Meta, led by Mark Zuckerberg (left), and Amazon, led by Jeff Bezos, gave $1m each. Photograph: Getty Images
Donations, not restricted by campaign finance laws, come as industries seek favor with incoming administration
US business leaders are spending big on Donald Trump’s second inaugural fund, which is predicted to exceed even the record-setting $107m raised in 2017.
The donations, which are not restricted by campaign finance laws, come as industries and business leaders seek to curry favor with the incoming administration after the president-elect decisively won a second, non-consecutive term in November.
Some of the planned donationsreportedly include $1m each from Jeff Bezos’s Amazon, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Facebook parent company Meta, led by Mark Zuckerberg.
Hedge-fund manager Ken Griffin has said he plans to donate $1m, Bloomberg reported; Uber and its CEO Dara Khosrowshahi are reported to be chipping in $1m each; and Toyota, Ford and General Motors are each peeling off $1m. Ford is also reportedly coupling its donation with a fleet of vehicles.
“EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE MY FRIEND!!!” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social on Thursday.
Many senior executives in US industries and finance have already made the trip to Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s transition team headquarters, or are planning to, according to reports, as they seek to gain influence and access to the incoming administration that’s threatening to shake up international trading norms.
Picketers decorate a Christmas tree outside Rossington Colliery, while police transit vans line the roadway, December 11, 1984
CHRISTMAS 1984 was potentially a desperate time for the families of miners who had been on strike against pit closures for nine months. It turned out to be the opposite for many striking mining communities.
France’s communist-led union group CGT sent a convoy of 30 lorries, driven by volunteers and packed with food and toys, across the Channel. The union had mounted a “toy drive” among its members, and thousands had flooded in.
The convoy arrived at Dover, and the lorries journeyed to struggling mining communities in Wales and northern England.
Hundreds of miners’ support groups across the country redoubled their solidarity efforts — and the public responded generously.
The result for many striking miners and their families was the best Christmas they had ever had. And the solidarity is remembered today across the former coalfields.
In the north-east, Ian Lavery, now Labour MP for Blyth and Ashington, was a 20-year-old miner at Ellington Colliery in Northumberland. He lived with his parents and siblings. His father was a striking miner, as were two of his three brothers.
He told the Morning Star: “It was one of the best times of my life.
“At Christmas time 1984, none of us had a ha’penny — no money at all. But one thing about miners and working-class people is that they will do anything to make sure the kids have a good Christmas. Whatever the situation — on strike for seven or eight months — we would not let the kids down.
“It was fabulous to see the juggernauts arriving from France. They provided every striking miner’s kid with a toy at Christmas. Honestly, there was juggernaut after juggernaut come all the way from France. Absolutely amazing. Then there were the chickens and the turkeys. They were on the Christmas table of every striking miner. It was just fabulous.
“There were Christmas parties in every village and community.
Thames Water, the UK’s largest such firm, is fighting for its survival after years of poor performance, fines and hefty dividend payouts Photograph: Gill Allen/REX/Shutterstock
Guardian Exclusive: UK’s biggest water company assessed risks before cutting back on cost of environmental work, investigation shows
Thames Water intentionally diverted millions of pounds pledged for environmental clean-ups towards other costs including bonuses and dividends, the Guardian can reveal.
The company, which serves more than 16 million customers, cut the funds after senior managers assessed the potential risks of such a move.
Discussions – held in secret – considered the risk of a public and regulatory backlash if it emerged that cash set aside for work such as cutting river pollution had been spent elsewhere.
This could be seen as abreach of the company’s licence commitments and leave it vulnerable to accusations it had broken the law, according to sources and material seen by the Guardian.
Thames Water continued to pay staff bonuses worth hundreds of thousands of pounds, and also paid tens of millions in dividends as recently as March this year, while cutting back on its spending promises. The company did so despite public claims from its leaders that improvements to its environmental performance, including on pollution, were a priority.
Wildlife presenter Liz Bonnin and naturalist and TV presenter Chris Packham join thousands of environmental campaigners from more than 130 organisations in a March for Clean Water on 3 November 2024 in London. Photograph: Mark Kerrison/In Pictures/Getty Images
Relatives of Palestinians killed in an Israeli attack mourn after their bodies were brought to al-Awda Hospital in Gaza City, Gaza on December 23, 2024. (Photo: Ali Jadallah/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“It is unacceptable for the world to remain silent and unable to protect the healthcare system,” said Gaza’s Ministry of Health.
Israeli forces have encircled and attacked three barely functioning hospitals in northern Gaza with growing intensity over the past week, endangering the lives of patients receiving treatment inside the facilities—including premature babies—and medical workers.
Dr. Husam Abu Safiya, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, said in a video statement over the weekend that the Israeli military had surrounded the facility and that “bullets had penetrated the intensive care unit, the maternity department, and the specialized surgery department.”
“The nursery, maternity, and all departments of the hospital are being targeted by the occupation forces with all types of weapons, including sniper fire, tank shells, and quadcopters,” said Abu Safiya, who noted that the hospital was still treating more than 80 patients.
Al Jazeera reported late Monday that a video recorded by eyewitnesses “shows robots in the vicinity of the hospital leaving behind an explosive device.”
“We were told by the person who filmed that video that there were at least four other robots in the vicinity of the hospital,” the outlet added. “Another video shows everyone in one corridor of the hospital, in the middle of the building, away from the windows and balconies and the rooms that are looking over the streets where these explosive devices are planted.”
Israeli authorities have ordered the evacuation of Kamal Adwan as well as Indonesian Hospital and al-Awda Hospital, but medical personnel and patients inside the facilities fear for their lives as there’s nowhere safe to go.
Gaza’s Ministry of Health said in a Telegram post that Israel’s military has targeted Kamal Adwan in recent days with “explosives and tank fire.”
“We hold the world accountable for what is happening to us and demand that they take responsibility for our suffering,” the ministry said. “It is unacceptable for the world to remain silent and unable to protect the healthcare system. We are being attacked in plain sight, with the entire world watching, yet no one intervenes in the face of this barbarity.”
Since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack, Israeli forces have waged what one United Nations expert described as an “unrelenting war” on Gaza’s already-strained healthcare system, invading and destroying hospitals and other medical infrastructure while choking off necessary supplies.
An Oxfam report published Monday found that just 12 trucks were able to distribute aid in northern Gaza over the past two and a half months due to Israel’s siege and incessant military attacks. Oxfam noted that between early October and mid-December, only 11 medical evacuation and assessment missions were approved for Kamal Adwan, and “one could not reach the hospital due to military activity and the rest all faced impediments along the way.”
“The situation in Gaza is apocalyptic and people are trapped, unable to find any kind of safety,” said Sally Abi-Khalil, Oxfam’s Middle East and North Africa director. “The absolute desperation of having no food or shelter for your family in the biting cold of winter. It is abhorrent that despite international law being so publicly violated by Israel and starvation being used relentlessly as a weapon of war, world leaders continue to do nothing.”
“Every day that passes without a cease-fire,” Abi-Khalil added, “is a death sentence for hundreds more civilians.”
Efforts to evacuate the three hospitals in northern Gaza have been hindered by ongoing Israeli military attacks as well as a lack of ambulances, according to the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR). The group said it lost contact with Kamal Adwan Hospital early Sunday “following a harrowing night of relentless shelling, gunfire, and explosive robots targeting nearby buildings.”
“PCHR stresses the urgent need for immediate action to protect patients and medical personnel and to ensure the ongoing operation of the hospital in an area where thousands of residents and IDPs face bombardment, starvation, and deprivation of healthcare and humanitarian services,” the organization said in a statement.
The group added that “Israel’s ongoing military assault and atrocities and its disregard for calls to end the genocide in Gaza are emboldened by the perpetual impunity granted by the U.S. and some Western allies, alongside these nations’ complicity in the serious violations committed against the Palestinian people through continuously arming Israel with weapons, ammunition, and political support.”
Imam Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, in a meeting on December 22. Photo: Khamenei.ir
The leader also emphasized that Iran does not have proxy forces in the region, but that its allies fight because of their belief in resisting oppression.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei asserted on Sunday, December 22 that no matter the temporary setbacks, the resistance will defeat the imperialist and Zionist forces in the region and that their claims of victory against the resistance are premature and hollow.
Khamenei was addressing hundreds of people during a religious ceremony in Tehran. He also refuted Western allegations that the resistance forces in the region fighting against imperialism and Zionist occupation, including Hezbollah, Hamas, Ansar Allah, and the Popular Mobilization Forces in Iraq, were in any way “proxies” of Iran. He emphasized that the forces part of the Axis of Resistance are driven by their faith and commitment to fight against oppression. He claimed that it is “the power of faith” which has “brought the faithful and honorable men to the resistance field” in Yemen, Lebanon and in Palestine. None of these groups are “acting on our behalf” Khamenei underlined. He also added that the Islamic Republic does not have proxies anywhere and neither does it need any such mechanism to act when needed, Iranian media reported.
Talking about the capture of power in Syria by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and Israel’s invasion inside the country as temporary Khamenei said he was confident that it cannot be termed as “victory” for the zionist regime as claimed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Following HTS’ control of Syrian state power on December 8, Israeli forces have advanced beyond the buffer zone in the Golan Heights, in violation of prior agreements. Netanyahu has also claimed that the victory of HTS against president Bashar al-Assad, was made possible because of the Israeli efforts. Israel has asserted its forces would remain inside Syria for as long as required.
Khamenei expressed hope that “God willing, soon in Syria,” young men will follow the examples of Yemen, Lebanon and Palestine and fight against oppression and the crimes imposed by the Zionist regime.” He reiterated his country’s resolve to “remove this regime [Zionist regime] from the region.”
“I predict that a powerful and honorable group will rise in Syria as well. A young Syrian has nothing to lose – his university is unsafe, his school is unsafe, his home is unsafe, his street is unsafe, his entire life is unsafe. What is he supposed to do?” Khamenei said.
Steadfast resistance against occupation
Khamenei called for “steadfast resistance” against the forces of occupation and dominance who are making the region unstable for their own narrow interests.
Khamenei noted that the US approach to the region is to control the regimes for its strategy to control the resources. It works against the interest of the people by either installing despotic regimes who align with its own interests or simply destabilizes a country by fomenting chaos and unrest in case it fails to install a favorable regime there. He gave the example of Syria where the US “resorted to unrest and created disorder.”
Khamenei warned against the repeated US attempts to create unrest in Iran as well. He however, expressed that all such attempts would be dealt with strongly by the Iranian state and such endeavors will never succeed.
Khamenei dismissed the claims made by Israel in terms of wars in Gaza and Lebanon. “Is killing over 40,000 women and children victory?” he asked. Even with this horrifying death toll from the last 14 months, the Zionist regime has not been able to defeat Hamas or other Palestinian resistance groups, he claimed. He reiterated that none of the original objectives proclaimed by Israel at the time of the beginning of the war in October 2023 have been achieved in Gaza or Lebanon.
“Have you destroyed Hamas or freed your captives in Gaza? Despite martyring a great leader like Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, have you managed to eliminate Hezbollah in Lebanon?” Khamenei asked.
