What does Mark Zuckerberg want from Donald Trump?

At this point it’s pretty clear what Donald Trump wants from Mark Zuckerberg. But what does Zuckerberg, who has visited Mar-a-Lago twice since the November election, wants from the newly elected president?

This is a question I’ve been asking sources in and around Meta over the last few days. They all described Meta’s relationship with the outgoing Biden administration as extremely hostile. It’s secure to assume that Zuckerberg wants a reset of the MAGA regime, especially since Trump recently threatened him with life imprisonment.

In Trump’s America, removing tampons from men’s restrooms on Meta campuses is a real thing that just happened – is as much a business decision as it is a political one. Destroying “woke” ideology is a key pillar of Trump’s mandate. Others who know they have to play the game, like Amazon, are also starting to fit in. Still, Zuckerberg is transforming Meta for a modern political reality at a pace unusual for a company of its size and influence. Founder mode.

In his conversation with Joe Rogan AND his video on InstagramZuckerberg shares a long list of issues Trump could aid him with: fighting other countries that boost surveillance of his platforms, stopping Apple from dictating how he builds mobile apps and intelligent glasses (the latter of which is increasingly significant to Meta’s future), and, perhaps most importantly, stopping national AI regulation from slowing down his efforts to crush OpenAI. Elon Musk bought Trump an ear. But the more time Zuckerberg spends at Mar-a-Lago, the better Sam Altman AND Tim Cook he should be worried.

There is also the US government’s case regarding the breakup of Meta, which is expected to go to court in a few months. After the tumult of the past four years, it is effortless to forget that this lawsuit was filed at the end of Trump’s first term by the Republican chairman of the FTC, not Lina Khan…

Much of the major reaction over the past week has focused on Zuckerberg’s decision to end Meta’s fact-checking program. It was a convenient scapegoat for company executives that, frankly, never achieved the goal of ensuring greater neutrality on Facebook and Instagram. The alternative version of Community Notes, Meta, cribbing with X, was not on the product roadmap before this week, so it will likely be a while before everyone sees it in the wild.

The announcement that US moderators will be relocated from California to Texas is perhaps the most cynical of all; talk to anyone who knows and they’ll tell you that the huge majority of moderators are already based in Austin.