Eric Trump recounts friendly interaction with Mark Zuckerberg at inauguration

Eric Trump joined the latest episode of “Pod Force One,” where he dished about a friendly interaction with Mark Zuckerberg at the presidential inauguration — and said the Meta CEO seems like a “different person” than he was in 2020.

“I’ve actually come to like him,” the president’s son said of Zuckerberg. “There was a point where I absolutely detested him.”

Trump, 41, made the comments just weeks after the release of his new memoir, “Under Siege,” which discusses the travails of the once and future first family — and particularly efforts by big tech platforms such as Twitter and Facebook’s steps to suppress the 45th and 47th president’s speech online.

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Zuckerberg’s Facebook was one of several platforms that booted President Trump, now 79, from his account in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

The Meta chief also poured $400 million into helping finance local elections during the 2020 campaign in a way that critics viewed as helpful mainly to Democrats.

“I saw Zuckerberg. He was at the inauguration, and he was sitting right behind me, and he’s one of the only people in that room I didn’t meet. And I turned around and I shook his hand,” Eric recalled of the Jan. 20, 2025, interaction.

“I shook his hand, and we had really nice exchange. And later on at Statuary Hall, there was a lunch right after inauguration, right after my father was sworn in, he came up to me in a really friendly way, I’ll never forget this, and I legitimately believe he meant it, and he kind of checked me with his shoulder, and he goes, ‘Let’s fricking go. Let’s go,’” he relayed.

“And he had his hand out, and he was like half hugging me, and we were shaking hands. And by the way, I truly appreciate it, because I actually believe he was sincere the second time.”

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Full Episode

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Asked about Zuckerberg’s efforts to curtail conservatives’ speech including from the Trump family, Eric responded that the big tech CEO now “realized how badly” he was “misled.”

“I think he realized how wrong he was. I think he got tougher. He started doing the jiu jitsu stuff, I’m not sure if that played into it, like spiking testosterone or something associated with a combat sport, I don’t know what it was,” Eric suggested.

“There’s a lot of people out there that are fake, but I legitimately detested him in 2020 based on what he did with his platforms, including kicking us all off. And then all of a sudden, in 2024, it seemed like he was a different person.”