When Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th president of the United States on Monday, he will be surrounded by the tech titans he says will deliver the jobs and freedom of speech that will define his term.
Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon and owner of Washington Post, Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, Sam Altman, the biggest name in AI, and Shou Chew, CEO of TikTok, will all hold honorary positions on stage, according to a senior transition official.
It means they have a place of honor among the highest rank of VIPs, alongside Trump’s family and former presidents.
“I think the message it sends is, first and foremost, the importance of freedom of expression,” the official said.
“And then that these are all huge job creators in this country and they’re going to be a big part of where the president goes in the second term.
“It’s wrong to think of this as just tech stuff. For example, thousands of content creators can earn a living with an app like TikTok.”
It had not previously been reported that all five will take a place of honor outside the Capitol on Monday.
The messages will be seen as a response to President Joe Biden, who warned about the tech titans surrounding Trump during his farewell speech on Wednesday.
Donald Trump raises his right hand to be sworn in as the 45th president in January 2017

Tesla founder Elon Musk became a prominent Trump booster during the campaign

Amazon founder and Washington Post owner will also be among the VIP guests on stage
“Today in America an oligarchy is taking shape with extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy,” he said in his Oval Office speech.
Musk has been the most visible of the tech billionaires in recent months, carving out a place in Trump’s inner circle.
He lives in a bungalow in Mar-a-Lago and has been advising on policy and personnel since endorsing Trump last year.
At times he was seen as de facto vice president.
Other figures have had to do a trickier dance after openly criticizing Trump or clashing with the president during his first term over immigration and content moderation.
During the campaign, Trump even warned Zuckerberg that he would “spend the rest of his life in prison” if he opposed him as he did in 2020.
But the Facebook founder made peace with Trump after he won the election. He has dined twice at his Mar-a-Lago headquarters and Meta (Facebook’s parent company) donated $1 million to the inauguration.
Zuckerberg removed the platform’s US fact-checking program, removed restrictions on promoting certain controversial content, shook up the leadership team and the company donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration.

Washington DC prepares for Monday’s inauguration with barriers and bollards

The presence of TikTok’s Shou Chew may have once been seen as a surprise

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, will also be present at the inauguration in a place of honor

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is another who has made peace with Trump
It’s a sign that Silicon Valley figures have returned to the free speech ideals that once motivated them before they took on the responsibility of moderating posts.
The presence of TikTok’s Chew could also be seen as a surprise at some point.
During his first term, Trump tried to shut down the video-sharing app over concerns that the Chinese Communist Party would gain access to user data.
But in recent weeks, Trump has begun looking for ways to block a new law that would require the app to be shut down in the US unless its Chinese owners sell it. The deadline for a sale is January 19, the day before the inauguration.
Mike Waltz, Trump’s chosen national security adviser, said Wednesday that an executive order is in the works to protect TikTok, although it is unclear how this would work.
Another interesting guest is Bezos. He alienated many of his Washington Post employees during the campaign by deciding not to endorse a candidate for president.
Amazon later donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration.
The president-elect noted the change in some of his most prominent critics during a recent news conference.
“In my first term it felt like everyone was against me,” he said. ‘In this mandate, everyone wants to be my friend.’