Leaders of tech industry attend secret meeting to bring down Trump
DONALD Trump isn’t afraid to make enemies, but with the likes of Tim Cook and Elon Musk plotting against him, he may have poked the bear one too many times.
THE world’s richest and most powerful leaders of the tech industry have attended a secret meeting where they discussed how to stop Donald Trump becoming president of the United States.
When Trump first announced his presidential ambitions, no one thought it could actually become a reality. But now that the billionaire real estate mogul is all but one step away from the White House, some of the tech industry’s most influential execs are hoping to halt his momentum.
Apple CEO Tim Cook, Google co-founder Larry Page, Space X and Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Napster creator and early Facebook investor Sean Parker were among the tech heavyweights to attend the gathering, reports The Huffington Post.
They were joined by high ranking members of the US Republican Party and billionaire donors, many of whom shared their concern over Trump’s political rise.
The meeting — known as the World Annual Forum — was held over the past weekend at an opulent hotel in Georgia, USA.
Tensions between Trump and Silicon Valley have been increasing throughout his campaign with the candidate repeatedly attacking businesses like Apple and Amazon. Trump recently called on his supporters to boycott Apple after the company refused to help the FBI hack into its iPhone operating software.
Editor of the Weekly Standard, Bill Kristol, attended the meeting and detailed the discussions held about stopping Trump.
“There was much unhappiness about his emergence, a good deal of talk, some of it insightful and thoughtful, about why he’s done so well, and many expressions of hope that he would be defeated,” he wrote.
The leaders reportedly saw the key as “less to understand Trump than to stop him”.
“In general, there’s a little too much hand-wringing, brow-furrowing, and fatalism out there and not quite enough resolving to save the party from nominating or the country electing someone who simply shouldn’t be president,” Kristol wrote.
Apple CEO Tim Cook has been reluctant to wade into a war of words with the incendiary Republican candidate, despite Trump’s repeated attacks on the company.
Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos has been less reticent to engage in a mud slinging match and cheekily suggested sending Trump into space after the Republican nominee posted a string of abusive texts about Amazon’s tax behaviour.
Meanwhile Tesla and Space X CEO Elon Musk moved to distance himself from reports of his involvement in a plot to bring down Trump.
“I was only there for a few hours to give a talk on technology innovation,” he said in a statement provided to Mashable.
He has previously expressed a desire that Trump does not win the nomination but still remains striking diplomatic, at least publicly.
“I am a registered Independent and believe in supporting reasonable candidates that show wisdom in their actions, understanding that no one is perfect, and empathy for all,” he said.
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