Google has announced a USD 1 million donation to President-elect Donald Trump’s upcoming inauguration, along with plans to provide livestreaming and direct online access to the event.
Karan Bhatia, Google’s global head of government affairs and public policy, told CNBC, “Google is pleased to support the 2025 inauguration, with a livestream on YouTube and a direct link on our homepage. We're also donating to the inaugural committee.”
The amount is more than three times the USD 285,000 it donated for his first inauguration in 2017, according to Federal Election Commission filings, reported Business Insider.
In September, Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post that he would prosecute Google "at the maximum levels" if elected.
Trump accused the tech giant of "illegally" manipulating its system to highlight "bad stories" about him while promoting positive coverage of his rival, Vice President Kamala Harris.
Business insider said that neither Google nor Trump’s transition team immediately responded to their requests for comment.
Trump’s second inauguration, set for January 20, has attracted significant donations from various companies and business leaders.
Tech giants Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, and Uber have each contributed USD 1 million, matching Google’s donation.
A Microsoft spokesperson had confirmed the company’s USD 1 million donation to Trump’s inaugural fund in a statement to Bloomberg on Thursday. The company had previously donated USD 500,000 each to Trump’s 2017 inauguration and Joe Biden’s 2021 inauguration, according to Bloomberg.
In addition to corporate contributions, personal donations have also poured in. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi have each donated USD 1 million to support the inauguration.
Trump had remarked during a December press conference, "Everyone was fighting me during my first term, but now, everyone wants to be my friend."
"I don’t know—maybe my personality changed or something," he added.
Since his November election victory, Trump has raised over USD 200 million in donations, with at least USD 150 million allocated for the inauguration, according to The New York Times.
For his 2017 inauguration, Trump raised USD 106.8 million, as reported by Federal Election Commission filings.
