In Trump's good books? Zuckerberg, Pichai, other tech giants ‘waking up’ to ex-prez's potential re-election vision

Some of the most influential tech giants in the US have been cosying up to former President Donald Trump in light of the upcoming Election Day. His re-election bid has especially gained quite traction since the first attempt on his life at the Butler rally in Pennsylvania on July 13. Around the same time, SpaceX and Tesla’s billionaire boss Elon Musk endorsed the Republican candidate for president. He has also been financially boosting the Trump campaign with personal donations. The machine seems to have only gained more focus with the recent commencement of a daily $1 million giveaway to those who sign a Musk’s America PAC petition, supporting the rights to free speech and bear arms.

Adding to that roster of top executives, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Apple CEO Tim Cook and purportedly Google CEO Sundar Pichai have also rung up Trump after one event or the other. Two sources spilled to CNN recently that Amazon CEO Andy Jassy also got on a phone call with the ex-POTUS. Another insider said that Zuckerberg was especially impressed by how Trump handled himself in the face of a near-fatal disaster on July 13. During this supposed call during the summer, the Meta CEO expressed his innate admiration for the former president and wished him a speedy recovery.

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Drastic switch in Big Tech's tone of interaction with Trump?

Regardless of where these CEOs’ dynamics were initially headed with Trump, they’ve also seemed to cross the bridge in the past few months, closing the gap between them and the man who could potentially go on to win the presidential election. Numerous popularity-based polls have reiterated that Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are entangled in head-to-head competition. The tight race in sight has urged the business community to look at the bigger picture in development, especially in case he defeats his Democratic rival in the first week of November. Even though Apple, Google, and Amazon may not be as actively involved in Trump’s re-election bid as Elon Musk, they finally seem to have woken up to the vision of Trump’s potential return to the Oval Office.

“There are some that seem to be waking up to the fact that like, ‘Holy sh*t, this guy might get election again. I don’t want to have him, his administration, going after us,” a person close to the former POTUS told CNN. “What he’s saying out loud, I think they hear, and they’re taking it seriously.”

All these latest developments come at a time when Amazon’s founder, Jeff Bezos, seemingly worked his influential spell on his other business. Just days ago, he made the headlines for purportedly causing his other business, The Washington Post, to remain mum in the presidential race for the first time since the 1980s.

Sundar Pichai and Mark Zuckerberg's conversations with Donald Trump

Meanwhile, the source, who was privy to Jassy's conversation with Trump, said the company had pushed him to take the leap. The unexpected duo’s exchange has also been labelled a “general, hello-type thing.” Trump hasn’t kept quiet about these interactions, either. During the final stretch of his campaign, he told the crowd in Las Vegas that the “head of Google” called him to applaud him for putting on the apron at a Feasterville McDonald’s location in Pennsylvania.

Earlier last year, Zuckerberg’s company divisions, Facebook and Instagram, suspended Trump’s accounts. However, an update in July lifted that suspension, allowing the Republican candidate to connect with people on these social media platforms again. Contrary to his former belief that Zuckerberg was on board the Democratic train in 2020, resulting in them crossing words with each other, Trump ultimately admitted this year that his relations were “much better” with the Meta boss. “I actually believe he’s staying out of the election, which is nice,” the 78-year-old presidential candidate said during an appearance on the Barstool Sports podcast ‘Bussin’ With The Boys.’

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Biden, Trump's issues with tech players

While Trump’s ties with these tech giants have seemingly buttered up on the surface, it’s still a far cry from the Biden administration’s elevating legal assault on Big Tech. A few months back, the sitting president’s government announced an antitrust lawsuit against Apple, alleging abuse of its iPhone monopoly. This particular power move came after federal agencies targeted Amazon and Google. Similarly, the Biden administration doesn’t seem to be a fan of Meta’s ever-expanding ownership of Instagram and WhatsApp.

Up until last month, at least, Trump wasn’t a fan of Google either. He threatened to prosecute the company, accusing it of only “revealing and displaying” negative stories about him in search results, as “good stories” about his Democratic rival Kamala Harris were allegedly on the rise.

Trump on board the tech freedom train

Last week, however, he turned the narrative round, claiming that Google finally appeared to be on Team Trump. “If you look at Google lately, I think you’re going to see they’ve become much more inclined towards Trump,” he told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt. Now, as Google and Apple are weighing out multibillion-dollar rulings related to tax, with the latter’s bill especially coming up to $14.4 billion, Trump seems to have reassured Tim Cook about certain things if he wins in November. Most importantly, he added, “Let me tell you: All of those companies will be set free, if you have the right president. All of those companies will be in good shape. Don’t worry about that.”