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Mark Zuckerberg had a private sit-down with Attorney General Pam Bondi at the Department of Justice earlier this year as he sought advice on how to talk to President Donald Trump, a new book claims. The Meta boss specifically wanted Bondi's help with how to 'effectively speak' to Trump about 'Meta's concerns', according to ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl's book, 'Retribution: Donald Trump and the Campaign That Changed America.' The meeting between the tech CEO and America's top law enforcement officer took place on March 12. Later that same day, Zuckerberg met with Trump at the White House. The two meetings came roughly a month before the Federal Trade Commission's antitrust case against Meta went to trial on April 14. The Department of Justice declined to comment and Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The case is hugely important to Zuckerberg. If the government convinces the judge overseeing the case that Meta has been acting as an illegal monopoly, the company may have to spin off Instagram and WhatsApp. The trial ended in May, though US District Judge James Boasberg has not made a ruling yet. Like several other big-tech tycoons, Zuckerberg has been cozying up to Trump since he re-took the White House. Zuckerberg had dinner with Trump at Mar-a-Lago shortly after his reelection in November 2024. It was reported that the two met again at the president's Palm Beach, Florida, residence in January 2025. Zuckerberg was a prominent guest at Trump's inauguration, where he was seated next to Lauren Sanchez and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Nearby was Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Zuckerberg also bought a $23 million home close to the White House in Washington, D.C. to keep close to Trump at the start of his second term. Zuckerberg was even asked to leave a meeting at the Oval Office after he 'walked in unexpectedly' while Trump was meeting with high-ranking military leaders. Since then, Meta has pledged to invest at least $600 billion in the US over the next three years in light of Trump's sweeping global tariffs. Much of that spend will go toward hulking data centers around the country that will support the massive computing power needed for Meta's suite of artificial intelligence products. The company is also among the 37 private donors to Trump's new White House ballroom, a $300million project that led to the demolition of the East Wing last week.
