A stunning photograph captures four of the wealthiest individuals globally, boasting a collective net worth of nearly one trillion dollars, standing united at Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration.
Trump has officially assumed office as the 47th President of the United States during this momentous inauguration, succeeding his predecessor Joe Biden at the White House.
The image showcases Amazon’s originator Jeff Bezos, Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Google’s leader Sundar Pichai, and Tesla’s luminary Elon Musk as they occupy their positions before the inauguration commences.
The top tech billionaires lined up together inside the US Capitol in a rare spectacle as Trump returns to power for a second term.
Their combined net worth is more than $895billion – just a $105billion short of a whopping trillion dollars.
Another picture showed the tech bosses sitting with Apple CEO Tim Cook inside the St. John’s Church ahead of the ceremonies.
Fellow billionaires expected to attend the inauguration ceremony include Sam Altman of OpenAI and Uber chief Dara Khosrowshahi.
Meanwhile, TikTok chief executive Shou Zi Chou too is expected to attend the event.
His company is currently grappling with the fresh US ban which came amid fears its Chinese parent company ByteDance could misuse Americans’ data.
But the returning Republican President has said he’ll issue an executive order to extend TikTok’s life in the US.
This, it is hoped, will give more time to work out a deal with China and avoid a permanent ban.
Speaking at a MAGA rally in the Capitol One Arena in Washington D.C. ahead of his inauguration on Monday, Trump told supporters: “As of today, TikTok is back.
“I said, I’ll approve, but let the United States of America own 50% of TikTok.
Tech titans cozy up to Trump
Tech titans have gotten close to Trump after his historic win in the November elections.
Amazon, under Bezos, is donating $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund and will stream the event on Prime – essentially another $1 million in-kind donation.
And Zuckerberg’s Meta is also contributing $1 million to the fund.
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates met the president-elect over a three-hour dinner ahead of the inauguration.
It was the first time the pair met and comes as Gates’ focus on global health rubs up against Trump’s “America First” ethos.
Gates has now divulged details of the two titans meeting to the Wall Street Journal – including what surprised him about the Republican.
In a snippet of the interview set to air next week, the tech mogul said: “We touched on a lot of things. It was over three hours, to my surprise.”
The dinner included just Gates, Trump, Trump’s chief of staff Susie Wiles, and a member of Gates’ team.
Musk, the world’s richest man, splashed a whopping $300million to support Trump’s winning election campaign.
Trump appointed Musk as the leader of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, which will make policy recommendations to the president.
Trump nominated Musk months after the Tesla boss sported a black MAGA hat and appeared at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, last summer.
Musk turned into a Trump cheerleader just years after calling him to ride off into the political sunset.
The entrepreneur initially supported Ron DeSantis for president and hosted the Florida governor’s campaign launch on Twitter Spaces.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden welcomed Donald Trump to the White House today for tea ahead of his official inauguration.
The MAGA man and his family arrived at St John’s Church earlier where the day kicked off with a service.
The Oval Office signing ceremony is set to take place indoors for the first time since 1985 due to frigid weather.
Trump will be flanked by family, likely including all five of his kids and 10 of his grandkids.
The FBI is said to be forming a ring of steel around Trump and world leaders at the ceremony as they brace for the worst.
Country star Carrie Underwood will perform America the Beautiful and opera singer Christopher Macchio will sing the national anthem.
Spectators will be able to watch the ceremony from the nearby Capitol One arena.
Following an Oval Office signing ceremony at the White House, Trump will speak at three inaugural balls.
He’ll then join the watch party at the Capitol One arena for the inaugural parade – and later celebrate with a victory rally.
What does Donald Trump have planned for his first day in office?
BY Ellie Doughty, Foreign News Reporter
TODAY marks Donald Trump’s first day in his second term as President of the United States.
The President elect has vowed to “make heads spin” by signing some 200 executive orders – mere hours after reentering the Oval Office.
“Starting tomorrow, I will act with historic speed of strength and fix every single crisis facing our country,” he said last night.
“Every radical, foolish executive order of the Biden administration will be repealed within hours of when I take the oath of office. You’re gonna have a lot of fun watching television.
“Somebody said yesterday, don’t sign so many in one day, let’s do it over a period of weeks. I said, like hell … no, we’re doing them tomorrow.”
After he is sworn in at the inauguration ceremony, he’ll be granted the full powers that come with the position, leaving him free to sign directives on issues including illegal immigration, gender debates, Artificial Intelligence and cryptocurrency.
Executive orders can be overturned by the courts – or the next president – but do carry legal weight in the US.
Trump suggested a huge chunk of these would relate to immigration and border control – a key theme of his first term and election campaign.
He vowed: “The invasion of our borders will come to a halt.”
Trump also promised to become the US president behind the most deportations during his second term.
He may reinstate his “Remain in Mexico” policy which saw some 70,000 non-Mexican asylum seekers sent across the southern US border to await their hearings.
He has also vowed to scrap the law that means anyone born on US soil is an American citizen – although, protected by the constitution, this can’t be removed with just an executive order.
Trump may also try to finish building a border wall between Mexico and the US, a plan he first put into action back in 2016.
The MAGA leader is also expected to prescribe drug cartels as “foreign terrorist organisations”, placing them alongside groups like Al Qaeda, ISIS and Hamas.
His friendship with tech tycoon Elon Musk has grown alongside his efforts to champion cryptocurrency.
Some expect him to create a federal “Bitcoin stockpile” – similar to the US’ gold and oil reserves – which he has claimed would be a “permanent national asset to benefit all Americans”.
Trump last night promised to uncover a slew of classified documents on the assassination of President John F Kennedy, as well as Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King.
He is also expected to overturn President Biden’s climate policies – including on the regulation of pollution or green job efforts – including a possible ban on new wind projects or electric vehicle mandates.
And he is expected to once again pull out of the Paris Climate Agreement, which he did in 2017, before Biden rejoined in 2021.
Presidents also have the power to pardon criminals – with Trump saying he is “inclined to pardon many” of those involved in the January 6 Capitol riot.
