President Trump hosted a White House dinner on Thursday evening, attended by the elite of Big Tech, including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, OpenAI chief Sam Altman, and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, who all praised Trump for his pro-business and pro-innovation stance. Elon Musk was reportedly not in attendance.
Axios reports that the White House played host to a gathering of tech industry leaders on Thursday evening, as President Trump welcomed the elite of Silicon Valley to a dinner in the State Dining Room. Among the attendees were Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, OpenAI kingpin Sam Altman and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, both of whom took the opportunity to express their gratitude for the president’s leadership and support of the tech industry.
The dinner comes at a time when tech leaders are advocating for a hands-off approach from the government regarding AI development. Despite their overatures to the White House, Big Tech still faces pushback from leaders like FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson, who is known for his critical stance on Big Tech companies.
Many of the CEOs present at the dinner had previously donated to Trump’s inauguration fund earlier this year and subsequently pledged to invest billions of dollars in the United States. During the event, Zuckerberg, seated next to President Trump, thanked him for arranging the dinner and highlighted the significant investments being made by the tech companies in attendance. He stated that these investments, aimed at building data centers and infrastructure, would “power the next wave of innovation.” Zuckerberg further emphasized Meta’s commitment to invest at least $600 billion in the U.S. through 2028.
Bill Gates, who was seated next to first lady Melania Trump, expressed his appreciation for the president’s role in setting a tone that encouraged major investments in the United States, including key manufacturing and advanced manufacturing initiatives. Gates recently ended funding to woke causes from his foundation, but has been a harsh critic of many Trump administration decisions as well as RFK Jr. and the MAHA movement.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman praised Trump for being a “pro-business, pro-innovation president,” describing his leadership as a “refreshing change” that would position the United States to lead the world for an extended period.
Notably absent from the dinner was Trump’s former senior adviser, Elon Musk, the world’s richest person. While Musk claimed he was invited but unable to attend, a White House spokesperson told Business Insider that Musk’s company had been invited and confirmed that a representative would be present at the event.
During the dinner, a reporter asked Zuckerberg to comment on online freedom of speech issues in the United Kingdom. The Meta CEO appeared uncomfortable with the question, prompting President Trump to jokingly remark, “This is the beginning of your political career,” adding, “He didn’t think he’d get that question! He’s looking at me and saying how the hell…he’s saying how did I get that question?” As reporters were leaving the room, Zuckerberg was reportedly caught on a hot mic telling the president, “Sorry, I wasn’t ready…”
Read more at Axios here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
