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)
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)