Trump wants your attention — and the world's richest men can help him
February 6, 2025
When President Donald Trump was flanked at his inauguration by tech titans Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Sundar Pichai, with the CEOs of Apple and TikTok nearby, he was surrounded not just by a handful of the wealthiest men on the planet — but by executives who oversee platforms that, in some combination, virtually all Americans engage with.
For a president whose rise, fall and comeback are all intertwined with his innate ability to capture attention online and on TV, those executives hold the keys to algorithmic and policy tweaks that could depress or further enhance his political — and financial — standing. In turn, Trump could influence policy in emerging technologies in ways favorable or unfavorable to the executives and their companies, via his actions on domestic regulations and pressure on foreign governments to follow suit.
