Connect with us

Published

on

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg dined with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago after reportedly requesting the meeting with the president-elect to discuss the incoming administration Wednesday.

Its an important time for the future of American Innovation. Mark was grateful for the invitation to join President Trump for dinner and the opportunity to meet with members of his team about the incoming Administration, a Meta spokesperson said in a statement provided to The Post. 

The Trump-Vance transition team did not immediately respond to The Posts request for comment. 

Stephen Miller, the incoming White House deputy chief of staff for policy, confirmed that Zuckerberg met with the president-elect during an appearance on Fox News’ The Ingraham Angle. 

Mark Zuckerberg has been very clear about his desire to be a supporter of and a partnership in this change that were seeing all around America, all around the world, with this reform movement that Donald Trump is leading, Miller said. 

Mark Zuckerberg, like so many business leaders, understands that President Trump is an agent of change, an agent of prosperity, he added.

And so business leaders, CEOs everywhere, they want to be an element, a supporter, a booster of making our economy prosperous, delivering for American workers and making sure that America is the most powerful, wealthiest, freest nation on the face of the Earth.

Miller noted that Zuckerberg, 40, has his own interests and he has his own company and he has his own agenda but has made clear that he wants to support the national renewal of America under President Trump’s leadership. 

The Mar-a-Lago meeting was reportedly initiated by Zuckerberg, according to the New York Times. 

The president-elect and Facebook creator largely exchanged pleasantries during their meeting and Zuckerberg congratulated Trump on his Election Day victory, the outlet reported.

Earlier this year, Trump, 78, described Facebook as a true Enemy of the People, claiming that Zuckerbergs company cheated in the last Election. 

The 45th president leveled the accusation in a March Truth Social post in which he argued that banning TikTok, a social media platform owned by the Chinese parent company, would benefit Zuckerberg.   

If you get rid of TikTok, Facebook and Zuckerschmuck will double their business, Trump wrote, referring to Meta founder and CEO. 

I dont want Facebook, who cheated in the last Election, doing better. They are a true Enemy of the People! he added. 

Trump appeared to be referring to the $400 million-plus Zuckerberg spent in the 2020 cycle to help finance local elections.

The so-called Zuckerbucks initiative was roundly criticized by Republicans as an attempt to influence the 2020 vote. 

The Meta CEO pledged in an August letter to the House Judiciary Committee that while his motives were nonpartisan he wouldnt be making a similar contribution in 2024. 

In July, Meta rolled back restrictions on Trumps Facebook and Instagram accounts put in place after the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol Building. 

Trump, who has a combined total of nearly 54 million followers on both Facebook and Instagram, was suspended from the platforms the day after the riot. 

His account privileges were restored in February 2023 after a two-year ban, but some restrictions remained, which were lifted to bring him to parity with President Biden who was still in the race at the time in the final months of the 2024 campaign.

Continue Reading

Sports

Oilers’ 5th comeback win in row sets NHL record

Published

on

By

Oilers' 5th comeback win in row sets NHL record

LAS VEGAS — Zach Hyman scored from just above the right circle with 3:02 left to put his team ahead for good, and the Edmonton Oilers rallied yet again this postseason to defeat the Vegas Golden Knights 4-2 on Tuesday night in Game 1 of the second-round series.

The Oilers, the defending Western Conference champions who came back from 2-0 down, set an NHL record with their fifth consecutive playoff comeback victory.

“We’re a patient group, we’re a veteran team. The guys here have been playing a lot of playoffs throughout the years,” Edmonton defenseman John Klingberg said. “They know what it takes. Just stick to our game, and take it game by game.”

Vegas, which had just seven shots on goal over the final two periods, lost a playoff game in regulation after leading by at least two goals for the first time. The Golden Knights are 47-4 overall in the postseason with that kind of lead.

Leon Draisaitl had a goal and an assist for the Oilers, and Corey Perry and Connor Brown scored the other goals. Evan Bouchard and Connor McDavid each had two assists. McDavid now has four consecutive postseasons with at least 10 assists for fourth best in league history. Calvin Pickard was barely tested after the first period and finished with 15 shots.

“It gives you a great opportunity,” Hyman said of winning the opener on the road. “You steal one in their rink, and now, you have a chance to take both. We haven’t been in that spot a lot. It’s nice to get the first one out of the way early.”

Mark Stone scored both goals for the Golden Knights to tie Jonathan Marchessault‘s franchise record with 36 for his Vegas career. It also extended his goal-scoring streak to three games. Adin Hill made 24 saves.

Both star-studded top lines delivered in the first period, with Stone scoring twice, the first on a double-minor power play. Edmonton’s top unit cut the deficit in half with 3:34 left when Perry deked Hill for an open net with McDavid and Draisaitl getting assists on the play.

Neither team scored in the second period even though the Oilers outshot Vegas 12-1. The Golden Knights had never been held to fewer than two shots on goal in a regulation playoff period.

Edmonton didn’t waste a chance early in the third, tying the score 57 seconds in when Draisaitl backhanded a shot off the boards and off Hill.

Hyman, who earlier in the shift took a stick to the face from Kaedan Korczak, broke the tie in the closing minutes, and Brown sealed the win 1:16 later.

“We were kind of all over the place in the first 10 minutes,” Perry said in speaking with Sportsnet after the win. “But we found our footing, found our game. We started moving the puck, and making plays. And then, we played well defensively, and kept the puck out of our net.”

Golden Knights defenseman Alex Pietrangelo did not play because of an illness, allowing Korczak to make his first career postseason start. Vegas also was without Pavel Dorofeyev, who led the team with 35 goals this season, for the second game in a row because of an undisclosed injury. Coach Bruce Cassidy has described him as day to day.

Game 2 is Thursday night in Las Vegas.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Continue Reading

Sports

Canes’ dominant 33-shot effort ‘paid off’ in OT

Published

on

By

Canes' dominant 33-shot effort 'paid off' in OT

WASHINGTON — Jaccob Slavin scored in overtime, Frederik Andersen made 13 saves in his return from injury and the Carolina Hurricanes outlasted the Washington Capitals 2-1 in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series on Tuesday night.

Logan Stankoven started the comeback with his goal midway through the third period off a turnover, beating Logan Thompson after Aliaksei Protas‘ errant pass off Washington teammate Alex Alexeyev‘s right skate put the puck on Jesperi Kotkaniemi‘s stick. After failing to score on a power play late in regulation, Slavin scored 3:06 into OT from just inside the blue line to give Carolina the series lead.

The result capped a dominant effort by the road team, despite the fact that it trailed for most of the game. Carolina finished with 33 shots on net, compared with just 14 for Washington. All told, six Hurricanes had at least three shots on net, including Slavin, who finished with five.

“We were all over it, and we knew we had to just throw everything at the net,” Slavin said. “That mentality paid off there at the end.”

Andersen, who wasn’t tested much, allowed only an early second-period goal to Protas in improving to 4-1 this postseason. Andersen was back after getting knocked out of Game 4 and missing Game 5 of the first round against the New Jersey Devils with an apparent head injury.

“Just trying to take what comes my way and be in that moment all the time and just stay with it,” Andersen said. “You don’t know when that next big save’s going to happen.”

Just a week ago, Andersen had to sit and watch as his teammates defeated the Devils in double overtime of Game 5 to secure the series. A week later, he was back, delivering the kind of quality goaltending Carolina has gotten from him whenever he has been healthy.

“Just really been looking forward to this for a while,” Andersen said. “Happy we could start off on the right foot.”

Carolina remained the only team perfect on the penalty kill this postseason, keeping Washington’s power play off the board twice to improve to 17-of-17. That, along with Kotkaniemi and Stankoven taking advantage of Protas’ mistake and Slavin scoring with Seth Jarvis screening Thompson, was the difference.

“I thought our guys played hard every shift. Right from the start of the game, I liked how we were playing,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “Obviously, we were down, but yeah, there’s a certain game plan. And I thought we were on it tonight.”

Game 2 is Thursday night in Washington.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Continue Reading

Politics

Democrats aim at Trump’s crypto profits with a 3-prong pincer move

Published

on

By

Democrats aim at Trump’s crypto profits with a 3-prong pincer move

Democrats aim at Trump’s crypto profits with a 3-prong pincer move

US Democrat lawmakers have launched a multi-angle attack on President Donald Trump’s crypto ventures with two bills and a subcommittee inquiry aimed at cutting his ability to profit from the initiatives.   

The Modern Emoluments and Malfeasance Enforcement Act, or the MEME Act, aims to prevent federal officials from using their position to profit from memecoins, Democrat Senator Chris Murphy said in a May 6 statement. 

If passed, the MEME Act prohibits the president, vice president, members of Congress, senior executive branch officials, their spouses and children from issuing, sponsoring, or promoting a security, future, commodity, or digital asset, according to the bill’s description. 

Violators could face civil penalties of up to $250,000 and be required to fork over any profits to the US Treasury. Criminal penalties could also apply, including fines and up to five years behind bars. 

US Representative Sam Liccardo, another Democrat, introduced companion legislation in the House of Representatives. However, Trump’s party, the Republicans, controls both chambers, and the legislation will need Republican support. 

Meanwhile, Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, a ranking member of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI), said in a May 6 statement that the committee is opening a preliminary inquiry into the Official Trump (TRUMP) token, Trump-backed platform World Liberty Financial (WLFI), and other associated business ventures. 

As part of the inquiry, the PSI sent letters to the company behind the Trump coin, Fight Fight Fight, and WLFI, asking for records and communications between the companies and the Trump organization. 

At the same time, Blumenthal says the subcommittee is asking for answers about what steps the firms have taken to address possible conflicts of interest.

Main points of interest flagged by the PSI include fees the president is making on the TRUMP token and the nearly 50% spike in value from $9.40 to $13.65 after the TRUMP coin website announced on April 23 that the top 220 holders of the token would be invited to a gala dinner at the White House. 

Soon after launch on Jan. 18, the Trump coin hit its all-time high of $73.43, according to CoinGecko. However, it has since lost 85% of its value and is trading for $11.13. 

More than half of TRUMP holders in profit

Roughly two million wallets have bought TRUMP, with an extra 54,000 adding the token to their stash after the dinner announcement, according to data shared with Cointelegraph from blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis. 

Around 764,000 of these, most with small holdings, lost money on the coin, while the 58 investors in the token have made profits of over $10 million each, totaling an estimated $1.1 billion. 

At the same time, Chainalysis says the memecoin creator has made $320 million so far, with an extra $1.3 million coming in since the White House dinner announcement. 

Related: Dem lawmakers object to hearing, citing ‘Trump’s crypto corruption’

Meanwhile, a trucking logistics firm announced plans on April 30 to build a TRUMP coin treasury through a $20 million convertible note issuance. 

Javier Selgas, CEO of Freight Technologies, said the tokens are an “excellent way to diversify our crypto treasury and also an effective way to advocate for fair, balanced, and free trade between Mexico and the US.”

The firm also acquired $5.2 million of the Fetch.ai network’s utility token FET on April 1. 

Magazine: Mystery celeb memecoin scam factory, HK firm dumps Bitcoin: Asia Express

Continue Reading

Trending