Billionaires court Trump at Mar-a-Lago, his “center of the universe”

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Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Meta, dined at Mar-a-Lago with Trump in late November, four years after Trump accused him of interfering in the 2020 election. 

Musk’s business interests also include space exploration, as he remains in control of the private company SpaceX. Critics question whether it could benefit from Trump’s nomination of Jared Isaacman as head of NASA — a billionaire who promoted the development of private space exploration and has partnered with SpaceX on trips.

“We’re open to any new project, depends on the circumstance and the market,” Sajwani said.

Zuckerberg minimized news and political content recommendations on Meta’s social media platforms this election cycle, and the company gave $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund. Zuckerberg has reportedly appointed Joel Kaplan, a former Republican White House official, to be in charge of policy at Meta. On Monday, Zuckerberg announced that Meta had added Dana White, the chief executive of Ultimate Fighting Championship and a longtime friend of Trump’s, to the board of Meta. Additionally, Meta is ending the fact-checking program it uses to reduce the misinformation that can appear on its social media apps.

It’s no wonder Trump called his Florida residence the “Center of the Universe” in a recent social media post, adding, “Bill Gates asked to come, tonight.”

Then there are the lesser known influencers. Hussain Sajwani, chairman of Dubai real estate firm Damac Properties who has done business with the Trumps, showed off a picture with the president-elect and Musk from the New Year’s Eve celebration on his Instagram page.

London-based publication Arabian Gulf Business Insight reported in December that DAMAC has secured the rights to build a Trump Tower in Abu Dhabi, citing sources familiar with the matter. Neither Damac nor the Trump Organization have confirmed or commented on the agreement.

Trump Organization, led by Trump’s son Eric, is planning several residential, golf and hotel projects in the region as a part of a global expansion, according to its website. These include residential, hotel and golf projects in Oman, several residential developments in Saudi Arabia and residential and a hotel project in Dubai.

Sajwani’s company, DAMAC Properties, is renowned for opulent developments like the Cavalli Tower and its collaborations with Versace. His growing business interests extend far beyond the small UAE: DAMAC has offices in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Lebanon, China and Singapore. 

The Post, which endorsed Trump’s Democratic opponents in 2016 and 2020, said in October it would stop endorsing presidential candidates and did not publish a drafted endorsement of Democratic nominee Kamala Harris — a decision made by Bezos, according to the newspaper’s own article.

Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon and rocket company Blue Origin and owner of the Washington Post, made the pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago in December. He was spotted there with Musk, who described their dinner as a “great conversation” in a post on X. Amazon plans to donate $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund.

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