United Airlines stated on Friday January 17th that the company will donate $1 Million to soon to be President Donald Trump’s inaugural committee. United Airlines CEO, Scott Kirby, plans on attending multiple events regarding Donald Trump being put into office over the holiday weekend. He will, however, not be attending the inauguration itself due to extremely cold weather in the forecast.
The prominent airline company is not alone is sending leadership and large amounts of money to congratulate Trump. There are many other companies that have donated $1 million or more for inaugural festivities, such as their main competitor Delta Airlines. Other powerful companies such as Hyundai motor company, Stellantis (parent company of Chrysler), Ford, Boeing, General Motors, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet (parent company of Google), and Meta (parent company of Meta).
Why do large companies donate to the inauguration?
Large companies such as those listed above tend to donate in order to promote positive relationships with the incoming administration. Leaders of these companies may potentially want to influence Donald Trump to put policy decisions in place that favor them.. For example, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman donated about $1 million as well, even though he historically has supported Democratic candidates. Altman is likely interested in supporting Trump’s efforts in advancing the artificial intelligence strength and prominence in the United States and abroad.
While Trump likely appreciates the generosity, not everyone is in favor of these donations. Senators Elizabeth Warren (Democrat, Massachusetts), and Michael Bennet (Democrat, Colorado) both are putting pressure on large tech companies to explain their motives for such large donations. Both senators are concerned that companies are making such donations in order to “avoid scrutiny, limit regulation, and buy favor.” In a letter to Altman, both Senators stated “You have a clear and direct interest in obtaining favors from the incoming administration: your company and many other Big Tech donors are already the subject of ongoing federal investigations and regulator actions.”
Large companies are donating more to Trump than they did to Biden’s inauguration. Meta and OpenAI, two companies typically more democratic, both donated nothing to Biden’s inauguration but donated $1 million each to Trump. Apple donated $43k, Amazon 276k, Google 337k, and Microsoft 500k to Biden’s inauguration, but now each have donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration. Additionally, Uber donated $1 million to Biden’s inauguration, but donated double that for Trump’s inauguration.
What do you think of these donations? Are they part of corporate greed and looking for favors, or simply wishing the new President well? Let us know in the comments.
Featured Image Credit: Aaron Kittredge, Pexels; Thank You!
