Mark Zuckerberg was caught in a hot mic incident with Donald Trump after being put on the spot by the US President. The Meta CEO and founder was one of several tech titans invited to the White House for a special dinner on Thursday.
In front of the world’s cameras, Mr Trump asked Mr Zuckerberg how much he was planning on spending in the US over the next few years. The tech executive, who appeared slightly startled, responded: “Oh gosh, um, I think it’s probably gonna be, something like, I don’t know, at least $600 billion through ’28, in the US, yeah.” Mr Trump said “it’s a lot” and laughed, while Mr Zuckerberg added that “it’s significant”.
Mr Zuckerberg was sat next to Mr Trump and later on in the event, was overheard apologising to him, saying he wasn’t sure how to respond to the question.
“I’m sorry, I wasn’t ready to do our [inaudible],” he said to Mr Trump, which was picked up on a hot mic.
Mr Trump appeared to find it funny and could be seen smiling alongside First Lady Melania Trump, who was sitting on the other side of him.
“I wasn’t sure what number you wanted to go with,” Mr Zuckerberg added.
The US President and Meta boss shared another laugh during the dinner at the White House State Dining Room with some of America’s biggest tech chiefs.
A reporter asked Mr Zuckerberg about online free speech laws in the UK, with Mr Trump joking: “You didn’t think you’d get that question, did you? He’s looking at me saying, ‘how the hell —’. He’s saying, ‘how did I get that question?’
The boss of Meta, which is the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, said he “wasn’t paying attention” before laughing.
The reporter then addressed the question again to the pair, with Mr Trump pulling another gag as he told the entrepreneur: “This is the beginning of your political career.”
Other tech industry leaders in attendance at the White House dinner, where discussions focused on artificial intelligence, were Google co-founder Sergey Brin, Apple CEO Tim Cook and Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
However, one notable absentee was Elon Musk, a once close ally of the President who was tasked with running the Department of Government Efficiency.