Zuckerbribe $25M Trump payout

From the «easier than fellatio» department:
Title: The WSJ on Zuckerberg’s $25 Million Payoff to Trump
Author: John Gruber
Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2025 20:53:30 +0000
Link: https://www.wsj.com/us-news/law/trump-signs-agreement-calling-for-meta-to-pay-25-million-to-settle-suit-6f734c8c?st=mqxsa5&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

Annie Linskey and Rebecca Ballhaus, reporting for The Wall Street Journal:

“It looks like a bribe and a signal to every company that corruption is the
name of the game,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) said in a statement.
“After Meta pays to play, what does Mark Zuckerberg expect as a return on
this investment?”

Serious talks about the suit, which had seen little activity since fall 2023,
began after Zuckerberg, Meta’s chief executive, flew to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago
club in Florida to dine with him in November, according to the people
familiar with the discussions. The dinner was one of several efforts by
Zuckerberg and Meta to soften the relationship with Trump and the incoming
administration. Meta also donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund. Last
year, Trump warned that Zuckerberg could go to prison if he tried to rig the
election against him.

Toward the end of the November dinner, Trump raised the matter of the
lawsuit, the people said. The president signaled that the litigation had to
be resolved before Zuckerberg could be “brought into the tent,” one of the
people said.

A good reminder that self respect has no price tag.

Weeks later, in early January, Zuckerberg returned to Mar-a-Lago for a full
day of mediation[1]. Trump was present for part of the session, though he
stepped out at one point to be sentenced[2] — appearing virtually — for
covering up hush money paid to a porn star, one of the people said. He also
golfed, reappearing in golf clothes and talking about the round he had just
played, the person said.

Even when you own the golf course and drive your cart right onto the green[3]
like a jackass, an 18-hole round of golf still takes like three hours. I just
love the idea of him leaving Zuckerberg sitting around for half a fucking day
while he played a round of golf after his felony sentencing, before getting
back to negotiating the price of the bribe to get “into the tent”.
★ [4]

Links:
[1]: https://www.wsj.com/tech/mark-zuckerberg-meta-trump-pivot-392e4a3f?mod=article_inline (link)
[2]: https://www.wsj.com/us-news/law/trump-sentencing-hush-money-new-york-9f9282bc?mod=article_inline (link)
[3]: https://freebeacon.com/culture/trump-drives-golf-cart-onto-green/ (link)
[4]: https://daringfireball.net/linked/2025/01/31/wsj-suck-trump-payoff (link)