Ford to donate $1M, fleet of vehicles to Trump inauguration
Ford Motor Company said it will donate $1 million and a small fleet of vehicles for use in President-elect Trump’s inauguration, multiple outlets reported Monday.
Ford joins a recent wave of major tech companies that have pledged hefty donations to the incoming president’s inaugural fund.
While inaugural donations from companies are not new, the flood of cash — coupled with meetings with Trump at his Florida residence — signal a shift among companies looking to curry favor with the president as he prepares to take office.
Meta and Amazon each dished out $1 million donations to Trump’s inaugural fund last week, followed by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who said he would give the same amount from his personal wealth.
The move marked a shift for Altman, who has repeatedly donated to Democratic candidates since 2013.
While Amazon has contributed to the past two administrations’ inaugural funds, this year’s contribution largely outnumbered the $276,000 it chipped into President Biden’s 2021 inaugural committee.
In 2017, the e-commerce giant dished out even less — about $57,000 — to Trump’s first inauguration fund, according to campaign finance records.
The Hill has reached out to Trump’s team and Ford for comment.