are being made.”
