Billionaire Bill Gates describes a dinner that left him ‘impressed’ with President-elect Trump
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Billionaire Bill Gates recently offered a rare glimpse into his private conversation with President-elect Donald Trump and a nearly three-hour dinner that left him “impressed.” Gates, who is supporting Trump’s opponent, Vice President Harris in the 2024 election, appeared to leave the dinner feeling optimistic about the president-elect.
“I had the opportunity, about two weeks ago, to have a long and interesting dinner with him,” Gates told the Wall Street Journal.
In his interview, Gates described a “wide-ranging” dinner conversation, noting that he spoke with Trump about public health, which has been a focus of Gates’ philanthropic efforts.
“I felt like he was dynamic and looking forward to helping develop new things,” Gates told the WSJ. “I was impressed by the way he showed great interest in the issues I brought up.”
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Bill Gates (left) and President-elect Donald Trump (right). (Photos by Thierry Monasse/Rebecca Noble/Getty/Getty Images)
Gates’ dinner with Trump comes as a growing group of billionaires and tech leaders are set to meet with the president-elect ahead of his historic return to the White House. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos dined with Trump at Mar-a-Lago and pledged $1 million to the president-elect’s first fund. Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta Platforms also gave $1 million to the fund.
Citing people familiar with the conversation, the WSJ reported that the payment offer came before Zuckerberg met Trump at a November Mar-a-Lago dinner following the Republican presidential victory.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates reacts during a visit to British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at Imperial College University on Feb. 15, 2023 in London. (Justin Tallis – WPA Pool/Getty Images / Getty Images)
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At the dinner, according to the outlet, Zuckerberg also gave a demonstration of the company’s latest innovation – Ray Ban Smart Glasses – and gave them to Trump.
Bezos, who also made the trip to Trump’s Florida estate, said he left the dinner with “great optimism” about the incoming administration. He also dismissed concerns about Trump’s relationship with Elon Musk.
“Elon has always been very clear that this is for the public interest and not for his personal gain. And I treat him as a person,” Bezos told Reuters, referring to the CEO of SpaceX.
Bill Gates discusses his new book ‘How To Prevent The Next Pandemic’ on stage at 92Y on May 3, 2022, in New York City. (Photos by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)
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Trump’s relationship with billionaires and tech moguls has changed dramatically since 2020, when he was banned from several social media platforms. Back in October, Gates was reported to have privately said that he had donated nearly $50 million to a nonprofit supporting Vice President Harris.
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Additionally, Zuckerberg announced the end of Meta’s controversial fact-checking policies by pushing to restore “free speech on Facebook and Instagram.” Zuckerberg acknowledged that the checks, which began after Trump’s 2016 victory, “destroyed more trust than they created.” He also said the policies have led to “a lot of scrutiny,” even though the company is trying “in good faith” to “address concerns” about misinformation.
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