Former President Donald Trump writes in a new book set to be published next week that Mark Zuckerberg plotted against him during the 2020 election and said the Meta chief executive would “spend the rest of his life in prison” if he did it again.
It represents Trump’s most recent attack on Zuckerberg, who he has repeatedly accused of intervening in the last presidential election. And it comes as Meta has taken steps to assure conservatives it will not influence this year’s campaign.
“Save America,” a Trump-authored coffee table book being released Sept. 3, includes an undated photograph of Trump meeting with Zuckerberg in the White House. Under the photo, Trump writes that Zuckerberg “would come to the Oval Office to see me. He would bring his very nice wife to dinners, be as nice as anyone could be, while always plotting to install shameful Lock Boxes in a true PLOT AGAINST THE PRESIDENT,” Trump added, referring to a $420 millioncontribution Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, made during the 2020 election to fund election infrastructure.
“He told me there was nobody like Trump on Facebook. But at the same time, and for whatever reason, steered it against me,” Trump continues. “We are watching him closely, and if he does anything illegal this time he will spend the rest of his life in prison — as will others who cheat in the 2024 Presidential Election.”
Trump has made similar remarks about Zuckerberg before. Trump wrote in a July post on Truth Social that if elected he would pursue “ELECTION FRAUDSTERS at levels never seen before, and they will be sent to prison for long periods of time. We already know who you are. DON’T DO IT! ZUCKERBUCKS, be careful!”
A Meta spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Republicans have criticized Meta for suppressing content that would have damaged President Joe Biden in 2020, most notably reporting about the then-candidate’s son, Hunter. At the time, the FBI warned the coverage may have been part of a Russian-orchestrated effort to influence the election.
Zuckerberg sent a letter on Monday to the Republican-controlled House Judiciary Committee acknowledging it was a mistake to have suppressed the story, saying it has “since been made clear that the reporting was not Russian disinformation, and in retrospect, we shouldn’t have demoted the story,”
In the same letter, Zuckerberg wrote that the Biden administration had tried to “pressure” Meta to downplay certain content about Covid-19, which he said was “wrong” for the White House to have done. Zuckerberg also said he would not make similar contributions to fund election infrastructure ahead of this year’s election, though he also stressed that the funding was not intended to appear partisan in nature.
“Save America” is being released by Winning Team Publishing, which was co-founded by Donald Trump Jr. and Sergio Gor, a Trump ally.
