Trump Mocked Tech Leaders' Attempts to Win His Favor, Book Reveals

President Donald Trump privately mocked and ridiculed efforts by major Silicon Valley leaders to ingratiate themselves with him following his 2024 election victory, according to a forthcoming book by New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan titled "Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump."

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos made particular efforts to curry favor with Trump during the transition period. Zuckerberg sent Trump text messages, including a photo of a letter from one of his school-aged children expressing that they "looked forward to the golden age of America"—echoing Trump's campaign slogan. Bezos, meanwhile, dined with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in December 2024, where he criticized The Washington Post, describing it as one of his worst financial investments, and later sent Trump a selfie with his fiancée Lauren Sánchez.

Trump subsequently shared these overtures with associates, describing them as evidence that Zuckerberg and Bezos were "kissing my ass." He reportedly told guests: "You would not believe the texts I got from these tech guys. I've got to show you." In a conversation with Elon Musk recounted in the book, Trump contrasted their current deference with their 2016 opposition, saying: "Think of where these guys were in 2016. They hated me. They were doing everything they could to knock me down. And look at them now." Musk responded approvingly: "First-class groveling."

The book describes an incident when Zuckerberg visited shortly after Thanksgiving 2024, noting Trump played the national anthem—performed by the J6 Prison Choir, a group of detained January 6 rioters—over the speakers. Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Apple CEO Tim Cook also sought meetings with Trump during this period, though the book focuses primarily on Zuckerberg and Bezos's attempts to build rapport.

When asked about the book's reporting, White House spokesperson Kush Desai declined to directly respond to the specific episodes, instead stating that "President Trump is committed to working with every American business and business leader to cement America's innovative dominance." A representative for Bezos noted that the Amazon founder has maintained working relationships with presidents across administrations, while spokespeople for Musk and Meta did not respond to requests for comment.