A number of President Donald Trump’s supporters have reacted angrily to him hosting Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and other tech tycoons at a White House dinner on Thursday.
The event was held to support an initiative on artificial intelligence led by first lady Melania Trump. Attendees included Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg, Apple CEO Tim Cook, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella and Google CEO Sundar Pichai.
Newsweek contacted Gates for comment on Friday via email outside regular office hours.
Why It Matters
Gates has been heavily associated with philanthropy in developing countries, and according to The New York Times, he donated $50 million to support then-Vice President Kamala Harris’ 2024 election campaign, earning conservative ire.
During the coronavirus pandemic, Gates—who endorsed COVID-19 vaccines—became a favored target for conspiracy theorists, some of whom overlapped with supporters of Trump’s Make America Great Again movement.
What To Know
Thursday’s dinner saw tech bosses lavish praise on Trump, and several made pledges to support artificial intelligence education in the United States.
Nadella said Microsoft would give all U.S. college students access to its Copilot AI, and Altman said OpenAI would train 10 million Americans on AI by 2030—including employees at Walmart, the largest private employer in the U.S.
At the dinner, Trump sat next to Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan. The first lady sat between Trump and Gates.
However, the dinner sparked a negative response from some MAGA-affiliated accounts on social media, with conservative commentator Robby Starbuck describing Gates as a “globalist.”
Posting on X, Starbuck said: “It’s infuriating to see Bill Gates at the White House in a position of honor. I want a future where we stop giving power to evil people like Gates. He’s a globalist who hates the America First ideology. His God complex deserves nothing but contempt.”
The pro-Trump @WallStreetApes account, which has 1 million followers, wrote: “Something has gone VERY wrong, tonight at the White House dinner. On the left: sitting next to Trump is Bill Gates. On the Right: Sitting next to Trump is Mark Zuckerberg. Bring back Elon Musk and Donald Trump unity.”
User @realpeteyb123, a prominent Trump-supporting X account with 277,000 followers, wrote: “I’m not a fan of Bill Gates at all, like most of you aren’t. Elon Musk should be at the White House tonight. Without him, without X, without free speech, non of this happens.”
On X, conservative influencer Mike Cernovich wrote, “There is no reason for Bill Gates to be in the White House.”
The X account @WallStreetMav, which has 1.6 million followers, wrote: “It was Elon who risked his entire business, his reputation and hundreds of millions of $$$ in swing states to help get President Trump elected in 2024.
“If President Trump needs tech advisors, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg should not be anywhere near the White House. They both fund radical left wing groups opposed to MAGA and Trump’s policies.”
Musk was a key Trump ally, heading the newly created Department of Government Efficiency in the early months of the president’s second administration. In June, the pair fell out spectacularly in part because of the Tesla and SpaceX boss’ opposition to Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
On X, which he owns, Musk said he had been invited to Thursday’s dinner but was unable to attend.
After Trump’s 2024 election victory, Gates was one of a number of tech bosses who had private dinners with Trump, after which he said he was “frankly impressed” by the president-elect.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, conspiracy theorists said Gates used vaccines to implant microchips into people. This allegation, made without evidence, was thoroughly debunked by fact-checkers such as BBC Reality Check.
What People Are Saying
Addressing President Donald Trump at the dinner, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said: “Thank you for being such a pro-business, pro-innovation president. It’s a very refreshing change. We’re very excited to see what you’re doing to make all of our companies and our entire country so successful.”
Google’s Sundar Pichai said: “It’s an honor for me to be here and to support the first lady’s presidential AI challenge. Through this initiative, you are inspiring young people.”
In a video on X, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said: “We are so grateful to the president, first lady and the entire administration for making it a national priority to prepare the next generation to harness AI’s power.”
What Happens Next
As Trump draws close to Big Tech tycoons such as Gates, he risks further angering a section of his MAGA base.
