A new report from Rolling Stone claims that President-elect Donald Trump is “keeping tabs” on major corporations that have not yet forked out big bucks for his inauguration fund.
American companies are forking out money to Trump’s inauguration at a time when he’s threatening to slap major tariffs on foreign goods, and his decision to grant certain companies exceptions could be make or break for their profits.
According to Rolling Stone’s sources, Trump himself seems to understand this particular power dynamic, which is why he is reportedly demanding to know which firms have paid up and which ones haven’t.
“In the past few weeks, Trump has at times asked close allies about how much major corporations have donated to the inaugural committee, and has sometimes inquired about specific companies by name,” the publication writes. “Earlier this month, when the president-elect asked about one big-name corporation and was told it hadn’t donated, Trump replied, ‘Well, they better do it soon then.'”
The report goes on to note that most of the big names in corporate America seem to have gotten the message and have been giving big in an apparent effort to avoid becoming objects of Trump’s wrath.
“Some of the top donors include: Amazon ($1 million); AT&T Bank of America; Charter Communications ($1 million); Coinbase ($1 million); Ford ($1 million); General Motors; Goldman Sachs; Intuit ($1 million); Stanley Black & Decker ($1 million); Toyota ($1 million); and Uber ($1 million, plus another $1 million from its CEO),” writes Rolling Stone. “Meta, the parent company of Facebook, is giving $1 million. The powerful drug lobby Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers, or PhRMA, is kicking in $1 million, as is Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI.”