President-elect Donald Trump met with some of Silicon Valley's top executives to help smooth his transition into office. Prominent attendees included the leaders of Amazon, Apple, Google, Facebook, Intel, Microsoft, Tesla, as well as Trump family members and other administration appointees.
There was speculation prior to the meeting as to what the tone would be given most of Silicon Valley openly supported Hillary Clinton. The lone voice on the other side of the isle was Peter Thiel, the co-founder of PayPal.
The meeting comes just one day after hundreds of tech workers pledged never to help build Trump's proposed Muslim Database. Trump had also been a vocal opponent of many of the attendees during his campaign. He described Jeff Bezos's purchase of the Washington Post as a conflict of interest, among other things.
While Silicon Valley may have frowned at his election, the meeting was all business. The previous tension of the election was forgotten at the door with the meeting holding a lighthearted and respectful tone. Trump told the 13 executives he was there to help them do well and make it easier to trade across borders. Other topics included infrastructure, tax cuts, Chinese competition, repatriation of foreign assets, and various US laws surrounding the global tech market.
The technology industry under the Obama administration saw record growth. Trump hopes to continue this trend with more rigorous policies on trade and jobs. Net neutrality was reportedly not discussed and continues to be in question as the two administrations have very different stances on the issue. Overall the summit was widely viewed as productive by the various executives. Innovation and global trade look to be the key pillars of Trump's administration going forward.
Lead photo credit: Evan Vucci / Associated Press