Trump critics say inauguration optics show oligarchy in action technology news

Silicon Valley’s influence was on display at Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony, as the 47th president of the United States took the oath of office alongside some of the technology world’s most prominent CEOs.

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Alphabet Inc. CEO Sundar Pichai and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos took some of the most exclusive seats at the inauguration ceremony on Monday, compared to some of those selected to be in their cabinets. Was sitting close to the President.

The ceremony was originally planned as an outdoor event, with tech leaders sitting at a distance from Trump on a stage, but due to unusually cold weather in Washington, D.C., it was moved inside the much smaller Capitol Rotunda. Went.

The prominence of some of the world’s richest people at the event was a departure from tradition, as the best seats at presidential inaugurations are typically reserved for family members and former U.S. presidents.

Along with outgoing President Joe Biden, former Presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama attended the inauguration, although former Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi stayed away.

Silicon Valley’s proximity to the president likely isn’t lost on Trump’s critics, who have warned about the growing threat of tech oligopolies since his re-election in November.

“When I started talking about oligarchy, a lot of people didn’t understand what I meant. Well, that’s changed,” Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders said in a post on X.

“When the three richest men in America sit behind Trump at his inauguration, everyone understands that the billionaire class now controls our government. We have to fight back.”

Some critics noted that the combined wealth of just three tech giants – Musk, Zuckerberg and Bezos – has increased by nearly $1 trillion over the past decade, while the federal minimum wage has remained unchanged since 2009.

He also raised the issue of preferential treatment for family members of tech leaders.

Despite the limited number of seats in the Capitol Rotunda, Bezos’ fiancee Lauren Sanchez and Zuckerberg’s wife Priscilla Chan also attended the inauguration.

US media reported that Musk’s mother, Maye Musk, sat closer to Trump than most lawmakers or his future Cabinet members.

“No Congress spouses were allowed in the Rotunda for the ceremony today. Different rules for the oligarchs,” said Ron Filipkowski, left-wing media commentator on X.

TikTok CEO Shaw Zi Chew’s appearance on Monday also raised eyebrows, as did her seating next to Tulsi Gabbard, whom Trump chose to be the next director of national intelligence.

TikTok briefly shut down in the US on Sunday after its Chinese owners failed to sell the platform in accordance with a law signed last year by Biden.

While much of the tech industry embraced progressive corporate values ​​like diversity under Biden, Silicon Valley’s top leaders have moved closer to Trump since the election.

Musk, who spent years expressing support for Democrats, donated more than $200 million to Trump’s campaign and is set to lead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency in the new administration.

Bezos blocked the Washington Post’s endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris during the presidential race, the newspaper he owns reported, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter.

Before the inauguration, Musk and Zuckerberg flew to Florida to spend time with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort.

Zuckerberg also recently announced he would end Meta’s fact-checking program, which conservatives had accused of censoring pro-Trump voices for years.

Sam Altman, CEO of Meta, Amazon and OpenAI, also donated to Trump’s inaugural fund.

In his final speech as president, Biden last week warned about the “techno industrial complex” and its “dangerous” concentration of power in a speech reminiscent of President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s famous 1961 farewell address.

Eisenhower’s speech, delivered at the height of the Cold War, famously coined the term “military-industrial complex” to describe the relationship between the defense industry and the US government.