'A real cesspool': Watchdogs aghast by CEOs trying to 'curry favor' with Trump

Top business leaders and their companies have been trying to "curry favor" with Donald Trump by showering cash on his inaugural committee, according to government watchdogs. The committee has already landed reported $1 million planned donations from Jeff Bezos' Amazon, Mark Zuckerberg's Meta and OpenAI's Sam Altman, as well as $2 million from Robinhood Markets and $1 million each from Uber and its CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, Ford Motor Company and hedge fund manager Ken Griffin, reported CNBC. Trump’s 2017 inaugural committee took in about $107 million, doubling the previous record set in Barack Obama's first inauguration in 2009 and besting Joe Biden's $62 million haul in 2021, and his second inauguration has already surpassed its $150 million goal. “None of these people, they don’t want to be Trump’s punching bag for four years.” The committee was formed four days after the November election and is co-chaired by real estate investor Steve Witkoff and former Republican senator Kelly Loeffler, and former White House chief of staff Reince Priebus, GOP megadonor Miriam Adeslon and billionaire GOP donor Diane Hendricks serve as finance chairs. “We take a look through the history of the financing of inaugurations, and clearly it comes from very large donors, wealthy special interests and corporations, almost all of whom have business pending before the federal government,” said Craig Holman, government affairs lobbyist for the progressive nonprofit Public Citizen.