Some of the largest, most powerful companies in the United States are racing to finance President-elect Donald Trump’s inaugural fund as they attempt to court favor with the incoming administration, which has promised a further reduction of the corporate tax rate.
The Wall Street Journal earlier this week identified “at least 11 companies and trade associations that are backing the inauguration, which is on track to bring in a record fundraising haul, after earlier pledging to suspend or reconsider political-action committee donations after January 6, 2021.”
The list includes the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the drug industry’s top U.S. lobbying group, as well as Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Intuit, General Motors, and Toyota.
“Some donors are substantially boosting their inaugural donations from previous years,” the Journal reported. “The telecom company Charter Communications, which gave $350,000 to [President Joe] Biden’s fund and $250,000 to Trump’s 2017 fund, is donating $1 million this time. Uber Technologies, which gave $1 million to Biden’s, donated $1 million to the inauguration, in addition to another $1 million from Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi.”
Additionally, according to the Journal, “corporate executives have been flocking to Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s Florida resort, in the weeks since the election to meet with the president-elect and his team, in the hopes that building a relationship could make the incoming administration friendlier to their causes.”
“Trump has met with the chief executives of Meta Platforms, Amazon, Google, Pfizer, Eli Lilly, and others in recent weeks,” the newspaper added. Meta, headed by billionaire Mark Zuckerberg, has donated $1 million to Trump’s tax-exempt inaugural committee, which is not subject to contribution limits.
Amazon has vowed to pump $1 million into the inaugural fund, as has Ford — which is also reportedly supplying the event with a fleet of vehicles.
“EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE MY FRIEND!!!” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post earlier this month.
A prospectus obtained by Axios indicates that donors who give $1 million to the inaugural fund will receive tickets to the January 20 swearing-in ceremony as well as a “Cabinet reception,” a “Make America Great Again rally,” and other events. Only those who donate at least $100,000 will be allowed to attend a “One America, One Light Sunday Service” with Trump and his wife, Melania, according to the document.
Trump, whose proposed Cabinet is packed with billionaires with extensive ties to corporate America, is reportedly keeping track of the major companies that have not yet donated to his inaugural fund.
“In the past few weeks, Trump has at times asked close allies about how much major corporations have donated to the inaugural committee, and has sometimes inquired about specific companies by name,” Rolling Stone reported Wednesday, citing an unnamed person with direct knowledge.
“Earlier this month, when the president-elect asked about one big-name corporation and was told it hadn’t donated, Trump replied, ‘Well, they better do it soon then,'” Rolling Stone added.
We’re not backing down in the face of Trump’s threats.
As Donald Trump is inaugurated a second time, independent media organizations are faced with urgent mandates: Tell the truth more loudly than ever before. Do that work even as our standard modes of distribution (such as social media platforms) are being manipulated and curtailed by forces of fascist repression and ruthless capitalism. Do that work even as journalism and journalists face targeted attacks, including from the government itself. And do that work in community, never forgetting that we’re not shouting into a faceless void – we’re reaching out to real people amid a life-threatening political climate.
Our task is formidable, and it requires us to ground ourselves in our principles, remind ourselves of our utility, dig in and commit.
As a dizzying number of corporate news organizations – either through need or greed – rush to implement new ways to further monetize their content, and others acquiesce to Trump’s wishes, now is a time for movement media-makers to double down on community-first models.
At Truthout, we are reaffirming our commitments on this front: We won’t run ads or have a paywall because we believe that everyone should have access to information, and that access should exist without barriers and free of distractions from craven corporate interests. We recognize the implications for democracy when information-seekers click a link only to find the article trapped behind a paywall or buried on a page with dozens of invasive ads. The laws of capitalism dictate an unending increase in monetization, and much of the media simply follows those laws. Truthout and many of our peers are dedicating ourselves to following other paths – a commitment which feels vital in a moment when corporations are evermore overtly embedded in government.
Over 80 percent of Truthout‘s funding comes from small individual donations from our community of readers, and the remaining 20 percent comes from a handful of social justice-oriented foundations. Over a third of our total budget is supported by recurring monthly donors, many of whom give because they want to help us keep Truthout barrier-free for everyone.
You can help by giving today. Whether you can make a small monthly donation or a larger gift, Truthout only works with your support.