Tech CEOs get front row seat at Trump inauguration

(NewsNation) — The strategic place for several prominent technical managers who sat behind President Donald Trump during his inauguration could foreshadow their potential hand in his administration, some political analysts say.

The leaders of largest companies was seen at his inauguration on Monday.

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Sundar Pichai all attended the dedication service in St. John’s Church in Washington and were later seen sitting together in the second row behind Trump’s family.

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew was also present and the inauguration took place a day after the video sharing platform got dark in the USthough he wasn’t sitting with the other tech leaders at the Capitol rotunda.

“They (tech executives) got some of the most prominent positions there, and it looks like Donald Trump was trying to send a message of some kind,” said NewsNation chief Washington correspondent and host of “The Hill” Blake Burman .

Niall Stanage, White House columnist for The Hill, also noted the priority seating.

“I think visually one of the most striking things was the prominence of so many tech executives, much more prominent than most members of Congress or even the proposed members of President Trump’s cabinet,” he said.

Trump’s cabinet nominees all sat behind the tech titans during the president’s inauguration luncheon.

Musk is not a surprise guest as he will co-lead the new Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.

The billionaire owns Tesla, SpaceX and the social media platform X and has become Trump’s close friend in recent years.

The leaders or their companies had all donated large sums to Trump’s inauguration fund, which probably got the best rankings.

“Things in Washington are changing. This is a different city when Donald Trump came in here,” NewsNation’s Leland Vittert said, referring in part to the seat chart.

A number of Republican governors, including Greg Abbott of Texas and Ron DeSantis of Florida and many spouses of members of Congress, were relegated to an overflow room in Emancipation Hall due to limited space in the Capitol rotunda, reported The hill.

Democrats condemned the seat decision.

“Big Tech billionaires have a front-row seat at Trump’s inauguration. They have even better seats than Trump’s own gubernatorial picks. That says it all,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, wrote on the social platform X.

“All you need to know. The billionaires are in charge. Not you,” Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut wrote X.

Some Republicans were privately uneasy, the outlet reported.

“I didn’t like that,” one GOP lawmaker told The Hill.

“Why is Zuckerberg suddenly in our fold? My concern is, if we hadn’t won, where would he be? Would he be on the other team?” said another GOP lawmaker “At least Elon was in the fight.”

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