The race to 'please' Mr. Trump is heating up

President-elect Donald Trump’s preparations for his return to the US government have so far received a lot of support from top business executives. Some of them, who had more or less had grudges against Mr. Trump in the past, have now “turned the tables” to achieve a warmer relationship with the next White House owner.

Mr. Donald Trump speaks at a press conference on December 16.

Good news in a row

The latest highlight may come from Mr. Trump's announcement on December 16 that the US will receive a $100 billion investment from SoftBank Group over the next four years, expected to create 100,000 more jobs, according to Reuters. Previously, the most prominent was the consecutive announcement by leading technology companies such as Meta, Amazon and OpenAI that they would donate to Mr. Trump's inauguration fund. In addition, the leaders of the technology giants have had or will have private meetings with the US President-elect.

"In my first term, everyone was against me, but in this term, they all want to be my friend. I don't know if my personality has changed or something," Mr. Trump said at his private resort Mar-a-Lago in Florida on December 16, his first press conference since being elected US president.

The latest survey by the American technology company Morning Consult on December 12 showed that Mr. Trump has the highest approval rating since 2017 at 50%, while at the same time in 2016 the percentage of people who did not like him was the majority. The recent survey also showed that the majority of Americans agree with this year's power transition process and believe that Mr. Trump will do well when he returns to the White House next month. In addition, he also received notable milestones on December 12, when he was voted person of the year by Time magazine and rang the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange for the first time.

Bitcoin is on track for record highs thanks to Trump

Looking for benefits

Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos have had "arguments" with Mr. Trump in the past. However, changing their stance is understandable if it brings mutual benefits. Especially in a highly competitive field like technology, pushing themselves into a confrontation with President-elect Trump can cause big businesses in the US "more harm than good" in the next 4 years.

Politico quoted Adam Kovacevich, former Google policy director, as saying that the tech companies' donations are a way to get Trump's attention. Although the amount of money will not have a significant impact, public donations can be seen as a way to "speak out" and have the opportunity to grasp information about Trump's decisions as soon as possible.

Tech leaders are said to have learned from working with Mr. Trump that being present in the meeting room when the President-elect makes decisions is very important, especially in the context of Mr. Trump's upcoming tax policies that will significantly affect multinational corporations, and neither side wants to be in a passive position.

A "step back" among a series of good news for Mr. Trump came when Judge Juan Merchan in New York State (USA) on December 16 issued a verdict upholding the conviction of President-elect Donald Trump for paying hush money to an adult film actress.

According to Reuters, Mr. Merchan supported the prosecutor's view that Mr. Trump's falsification of business records related to his personal conduct, not as president, thereby there is no basis for immunity as argued by Mr. Trump's defense team. Initially, Mr. Trump was scheduled to be sentenced on November 26, but Judge Merchan postponed it indefinitely after Mr. Trump won the US presidential election in 2024.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/soi-dong-cuoc-dua-lay-long-ong-trump-185241217214650921.htm