The biggest technology companies and their chief executives donated millions to President Trump's inauguration, hosting Black Thai parties and dinners in his honor, allowing him to announce new multi-billion dollar manufacturing projects and earn credit.
But less than three months into his second term, Trump has given him little favorable luxury gestures back.
The cleaning fee he charged last week will squeeze Apple's iPhone supply chain, make it even more expensive for Amazon, Meta, Google and Microsoft, and build a supercomputer to power artificial intelligence. The president has significantly reduced federal funding for research into emerging technologies such as AI and quantum computing. His immigrant clampdown sparked the fear that he would cut off the pipeline due to his technical talent.
The Trump administration has also shown that it will continue its aggressive regulatory stance, beginning next week in a groundbreaking antitrust trial that will disband Meta, the owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
Since taking office, the total market value of Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta and Microsoft has dropped by 22% to $10 trillion. And the high-tech Nasdaq index has dropped by 21%.
Efforts to put Trump on trial have spread far from the industry's approach to his first administration when many technical leaders were openly hostile to the president. Executives hoped that in terms of face and flattery, this time Trump might show more respect, including his efforts to reconcile industries such as energy and automobiles.
Instead, the falsehood of top leaders in Silicon Valley could be misunderstanding how Trump can succeed in Washington, according to Democrats and Republican policy experts.
Gigi Song, a former senior adviser to the Federal Communications Commission under the Biden administration, had a “one-way” relationship with the president with the technology executive. “They give him everything and he promises nothing. In this case, that's a good thing.”
That hasn't stopped them from trying. Last week, Meta's CEO Mark Zuckerberg was in the White House trying to convince the administration to settle a Federal Trade Commission anti-trust lawsuit against Meta. Tech leaders, including Google's CEO Sundar Pichai, have also visited the White House for a few weeks.
The company says it wants to engage with Trump on a variety of issues and sees the long-term impact of his policies. Apple, Google, Meta and Amazon declined to comment.
The White House did not respond to requests for comment.
Hostilities between the tech industry and Trump date back at least to 2016. At least several technical executives have approved Hillary Clinton for the president and donated to her campaign. After Trump was elected, technology leaders criticized the president's immigration ban on Muslims and his skepticism about the Covid-19 vaccine.
Trump's first administration has taken a strict regulatory stance in the industry and has introduced antitrust laws against Google and Meta. He censored him, opposed to social media and other internet giants, and accumulated too much power. He also denounced the platform for contributing to the 2020 election loss.
The tech industry's public tone of voice against Trump suddenly changed last year after being injured in an attempted assassination.
In the aftermath, Zuckerberg called him “Badass.” Amazon founder Jeff Bezos praised Trump for “great under fire.” Elon Musk, who heads rocket company SpaceX, electric car maker Tesla and social media platform X, has supported Trump and donated $300 million to the campaign.
After the election, Apple CEO Tim Cook, along with Meta, Google and Amazon, each donated $1 million to the inauguration. Several executives appeared at Trump's resort in Palm Beach, Florida, and inauguration ceremony, where Musk, Bezos, Zuckerberg, Cook and Pichai all appeared on Day next to ministers.
“When you look at the inauguration, look at the people who were in that stage. Who was in the world who opposed me for the first time?” Trump said in a recent interview with Clay Travis, Fox-owned sports and news site Outkick.
There are several advantages. Musk is now a close adviser to the president, and critics say his business is likely to get paid for his proximity. Trump also signed an executive order last year delaying the sale or ban on Tiktok, as required by mandated laws regarding security concerns about the app's Chinese parent ordinance.
Despite a massive cut in federal funds, Trump has opened the door to an ongoing regulatory touch on AI, which has declared its top priority to beat China in the competition for global technology leadership. Last month, Google, Microsoft, Meta and other tech giants submitted proposals, demanding that the administration stay out of the way.
And US regulators have almost completely dismantled the unstable sector, filled with years of government crackdowns, fraud, fraud and theft, against the crypto industry. It will benefit companies including venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, the leading investor in the space.
However, tech companies face intense pressure under the current Trump administration.
The new leaders appointed to the Department of Justice and the FTC have shown no indication that they will set back a series of anti-trust lawsuits filed against Google, Meta, Amazon or Apple.
Trump chose veteran lawyer and vocal tech critic Gale Slater to lead the Department of Justice's anti-trust division. During his announcement, Trump highlighted the importance of her role in subduing the powerful Silicon Valley giant.
“Big Tech has been running for many years, using the stifling competition in our most innovative sectors, and, as we all know, the power of that market, to crack down on the rights of so many Americans and Little Tech rights!” Trump said in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social.
The president has also appointed Andrew Ferguson, who expressed concern as chairman of the FTC next week about the power of social media companies. Ferguson will lead an antitrust trial against Meta. The government accuses Facebook of monopolizing its social networks of purchasing Instagram and Whatsapp nearly a decade ago.
It is unclear whether Zuckerberg's efforts to secure a settlement will be successful. But ultimately, the decision on whether to move on or not will be made by the president, Ferguson said last week at a meeting held by Washington's high-tech startup incubator Y Combinator.
“I think it's important to me to be the head of the president's executive branch and to follow legal orders,” he said when asked if Trump would drop a lawsuit like the meta case if he instructed him.
“I think the President realizes we have to enforce the law, so it would be very surprising if something like that ever happened,” he added.
Perhaps the biggest blow to the tech industry came in the form of tariffs last week. One of the most intense hit companies, Apple produces 90% of iPhones sold worldwide. This is already expected to increase the 20% tariff to 34% this week.
“These tariffs will raise consumer prices and force trade partners to retaliate,” said Gary Shapiro, chief executive of the Consumer Technology Association, a trade group. “These tariffs make Americans poor.”
