President Donald Trump continued his flattery tour through the White House on Thursday, letting a suite of tech CEOs, including Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and OpenAI’s Sam Altman, shower him with praise.
The State Dining Room dinner, which was partially broadcast live on C-SPAN, featured a collection of prominent Silicon Valley leaders who’ve used the first few months of the second Trump administration to land in his good graces. Zuckerberg flanked Trump’s right, while Microsoft founder Bill Gates took a plum spot next to First Lady Melania Trump. Others in attendance included Apple CEO Tim Cook, Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai and IBM CEO Arvind Krishna, among others.
Elon Musk, the most prominent tech leader associated with Trump before a public break-up earlier this year, was not in attendance. He claimed on X on Thursday that “a representative of mine will be there.”
Zuckerberg commended Trump’s leadership on securing U.S. investments from the tech companies, saying it would be “something like $600 billion through ’28.” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella complimented the first lady on her focus on artificial intelligence, saying she was primed for the “economic opportunity that comes with AI.” Altman heralded the “very refreshing change” that came with a “pro-business, pro-innovation president.”
But Cook, who has tangoed with Trump to avoid steep tariffs on foreign-made products like the iPhone, summed up the laudatory affair best: “I want to thank you for setting the tone such that we can make a major investment in the United States and have some key manufacturing here. I think it says a lot about your leadership and focus on innovation.” Apple has committed $600 billion in U.S. manufacturing.
Tech leaders, celebrities and cabinet officials have seemingly resorted to effusive praise to remain in Trump’s good graces, particularly as the leader and his administration have put their touches on everything from law firms to universities to the Kennedy Center to Rosie O’Donnell’s citizenship.
Some of the leaders have spurned Trump in the past, but Trump on Thursday welcomed their change of heart.
“The most brilliant people are gathered at this table,” Trump said. “This is definitely a high-IQ group.”
Trump and Pichai also took a jab at a federal antitrust case against Google after a judge this week imposed light penalties on the company despite a Justice Department demand for more stringent requirements. “I’m glad it’s over,” Pichai said.
“Biden was the one who prosecuted that lawsuit,” Trump said. “You know that, right?”
