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Tech CEOs Take Turns Praising Trump at White House Dinner

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Re: Tech CEOs Take Turns Praising Trump at White House Dinner

#31
post #9

These news depressed me. Am I the only one who is saddened by this pathetic show by our industry leaders? Made me pessimistic about the future.

Business has always been this way. It’s the nature of power. It just so happens when you have a fragile ego in power, people seeking power will naturally play to that ego for a leg up. We knew before 2015 that he was easy to manipulate. Easy to push his buttons, easy to flatter. Frankly if you are a CEO in 2015 and you aren’t flattering this idiot to profit then you are violating your duties to your shareholders

If you're keeping score at home, that's one point for shareholders, and a big fat goose egg for any and all other stake-"holders".

Re: Tech CEOs Take Turns Praising Trump at White House Dinner

#32
Just as a reminder, the person these CEOs are cheerfully meeting with is either a brutal pedophile, or at the very least, the documented best friend of one of the most prolific and notorious pedophiles in America -- someone the administration is trying to wipe from the news cycle through any means necessary, including pampering his co-conspirator/co-rapist and claiming the whole thing is some sort of Democratic hoax. Lies upon lies to conceal the rape of countless children in service of the glorious Party. But these tech magnates don’t give an iota of a shit as long as the money keeps flowing in.

This is some real end-of-a-republic degeneracy. Decades down the line, people will point to these events in history books to show that we weren’t remotely as civilized as we thought. In a just world everyone at this table would spend their retirement years in a cell.

Re: Tech CEOs Take Turns Praising Trump at White House Dinner

#33
post #27

https://archive.li/4pWuk I'm surprised Cook was there. I'm sad that I'm surprised Cook was there. I can likely get away from macOS by EOY. But this phone has a stranglehold on my mobile, digital life.

> I'm surprised Cook was there.

You have had more than a decade to reconcile Tim Cook's friendship (or at least "business relationship") with Donald Trump.

If it disgusts you, then make a move. Cook isn't motivated by emotional pleas and the shareholders won't kick him out until he screws up as CEO.

Re: Tech CEOs Take Turns Praising Trump at White House Dinner

#34
https://dailycaller.com/2025/09/05/trump-zuckerberg-bill-gat...

The view from 'the other side' (from most of the HN readership that is) where the invited CEOs are seen as Some Of The Right’s Biggest Villains - i.e. nobody likes them. For many conservatives, it’s hard to wrap your brain around the visual of billionaire Bill Gates being seated next to a smiling Melania Trump at the recent event, especially given Gates’ villain-like status among Trump’s most loyal base.

Re: Tech CEOs Take Turns Praising Trump at White House Dinner

#35

These news depressed me. Am I the only one who is saddened by this pathetic show by our industry leaders? Made me pessimistic about the future.

At this point, it is really important for everyone in the industry to recognize that the industry leaders (in terms of "running the most successful companies") should not be considered ethical or moral leaders. It's a categorical error. Like expecting a boat captain to be Descartes because they're good at leading people to operate a boat (or, for that matter, expecting Descartes to take first in a marathon because he…

Moral neutrality is one thing. It may be disappointing (but not unexpected) for the CEO of your favorite company to wine and dine the leader of an unsavory political party. But... this person is currently all over the news for being best friends with one of the most prolific pedophiles in America, as well as trying desperately to suppress the release of documents where he and prominent members of his circle may be implicated. This meeting is not just morally neutral, not just immoral, but utterly depraved.

Re: Tech CEOs Take Turns Praising Trump at White House Dinner

#36
post #27

https://archive.li/4pWuk I'm surprised Cook was there. I'm sad that I'm surprised Cook was there. I can likely get away from macOS by EOY. But this phone has a stranglehold on my mobile, digital life.

He has a shareholder duty to try for all the best-friend-forever preferential treatment he can get. We've recently learned that he's decent at diplomacy, but he's been honing it for years in China.

He isn't responsible for this oddly-personal political system as it is, but he has to take advantage of those weaknesses.

Re: Tech CEOs Take Turns Praising Trump at White House Dinner

#39

These news depressed me. Am I the only one who is saddened by this pathetic show by our industry leaders? Made me pessimistic about the future.

This is devastating enough on its own. But what makes it even more troubling is that the United States has a president who demands such transparently false praise. What's going on in this man's head? Does he not understand that these people are lying to him because they are afraid of what he will do to their companies? Or does he know, and that is the point? What in the world is wrong with this man?

This is what kissing the ring looks like. It's a loyalty test.

In Soviet Union it was a sign of loyalty not to question obviously false statistics and news. In Joe Rogan's circles is laughing at his shit jokes and praising his comic abilities in his podcast.

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