Been at loggerheads for years, Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg and President-elect Donald Trump had a rare meeting at the latter's famed Florida club Mar-a-Lago.
The Wednesday meeting, reportedly initiated by Zuckerberg, was seen as an attempt at a rapprochement with the Republican leader now poised to lead the country for the next four years.
Zuckerberg has been accused by Trump of giving a short shrift to him and other conservative leaders on his social media platforms.
The latest meeting aims at raising a bulwark against a possible blowback by the Trump administration against the tech firms, it is believed.
According to The New York Times, which quoted two people in the know, Zuckerberg flew into Florida's West Palm Beach Tuesday evening to join Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Wednesday.
The two men planned to have dinner at Trump's hotel later that evening, the paper said.
"It's an important time for the future of American innovation," a Meta representative said in a statement. "Mark was grateful for the invitation to join President Trump for dinner and the opportunity to meet with members of his team about the incoming administration."
The visit may be a beginning in the thaw from the end of Trump, who in the past called for the jailing of Zuckerberg for "plotting against" him during the 2020 election.
Zuckerberg has in the recent past had at least two private phone calls with Trump – one of them in the wake of an assassination attempt against a campaigning Trump.
In an interview, Zuckerberg termed Trump a "badass" for pumping his fist to the crowd when he was shot at during a rally in Pennsylvania.
Image Source: Anthony Quintano from Westminster, United States
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