Trump's inauguration, Amazon donates $1m. Xi declines invitation

After Meta Platforms of Mark Zuckerberg, comes Jeff Bezos. The owner of Amazon and the Washington Post will donate one million dollars to Donald Trump's inauguration ceremony, just as the Meta ceo has done in recent days. CNN reports this, citing informed sources. Bezos will meet the US president-elect next week at Mar-a-Lago, according to Trump's own announcement on 12 December on Wall Street. "He's coming next week to Florida," the tycoon said. Amazon has also been granted the option to broadcast the inauguration ceremony scheduled for 20 January 2025 on its Prime Video service, according to a company spokesperson. Also according to CNN reports, Chinese President Xi Jinping will not attend the inauguration ceremony. The invitation to the Chinese president, according to the US media, was forwarded by the president-elect's entourage in recent days.

Trump criticised Bezos-owned Washington Post's coverage of his first presidential term. The Post decided not to endorse a candidate in November's presidential election. According to National Public Radio, the decision blocked its endorsement of Democratic candidate Kamala Harris. Bezos defended the decision not to endorse a candidate, stating in a newspaper article that "most people believe the media is biased" and that the Post and other newspapers needed to increase their credibility. In 2017, at the time of his first presidential term, Trump raised a record $106.7 million for inauguration festivities.

Stephen Miller, Trump's second-term deputy chief of staff nominee, said Zuckerberg, like other business leaders, wants to support Trump's economic plans. The tech CEO is trying to change the perception of his company on the right after a rocky relationship with Trump. Trump had been ousted from Facebook after the attack on the Capitol on 6 January 2021. The company restored his account in early 2023.

During the 2024 election campaign, Zuckerberg did not endorse any presidential candidate, but expressed a more positive stance towards Trump. Earlier this year, he praised Trump's response to his first assassination attempt.

However, Trump continued to publicly attack Zuckerberg during the campaign. In July, he posted a message on his Truth Social platform in which he threatened to send election fraudsters to jail, quoting in part a nickname he used for the Meta CEO. "ZUCKERBUCKS, pay attention!" wrote Trump.