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What’s New?
Toyota followed Ford‘s lead and donated $1 million toward President-elect Donald Trump‘s inauguration in January, The Hill reported.
Why It Matters
Trump has pledged to impose tariffs on Chinese, Canadian and Mexican goods, which could result in a 17 percent drop in automakers’ profits, according to a recent report from S&P Global.
Carmakers and tech giants appear to be trying to get ahead of that by gaining Trump’s favor, by way of generous donations, before he takes office.
Newsweek reached out to Toyota North America via phone and Ford via email for comment.
Rick Scuteri/AP
What To Know
Ford Motor Co. announced on Monday that it would donate $1 million and a small fleet of vehicles toward Trump’s inauguration.
Toyota North America followed suit on Tuesday, pledging $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund, which is a fundraising effort that supports the president-elect’s inauguration and related events.
Earlier this month, Meta, Amazon and Open AI CEO Sam Altman all pledged seven-figure donations to Trump’s inauguration fund.
Facebook’s parent company announced it would donate $1 million to the fund, sparking anger from some on both sides of the political aisle. The announcement came two weeks after Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg met with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.
Zuckerberg and Trump have had a strained relationship in recent years. Tensions between the two men hit a boiling point after Facebook banned Trump in the wake of the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Trump later repeatedly threatened to jail Zuckerberg, alleging that he personally conspired to rig the 2020 election against Trump. The Meta CEO, for his part, has publicly praised Trump, likely in an effort to defuse hostilities before Trump takes office.
In addition to commending Trump’s response to a July assassination attempt, Zuckerberg joined a slew of other business and tech moguls in congratulating Trump after he won the 2024 U.S. election.
The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month that Amazon would also be donating $1 million to Trump’s fund, as will OpenAI‘s Altman.
What People Are Saying
Senator Elizabeth Warren criticized donations to Trump’s inaugural fund, telling The Independent: Trump’s “reliance on private donors to fund the transition” is “nothing more than a ploy for well-connected Trump insiders to line their pockets while pretending to save taxpayers money.”
Ford CEO Jim Farley told reporters earlier this month that he’s looking forward to working with the Trump administration: Given “Ford’s employment profile and importance in the US economy and manufacturing, you can imagine the administration will be very interested in Ford’s point of view.”
What Happens Next?
Trump’s will be inaugurated on January 20 in Washington, D.C.
At around noon, Trump will recite the following oath: “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”