Preparations continue for Inauguration Day on Jan. 20, the day Donald Trump will officially make his return to the White House as the 47th president of the United States. On Monday, U.S. automakers Ford and General Motors said they will donate $1 million each for the event, and make their vehicles available to the MAGA leader’s staff.
As explained by Forbes, the Federal Election Commission allows companies to make donations to the inaugural fund, but the committee must disclose the amount received no later than 90 days after the ceremony.
The decision by Ford and General Motors comes at a time when Trump is considering imposing tariffs on vehicle components imported from countries such as Mexico, Canada and China and revoking tax credits on electric vehicles-options that would negatively impact both companies. However, Ford CEO Jim Farley expressed confidence and optimism earlier this month that the president-elect would.
“(Given) Ford’s employment profile and importance in the U.S. economy and manufacturing, you can imagine the administration will be very interested in Ford’s point of view,” he said.
Those of Ford and General Motors are just the latest donations made to the committee working on Inauguration day. A few weeks ago, giants such as Meta and Amazon, chaired by Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos, respectively, also contributed $1 million each to fund the staging of the ceremony.
A decision, that of the two tech giants, that probably marks the beginning of a new chapter in their relations with Trump, which have been far from idyllic in the recent past.
At the moment, it is still difficult to determine how much money the inaugural committee will be able to raise. What is certain, however, is that it will not be easy to break the record held by Trump himself, who in 2017 managed to total an impressive $106.7 million from donations made at the celebration of his first entry into the White House.
