Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg ‘grateful for invitation’ to make peace with Trump at Mar-a-Lago following years-long turbulent relationship

Mark Zuckerberg traveled to Florida on Wednesday to meet with President-elect Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago compound.

The Meta chef, 40, said he was “grateful” for the opportunity to dine with Trump in a bid to get into his good graces ahead of his return to the White House after years of hostilities between the two moguls.

Trump has previously launched several public attacks against Zuckerberg over his perception that he and other conservatives have been unfairly censored by Meta.

This included claims in Trump’s book Save America earlier this year, in which he alleged that Zuckerberg had plotted against him in the 2020 election, and promised that Zuckerberg would “spend the rest of his life in prison” if he would do again.

But the billionaires appeared to have put their differences aside this week in Florida, with a Meta spokesperson saying in a statement that Zuckerberg had been invited to the meeting by Trump.

“It is an important time for the future of American innovation,” the statement read.

“Mark was grateful for the invitation to have dinner with President Trump and for the opportunity to meet with members of his team about the coming administration.”

Trump has not yet commented on his meeting with Zuckerberg, but it came the same day he announced he had a “great” conversation with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum about closing the southern border.

Sources told the New York Times that Zuckerberg flew to West Palm Beach on Tuesday evening before joining Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Wednesday.

The two men reportedly “exchanged experiences” and Zuckerberg congratulated Trump on securing a second term in the White House.

They met for an early afternoon meeting and made plans to have dinner together at Trump’s hotel later that evening, sources added.

Shortly after Zuckerberg’s appearance at Mar-a-Lago circulated on social media, new White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller told Fox News that it marks a dramatic turnaround in the Meta chief’s approach.

Speaking to The Ingraham Angle, Miller said: “Mark Zuckerberg has been very clear about his desire to be an advocate and participant in this change that we are seeing across America and around the world, with this reform movement that Donald Trump is in charge.

“Mark Zuckerberg, like so many business leaders, understands that President Trump is an agent of change, an agent of prosperity.

“And so business leaders and CEOs everywhere want to be an element, a supporter, a driver of making our economy prosperous, delivering results for American workers, and making America the most powerful, richest, and freest nation on earth is. .’

Donald Trump has made no secret of his disdain for Zuckerberg in the past, threatening to jail him “for the rest of his life” earlier this year after accusing him of meddling in the 2020 election.

Miller loosely referenced Zuckerberg’s past issues with Trump over Meta and his social media platforms Facebook and Instagram, but said we’ll “have to see what comes out of the meeting.”

“Mark clearly has his own interests, his own company and his own agenda,” Miller said.

“But he has made it clear that he wants to support America’s national renewal under the leadership of President Trump.”

Host Bryan Kilmeade added that the meeting could be a sign that Trump “may be getting over the fact that Zuckerbucks really had an impact on the 2020 election.”

The nickname ‘Zuckerbucks’ was a nickname Trump previously used in his attacks on Zuckerberg.

In a post on Truth Social in July, Trump promised: “If I am elected president, we will prosecute election fraudsters at a level never seen before and send them to prison for long periods of time.

“We already know you are. DON’T DO IT! ZUCKERBUCKS, be careful!’

A spokesperson for Meta said Zuckerberg was “grateful” to be offered the meeting with the president-elect, which comes after years of animosity between the two.

In a post on Truth Social in July, Trump labeled Zuckerberg “Zuckerbucks” and promised to jail him if he interfered in the election.

Sources told the Times that Zuckerberg’s inner circle began to understand Trump’s likely election victory early in the election season, and that he showed a marked change in approach soon after.

Zuckerberg reportedly had at least two private phone conversations with Trump over the summer, one of which came just a week after the Zuckerbucks’ post, when Trump was shot in the ear in a near-assassination.

Zuckerberg reportedly told Trump at the time that he was “praying” for him after the attempt on his life.

Publicly, Zuckerberg followed a similar message, as he said in an interview at the time that Trump’s iconic “combat response” to the assassination attempt was “badass.”