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1. Shard Calculation

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Response:

Calculated Shard: 84 (from laksa092)

2. Crawled Status Check

Query:

curl -X POST \
  'http://laksa084.int.ahrefs:8124/' \
  -H 'Content-Type: text/plain' \
  -H 'X-ClickHouse-Database: crawler3' \
  -H 'Authorization: Basic YXBpOg==' \
  -d 'SELECT getAhrefsURLFromUnparsed(src_unparsed) AS found_url, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(download_stamp), 0) AS crawl_time, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(props_url_first_seen), 0) AS first_indexed_time, download_http_code AS http_code, src_unparsed AS src_unparsed, src_root_hash AS src_root_hash, history_drop_reason AS history_drop_reason, meta_title AS meta_title, meta_descriptions AS meta_descriptions, attrs_boilerpipe_text AS attrs_boilerpipe_text, attrs_markdown AS attrs_markdown, attrs_readable_markdown AS attrs_readable_markdown, meta_canonical AS meta_canonical FROM crawler3.page_info_local FINAL PREWHERE (src_root_hash, src_unparsed) IN ((getAhrefsRootHashFromUnparsed(getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/25/opinion/silicon-valley-trump.html\')), getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/25/opinion/silicon-valley-trump.html\'))) FORMAT JSONEachRow'

Response:

{"found_url":"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/09\/25\/opinion\/silicon-valley-trump.html","crawl_time":1770125108,"first_indexed_time":1727255857,"http_code":200,"src_unparsed":"com,nytimes!www,\/2024\/09\/25\/opinion\/silicon-valley-trump.html s443","src_root_hash":"4566504020376537684","history_drop_reason":null,"meta_title":"Opinion | Why Do People Like Elon Musk Love Donald Trump? It’s Not Just About Money. - The New York Times","meta_descriptions":["Trump’s backers in tech see him as a fellow victim of the state and a shield they need to escape accountability."],"attrs_boilerpipe_text":"Advertisement\nSKIP ADVERTISEMENT\nGuest Essay\nSept. 25, 2024\nCredit...\nAna Miminoshvili\nChris Hughes\nOn a Friday morning in May, a day after Donald Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts in a scheme to influence the 2016 election by falsifying business records, I met a tech leader for breakfast in the Flatiron district of Manhattan. A lifelong Democrat, he had recently reinvented himself as an ardent Trump supporter. Unmoved by the conviction, he was on his way to a fund-raiser for the former president about a week later (starting ticket price: $50,000).\nI co-founded Facebook in college 20 years ago, but I left California and start-up culture behind long ago for public policy and economics. As we sat over scrambled eggs, chicken sausage and whole-wheat toast, I was struck by how many of the wealthiest and most powerful figures in Silicon Valley — including some I knew — were now loudly backing Mr. Trump.\nThe event my companion jetted off to raised $12 million in a single evening. Among the former president’s highest-profile backers in the Valley are the venture capitalists Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, who endorsed Mr. Trump on their podcast, and Elon Musk, who founded one of the most\nwell-funded super PACs\nsupporting his campaign. Mr. Trump\nclaims\nthat Mark Zuckerberg called him to say that he wouldn’t support a Democrat in November, although Mr. Zuckerberg’s spokesperson denied the claim.\nIt would be easy to write off tech’s rightward drift as nothing more than the rich acting in their economic self-interest, but Silicon Valley has always been driven by profit, and it hasn’t tilted Republican since the 1980s. Even now, it remains\nlargely Democratic\n, though even some of Kamala Harris’s strongest Valley supporters\nworry\nabout how she might approach tech policy.\nMr. Trump appeals to some Silicon Valley elites because they identify with the man. To them, he is a fellow victim of the state, unjustly persecuted for his bold ideas. Practically, he is also the shield they need to escape accountability. Mr. Trump may threaten democratic norms and spread disinformation; he could even set off a recession, but he won’t challenge their ability to build the technology they like, no matter the social cost.\nThese leaders are betting they can sway Mr. Trump to their ideas through public support and financial backing, and they might be right. Once a critic of cryptocurrency, he has\nshifted\nto opposing regulation after crypto executives donated to his campaign, and this month he and his sons\nunveiled a crypto business\n. Mr. Trump recently proposed a “government efficiency commission” — an idea Mr. Musk\nfloated\nto him only weeks earlier. While Mr. Trump’s allies in Silicon Valley may be few, their support could grant them influence over how his potential second administration — and by extension, the Republican Party — shapes tech policy for years to come.\nAs much as they want to influence Mr. Trump’s policies, they also want to strike back at the Biden-Harris administration, which they believe has unfairly targeted their industry.\nMore than any other administration in the internet era, President Biden and Ms. Harris have pushed tech companies toward serving the public interest. Key to their approach is the support of start-ups to counterbalance the dominance of tech giants, whose combined market value eclipses the G.D.P. of many countries. Brian Deese, the former director of Mr. Biden’s National Economic Council, has\nmade clear\nthat “big” companies are not inherently bad. But when they wield their market power, they can unfairly increase prices, narrow consumer choice, lower wages and impede the innovation that comes from fruitful competition.\nOver the past three years, the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice have taken on some of the largest tech companies — Facebook, Google, Amazon and Apple — arguing that they’ve stifled competition and harmed consumers. They’ve already made progress, including a major antitrust\nruling\nagainst Google that could create momentum for other cases.\nIt’s not just antitrust. Mr. Biden’s Securities and Exchange Commission, led by Gary Gensler, another target of the tech elite backlash, has aggressively reined in cryptocurrencies, the\nmistakenly named\ncategory of products that offers little practical value to most Americans. The Biden-Harris administration also issued a landmark executive order last year that created a framework to ensure that artificial intelligence technologies are safe and fair.\nMost Americans see these actions as overdue. They blame tech companies for contributing to the mental health crisis among teenagers, political polarization, rampant misinformation and privacy violations. Many of us, reading the\nevidence\nabout social media’s negative effects on our children, do not want to make the same mistake of failing to create guardrails for new technologies, however promising they may be.\nMr. Trump’s tech supporters see it differently. Echoing monopolists of the past,\nthey\nsay\nthey are the victims of zealous progressives who want to overregulate the industry. Constraints on their market power threaten the growth of their businesses — and challenge their foundational belief that technological advancement is good in and of itself.\nLast year, Mr. Andreessen, whose venture capital firm is heavily invested in crypto, wrote a widely discussed “\nmanifesto\n” claiming that enemy voices of “bureaucracy, vetocracy, gerontocracy” are opposed to the “pursuit of technology, abundance and life.” In a barely concealed critique of the Biden-Harris administration, he argued that those who believe in carefully assessing the impact of new technologies before adopting them are “\ndeeply\nimmoral.”\nIt’s not surprising then that tech titans feel some camaraderie with Mr. Trump, who portrays himself as a savior and a martyr. Like them, he doesn’t want to have to play by the rules or entertain challenges to his vision for a “better” America. “Nobody knows the system better than me,” he\nsaid\nin his first presidential run, “which is why I alone can fix it.” He\nlaunched\nhis 2024 campaign by saying, “I am a victim,” and continues to claim that the justice system is rigged, as are elections. He will fight for self-perceived victims of all sorts, even (or especially) the ones who live in gilded mansions.\nArguments like Mr. Andreessen’s offer a false choice between economic and technological advancement — made possible by boundary-breaking business leaders — and ineffective, bureaucratic regulation. I, too, am a techno-optimist, and I believe that the world is largely better off because of the avalanche of technologies that have emerged over the past two decades. But just as we needed rules of the road for cars and safety regulations for planes, we need to manage these new technologies through public policy to ensure we like what they are doing to us, not resign ourselves to letting them run wild.\nSome Republicans have appeared to realize this, which can make the budding alliance between tech and Mr. Trump seem strange at first glance. A group of economic nationalists, which includes JD Vance, claims to want more oversight of tech companies. Teaming up with Democrats, Senator Lindsey Graham has\nproposed\na digital regulatory agency and Senator Josh Hawley has proposed a particularly aggressive framework to manage A.I. companies. Mr. Vance himself has\nsaid\nthat Mr. Biden’s F.T.C. chair, Lina Khan, is “doing a pretty good job.”\nIn the presidential race, however, stray remarks about antitrust from Mr. Trump’s running mate hold little weight with the candidate himself. Mr. Trump controls his party, and tech leaders know the only voice that truly matters is the last one he heard whispering in his ear.\nA version of this article appears in print on\nSept. 29, 2024\n, Section SR, Page 6 of the New York edition with the headline: The Strange Duo of Tech And Trump\n.\nOrder Reprints\n|\nToday’s Paper\n|\nSubscribe\nRelated Content\nMore in Opinion\nIllustration by Sam Whitney\/The New York Times\nThe New York Times\nRussell Lee\/Library of Congress\nBen Wiseman\nEditors’ Picks\nJeremy Nguyen\nTrending in The Times\nNathalia Angarita for The New York Times\nNeilson Barnard\/Getty Images\nEric Helgas for The New York Times\nSebastian Siadecki for The New York Times\nHiroko Masuike\/The New York Times\nThe New York Times\nDavid Bastianon\nKerstin Wichmann\nNathan Congleton\/NBC, via Getty Images\nAdvertisement\nSKIP ADVERTISEMENT","attrs_markdown":"[Skip to content](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/09\/25\/opinion\/silicon-valley-trump.html#site-content)[Skip to site index](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/09\/25\/opinion\/silicon-valley-trump.html#site-index)\n\nSearch & Section Navigation\n\nSection Navigation\n\nSearch\n\n[Log in](https:\/\/myaccount.nytimes.com\/auth\/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2Fsubscription%2Fonboarding-offer%3FcampaignId%3D7JFJX%26EXIT_URI%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.nytimes.com%252F2024%252F09%252F25%252Fopinion%252Fsilicon-valley-trump.html&asset=masthead)\n\nTuesday, February 3, 2026\n\n[Today’s Paper](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/todayspaper)\n\n[Opinion](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/opinion)\\|Why Do People Like Elon Musk Love Donald Trump? It’s Not Just About Money.\n\nhttps:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/09\/25\/opinion\/silicon-valley-trump.html\n\n- Share full article\n- 1\\.2k\n\nAdvertisement\n\n[SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/09\/25\/opinion\/silicon-valley-trump.html#after-top)\n\n[Opinion](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/opinion)\n\nSupported by\n\n[SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/09\/25\/opinion\/silicon-valley-trump.html#after-sponsor)\n\nGuest Essay\n\n# Why Do People Like Elon Musk Love Donald Trump? It’s Not Just About Money.\nSept. 25, 2024\n\n![A pixelated photograph of a red “Make America Great Again” hat.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/09\/25\/opinion\/25Hughes\/25Hughes-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n\nCredit...Ana Miminoshvili\n\n- Share full article\n- 1\\.2k\n\nBy Chris Hughes\n\nChris Hughes is the chair of the Economic Security Project and the author of the forthcoming book “[Marketcrafters: The 100-Year Struggle to Shape the American Economy](https:\/\/www.simonandschuster.com\/books\/Marketcrafters\/Chris-Hughes\/9781668050170).” He is a co-founder of Facebook.\n\n[阅读简体中文版](https:\/\/cn.nytimes.com\/opinion\/20240927\/silicon-valley-trump\/ \"Read in Simplified Chinese\")[閱讀繁體中文版](https:\/\/cn.nytimes.com\/opinion\/20240927\/silicon-valley-trump\/zh-hant\/ \"Read in Traditional Chinese\")\n\nOn a Friday morning in May, a day after Donald Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts in a scheme to influence the 2016 election by falsifying business records, I met a tech leader for breakfast in the Flatiron district of Manhattan. A lifelong Democrat, he had recently reinvented himself as an ardent Trump supporter. Unmoved by the conviction, he was on his way to a fund-raiser for the former president about a week later (starting ticket price: \\$50,000).\n\nI co-founded Facebook in college 20 years ago, but I left California and start-up culture behind long ago for public policy and economics. As we sat over scrambled eggs, chicken sausage and whole-wheat toast, I was struck by how many of the wealthiest and most powerful figures in Silicon Valley — including some I knew — were now loudly backing Mr. Trump.\n\nThe event my companion jetted off to raised \\$12 million in a single evening. Among the former president’s highest-profile backers in the Valley are the venture capitalists Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, who endorsed Mr. Trump on their podcast, and Elon Musk, who founded one of the most [well-funded super PACs](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/09\/17\/us\/politics\/elon-musk-donald-trump-super-pac.html) supporting his campaign. Mr. Trump [claims](https:\/\/nymag.com\/intelligencer\/article\/donald-trump-ear-campaign-assassination-attempt.html) that Mark Zuckerberg called him to say that he wouldn’t support a Democrat in November, although Mr. Zuckerberg’s spokesperson denied the claim.\n\nIt would be easy to write off tech’s rightward drift as nothing more than the rich acting in their economic self-interest, but Silicon Valley has always been driven by profit, and it hasn’t tilted Republican since the 1980s. Even now, it remains [largely Democratic](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/07\/20\/business\/dealbook\/silicon-valley-trump.html), though even some of Kamala Harris’s strongest Valley supporters [worry](https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2024-07-31\/business-moguls-urge-harris-to-dump-biden-s-ftc-chair-lina-khan?sref=hlHfgL28) about how she might approach tech policy.\n\nMr. Trump appeals to some Silicon Valley elites because they identify with the man. To them, he is a fellow victim of the state, unjustly persecuted for his bold ideas. Practically, he is also the shield they need to escape accountability. Mr. Trump may threaten democratic norms and spread disinformation; he could even set off a recession, but he won’t challenge their ability to build the technology they like, no matter the social cost.\n\nThese leaders are betting they can sway Mr. Trump to their ideas through public support and financial backing, and they might be right. Once a critic of cryptocurrency, he has [shifted](https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/2024\/07\/14\/trump-cryptocurrency-donors\/) to opposing regulation after crypto executives donated to his campaign, and this month he and his sons [unveiled a crypto business](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/09\/16\/technology\/trump-crypto-world-liberty-financial.html). Mr. Trump recently proposed a “government efficiency commission” — an idea Mr. Musk [floated](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/09\/06\/technology\/elon-musk-donald-trump-influence.html) to him only weeks earlier. While Mr. Trump’s allies in Silicon Valley may be few, their support could grant them influence over how his potential second administration — and by extension, the Republican Party — shapes tech policy for years to come.\n\nAs much as they want to influence Mr. Trump’s policies, they also want to strike back at the Biden-Harris administration, which they believe has unfairly targeted their industry.\n\nMore than any other administration in the internet era, President Biden and Ms. Harris have pushed tech companies toward serving the public interest. Key to their approach is the support of start-ups to counterbalance the dominance of tech giants, whose combined market value eclipses the G.D.P. of many countries. Brian Deese, the former director of Mr. Biden’s National Economic Council, has [made clear](https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefing-room\/statements-releases\/2022\/07\/14\/brian-deese-remarks-on-president-bidens-competition-agenda\/) that “big” companies are not inherently bad. But when they wield their market power, they can unfairly increase prices, narrow consumer choice, lower wages and impede the innovation that comes from fruitful competition.\n\nOver the past three years, the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice have taken on some of the largest tech companies — Facebook, Google, Amazon and Apple — arguing that they’ve stifled competition and harmed consumers. They’ve already made progress, including a major antitrust [ruling](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/08\/05\/technology\/google-antitrust-ruling.html) against Google that could create momentum for other cases.\n\n## Editors’ Picks\n[![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/01\/31\/multimedia\/31baketime-mousse-single-vertical-spoonin-cfpq\/31baketime-mousse-single-vertical-spoonin-cfpq-thumbLarge.jpg)My Favorite Dessert in New York City, Now on Demand](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/01\/31\/dining\/chocolate-mousse-dessert-recipe.html)\n\n[![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/01\/16\/multimedia\/00hw-hope-trauma-prevention-top-jcvw\/00hw-hope-trauma-prevention-top-jcvw-thumbLarge.jpg)Childhood Trauma Doesn’t Have to Be a Lifelong Curse](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/01\/31\/headway\/childhood-trauma-recovery-healing-research.html)\n\n[![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/01\/30\/business\/30biz-adviser\/30biz-adviser-thumbLarge.png)Tips for Lowering Your Credit Card Interest Rate](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/01\/30\/your-money\/credit-card-debt-interest-rates.html)\n\nAdvertisement\n\n[SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/09\/25\/opinion\/silicon-valley-trump.html#after-pp_edpick)\n\nIt’s not just antitrust. Mr. Biden’s Securities and Exchange Commission, led by Gary Gensler, another target of the tech elite backlash, has aggressively reined in cryptocurrencies, the [mistakenly named](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/06\/14\/opinion\/bitcoin-cryptocurrency-flaws.html) category of products that offers little practical value to most Americans. The Biden-Harris administration also issued a landmark executive order last year that created a framework to ensure that artificial intelligence technologies are safe and fair.\n\nMost Americans see these actions as overdue. They blame tech companies for contributing to the mental health crisis among teenagers, political polarization, rampant misinformation and privacy violations. Many of us, reading the [evidence](https:\/\/www.anxiousgeneration.com\/research\/the-evidence) about social media’s negative effects on our children, do not want to make the same mistake of failing to create guardrails for new technologies, however promising they may be.\n\nMr. Trump’s tech supporters see it differently. Echoing monopolists of the past, [they](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/07\/17\/technology\/jd-vance-tech-silicon-valley.html) [say](https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2024\/07\/16\/david-sacks-trashes-san-francisco-rnc-00168589) they are the victims of zealous progressives who want to overregulate the industry. Constraints on their market power threaten the growth of their businesses — and challenge their foundational belief that technological advancement is good in and of itself.\n\nLast year, Mr. Andreessen, whose venture capital firm is heavily invested in crypto, wrote a widely discussed “[manifesto](https:\/\/a16z.com\/the-techno-optimist-manifesto\/)” claiming that enemy voices of “bureaucracy, vetocracy, gerontocracy” are opposed to the “pursuit of technology, abundance and life.” In a barely concealed critique of the Biden-Harris administration, he argued that those who believe in carefully assessing the impact of new technologies before adopting them are “*deeply* immoral.”\n\nIt’s not surprising then that tech titans feel some camaraderie with Mr. Trump, who portrays himself as a savior and a martyr. Like them, he doesn’t want to have to play by the rules or entertain challenges to his vision for a “better” America. “Nobody knows the system better than me,” he [said](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2016\/07\/22\/us\/politics\/trump-transcript-rnc-address.html) in his first presidential run, “which is why I alone can fix it.” He [launched](https:\/\/www.rev.com\/blog\/transcripts\/former-president-trump-announces-2024-presidential-bid-transcript) his 2024 campaign by saying, “I am a victim,” and continues to claim that the justice system is rigged, as are elections. He will fight for self-perceived victims of all sorts, even (or especially) the ones who live in gilded mansions.\n\nArguments like Mr. Andreessen’s offer a false choice between economic and technological advancement — made possible by boundary-breaking business leaders — and ineffective, bureaucratic regulation. I, too, am a techno-optimist, and I believe that the world is largely better off because of the avalanche of technologies that have emerged over the past two decades. But just as we needed rules of the road for cars and safety regulations for planes, we need to manage these new technologies through public policy to ensure we like what they are doing to us, not resign ourselves to letting them run wild.\n\nSome Republicans have appeared to realize this, which can make the budding alliance between tech and Mr. Trump seem strange at first glance. A group of economic nationalists, which includes JD Vance, claims to want more oversight of tech companies. Teaming up with Democrats, Senator Lindsey Graham has [proposed](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/07\/27\/opinion\/lindsey-graham-elizabeth-warren-big-tech-regulation.html) a digital regulatory agency and Senator Josh Hawley has proposed a particularly aggressive framework to manage A.I. companies. Mr. Vance himself has [said](https:\/\/thehill.com\/policy\/technology\/4491363-vance-biden-ftc-chief-is-doing-a-pretty-good-job\/) that Mr. Biden’s F.T.C. chair, Lina Khan, is “doing a pretty good job.”\n\nIn the presidential race, however, stray remarks about antitrust from Mr. Trump’s running mate hold little weight with the candidate himself. Mr. Trump controls his party, and tech leaders know the only voice that truly matters is the last one he heard whispering in his ear.\n\nMore on Silicon Valley’s role in the 2024 election\n\n[![]()How Elon Musk Is Influencing Donald Trump Sept. 6, 2024](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/09\/06\/technology\/elon-musk-donald-trump-influence.html)\n\n[![]()Behind Kamala Harris’s Rise: Silicon Valley’s Wealthiest Woman Sept. 24, 2024](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/09\/24\/us\/politics\/kamala-harris-laurene-powell-jobs.html)\n\n[![]()Mark Zuckerberg Is Done With Politics Sept. 24, 2024](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/09\/24\/technology\/mark-zuckerberg-trump-politics.html)\n\nChris Hughes is the chair of the Economic Security Project and the author of the forthcoming book “[Marketcrafters: The 100-Year Struggle to Shape the American Economy](https:\/\/www.simonandschuster.com\/books\/Marketcrafters\/Chris-Hughes\/9781668050170).” He is a co-founder of Facebook.\n\n*The Times is committed to publishing* [*a diversity of letters*](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2019\/01\/31\/opinion\/letters\/letters-to-editor-new-york-times-women.html) *to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some* [*tips*](https:\/\/help.nytimes.com\/hc\/en-us\/articles\/115014925288-How-to-submit-a-letter-to-the-editor)*. And here’s our email:* [*letters@nytimes.com*](mailto:letters@nytimes.com)*.*\n\n*Follow the New York Times Opinion section on* [*Facebook*](https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/nytopinion)*,* [*Instagram*](https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/nytopinion\/)*,* [*TikTok*](https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@nytopinion)*,* [*WhatsApp*](https:\/\/www.whatsapp.com\/channel\/0029VaN8tdZ5vKAGNwXaED0M)*,* [*X*](http:\/\/twitter.com\/NYTOpinion) *and* [*Threads*](https:\/\/www.threads.net\/@nytopinion)*.*\n\nA version of this article appears in print on Sept. 29, 2024, Section SR, Page 6 of the New York edition with the headline: The Strange Duo of Tech And Trump. [Order Reprints](https:\/\/nytimes.wrightsmedia.com\/) \\| [Today’s Paper](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/todayspaper) \\| [Subscribe](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscriptions\/Multiproduct\/lp8HYKU.html?campaignId=48JQY)\n\nRead 1,228 comments\n\n- Share full article\n- 1\\.2k\n\n## Related Content\n### [More in Opinion](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/opinion)\n- [‘Melania’ the Book Was Bad. ‘Melania’ the Movie Is Somehow Worse.](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/03\/opinion\/melania-trump-movie-memoir.html)\n  \n  Opinion\n  \n  ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/03\/opinion\/03lozada-image\/03lozada-image-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Illustration by Sam Whitney\/The New York Times\n- [Is Your Social Life Missing Something? This Conversation Is for You.](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/03\/opinion\/ezra-klein-podcast-priya-parker.html)\n  \n  Opinion\n  \n  ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/03\/opinion\/03eks-parker-image\/03eks-parker-image-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  The New York Times\n- [The Trad Life Fantasy Was Never Real](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/01\/31\/opinion\/trad-fantasy-fiction-family-economy.html)\n  \n  Opinion\n  \n  ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/01\/31\/opinion\/31grose-newsletter1\/31grose-newsletter1-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Russell Lee\/Library of Congress\n- [Hey, Republicans: Trump Is the President](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/02\/opinion\/trump-failure-minnesota.html)\n  \n  Opinion\n  \n  ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/02\/opinion\/02bruni-newsletter-image\/02bruni-newsletter-image-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Ben Wiseman\n\n### Editors’ Picks\n- [A Family of Three in a SoHo Loft Without Walls](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/02\/realestate\/yoda-artist-family-soho-loft.html)\n  \n  ![Toshihisa Yoda, left, emigrated from Japan by boat in 1966 with a suitcase full of oil paints. Since 1990, he and his wife, Junko, and their son, Yoichiro, have lived and made art together in a fantastically cluttered SoHo loft.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/02\/multimedia\/02re-streetscapes-yodas-gvqp\/02re-streetscapes-yodas-gvqp-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n- [Who Loves Turbulence, Airplane Food and the Middle Seat? They Do.](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/02\/travel\/turbulence-airplane-food-middle-seat.html)\n  \n  ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/12\/23\/travel\/00trav-turbulence-illo\/00trav-turbulence-illo-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Jeremy Nguyen\n\n### Trending in The Times\n- [Trump to Meet With Colombia’s President at White House](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/03\/us\/politics\/colombia-petro-trump-meeting.html)\n  \n  ![President Gustavo Petro of Colombia at the presidential palace in Bogotá, the capital, last month.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/01\/11\/multimedia\/03trump-news-colombia-petro1\/03trump-news-colombia-petro1-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Nathalia Angarita for The New York Times\n- [The Grammys Take Naked to Another Level](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/01\/style\/grammys-chappell-roan-naked-dress.html)\n  \n  ![Chappell Roan arrived in a burgundy, opaque chiffon cape, a custom design by Mugler. Below her cape, an opaque floor-length skirt hung in place from nipple piercings.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/01\/multimedia\/ST-NAKED-GRAMMYS-kczb\/ST-NAKED-GRAMMYS-kczb-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Neilson Barnard\/Getty Images\n- [Can a Humidifier Help With Winter Dryness?](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/03\/well\/live\/humidifier-winter-dryness-advice.html)\n  \n  ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/03\/well\/03WELL-ASK-HUMIDIFIER1\/03WELL-ASK-HUMIDIFIER1-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Eric Helgas for The New York Times\n- [They Went to the Woods Because They Wished to Live Deliberately](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/03\/realestate\/walden-cabin-thoreau-replica-building.html)\n  \n  ![Jim and Rachel Van Eerden’s “Walden”-inspired cabin in Stokesdale, N.C.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/03\/multimedia\/03re-Walden1-wcvl\/03re-Walden1-wcvl-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Sebastian Siadecki for The New York Times\n- [It Was 33 Degrees on Monday. That’s Still Cold.](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/03\/nyregion\/weather-cold-nyc-monday.html)\n  \n  ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/03\/multimedia\/03nytoday-wgbc\/03nytoday-wgbc-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Hiroko Masuike\/The New York Times\n- [Opinion: Is Your Social Life Missing Something? This Conversation Is for You.](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/video\/opinion\/100000010630271\/is-your-social-life-missing-something-this-conversation-is-for-you.html)\n  \n  ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/03\/opinion\/03eks-parker-image\/03eks-parker-image-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  The New York Times\n- [Why Brides Are No Longer Saying Yes to Just One Dress](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/01\/31\/style\/wedding-dresses-fashion-designers.html)\n  \n  ![Venus Williams with her husband, Andrea Preti, during their wedding celebration in Palm Beach, Fla., in December. For one of several looks she wore over five days, Ms. Williams chose a custom gown by Anne Barge, featuring asymmetric draping and hand-embroidered lace.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/01\/31\/multimedia\/31ST-MULTIPLE-WEDDING-DRESSES-01-mpjk\/31ST-MULTIPLE-WEDDING-DRESSES-01-mpjk-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  David Bastianon\n- [Is Ikea Cookware As Good As All-Clad?](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/video\/smarter-living\/wirecutter\/100000010684785\/is-ikea-cookware-as-good-as-all-clad.html)\n  \n  ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/02\/smarter-living\/wirecutter\/THUMB_260123_WC_TOT_IKEAALLCLADPANS_AP_9X16\/THUMB_260123_WC_TOT_IKEAALLCLADPANS_AP_9X16-square640.png?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n- [A Cancer Surgery and the Pain I Didn’t Want to Face](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/02\/well\/live\/cancer-surgery-pain.html)\n  \n  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in May, a day after Donald Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts in a scheme to influence the 2016 election by falsifying business records, I met a tech leader for breakfast in the Flatiron district of Manhattan. A lifelong Democrat, he had recently reinvented himself as an ardent Trump supporter. Unmoved by the conviction, he was on his way to a fund-raiser for the former president about a week later (starting ticket price: \\$50,000).\n\nI co-founded Facebook in college 20 years ago, but I left California and start-up culture behind long ago for public policy and economics. As we sat over scrambled eggs, chicken sausage and whole-wheat toast, I was struck by how many of the wealthiest and most powerful figures in Silicon Valley — including some I knew — were now loudly backing Mr. Trump.\n\nThe event my companion jetted off to raised \\$12 million in a single evening. Among the former president’s highest-profile backers in the Valley are the venture capitalists Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, who endorsed Mr. Trump on their podcast, and Elon Musk, who founded one of the most [well-funded super PACs](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/09\/17\/us\/politics\/elon-musk-donald-trump-super-pac.html) supporting his campaign. Mr. Trump [claims](https:\/\/nymag.com\/intelligencer\/article\/donald-trump-ear-campaign-assassination-attempt.html) that Mark Zuckerberg called him to say that he wouldn’t support a Democrat in November, although Mr. Zuckerberg’s spokesperson denied the claim.\n\nIt would be easy to write off tech’s rightward drift as nothing more than the rich acting in their economic self-interest, but Silicon Valley has always been driven by profit, and it hasn’t tilted Republican since the 1980s. Even now, it remains [largely Democratic](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/07\/20\/business\/dealbook\/silicon-valley-trump.html), though even some of Kamala Harris’s strongest Valley supporters [worry](https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2024-07-31\/business-moguls-urge-harris-to-dump-biden-s-ftc-chair-lina-khan?sref=hlHfgL28) about how she might approach tech policy.\n\nMr. Trump appeals to some Silicon Valley elites because they identify with the man. To them, he is a fellow victim of the state, unjustly persecuted for his bold ideas. Practically, he is also the shield they need to escape accountability. Mr. Trump may threaten democratic norms and spread disinformation; he could even set off a recession, but he won’t challenge their ability to build the technology they like, no matter the social cost.\n\nThese leaders are betting they can sway Mr. Trump to their ideas through public support and financial backing, and they might be right. Once a critic of cryptocurrency, he has [shifted](https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/2024\/07\/14\/trump-cryptocurrency-donors\/) to opposing regulation after crypto executives donated to his campaign, and this month he and his sons [unveiled a crypto business](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/09\/16\/technology\/trump-crypto-world-liberty-financial.html). Mr. Trump recently proposed a “government efficiency commission” — an idea Mr. Musk [floated](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/09\/06\/technology\/elon-musk-donald-trump-influence.html) to him only weeks earlier. While Mr. Trump’s allies in Silicon Valley may be few, their support could grant them influence over how his potential second administration — and by extension, the Republican Party — shapes tech policy for years to come.\n\nAs much as they want to influence Mr. Trump’s policies, they also want to strike back at the Biden-Harris administration, which they believe has unfairly targeted their industry.\n\nMore than any other administration in the internet era, President Biden and Ms. Harris have pushed tech companies toward serving the public interest. Key to their approach is the support of start-ups to counterbalance the dominance of tech giants, whose combined market value eclipses the G.D.P. of many countries. Brian Deese, the former director of Mr. Biden’s National Economic Council, has [made clear](https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefing-room\/statements-releases\/2022\/07\/14\/brian-deese-remarks-on-president-bidens-competition-agenda\/) that “big” companies are not inherently bad. But when they wield their market power, they can unfairly increase prices, narrow consumer choice, lower wages and impede the innovation that comes from fruitful competition.\n\nOver the past three years, the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice have taken on some of the largest tech companies — Facebook, Google, Amazon and Apple — arguing that they’ve stifled competition and harmed consumers. They’ve already made progress, including a major antitrust [ruling](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/08\/05\/technology\/google-antitrust-ruling.html) against Google that could create momentum for other cases.\n\nIt’s not just antitrust. Mr. Biden’s Securities and Exchange Commission, led by Gary Gensler, another target of the tech elite backlash, has aggressively reined in cryptocurrencies, the [mistakenly named](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/06\/14\/opinion\/bitcoin-cryptocurrency-flaws.html) category of products that offers little practical value to most Americans. The Biden-Harris administration also issued a landmark executive order last year that created a framework to ensure that artificial intelligence technologies are safe and fair.\n\nMost Americans see these actions as overdue. They blame tech companies for contributing to the mental health crisis among teenagers, political polarization, rampant misinformation and privacy violations. Many of us, reading the [evidence](https:\/\/www.anxiousgeneration.com\/research\/the-evidence) about social media’s negative effects on our children, do not want to make the same mistake of failing to create guardrails for new technologies, however promising they may be.\n\nMr. Trump’s tech supporters see it differently. Echoing monopolists of the past, [they](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/07\/17\/technology\/jd-vance-tech-silicon-valley.html) [say](https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2024\/07\/16\/david-sacks-trashes-san-francisco-rnc-00168589) they are the victims of zealous progressives who want to overregulate the industry. Constraints on their market power threaten the growth of their businesses — and challenge their foundational belief that technological advancement is good in and of itself.\n\nLast year, Mr. Andreessen, whose venture capital firm is heavily invested in crypto, wrote a widely discussed “[manifesto](https:\/\/a16z.com\/the-techno-optimist-manifesto\/)” claiming that enemy voices of “bureaucracy, vetocracy, gerontocracy” are opposed to the “pursuit of technology, abundance and life.” In a barely concealed critique of the Biden-Harris administration, he argued that those who believe in carefully assessing the impact of new technologies before adopting them are “*deeply* immoral.”\n\nIt’s not surprising then that tech titans feel some camaraderie with Mr. Trump, who portrays himself as a savior and a martyr. Like them, he doesn’t want to have to play by the rules or entertain challenges to his vision for a “better” America. “Nobody knows the system better than me,” he [said](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2016\/07\/22\/us\/politics\/trump-transcript-rnc-address.html) in his first presidential run, “which is why I alone can fix it.” He [launched](https:\/\/www.rev.com\/blog\/transcripts\/former-president-trump-announces-2024-presidential-bid-transcript) his 2024 campaign by saying, “I am a victim,” and continues to claim that the justice system is rigged, as are elections. He will fight for self-perceived victims of all sorts, even (or especially) the ones who live in gilded mansions.\n\nArguments like Mr. Andreessen’s offer a false choice between economic and technological advancement — made possible by boundary-breaking business leaders — and ineffective, bureaucratic regulation. I, too, am a techno-optimist, and I believe that the world is largely better off because of the avalanche of technologies that have emerged over the past two decades. But just as we needed rules of the road for cars and safety regulations for planes, we need to manage these new technologies through public policy to ensure we like what they are doing to us, not resign ourselves to letting them run wild.\n\nSome Republicans have appeared to realize this, which can make the budding alliance between tech and Mr. Trump seem strange at first glance. A group of economic nationalists, which includes JD Vance, claims to want more oversight of tech companies. Teaming up with Democrats, Senator Lindsey Graham has [proposed](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/07\/27\/opinion\/lindsey-graham-elizabeth-warren-big-tech-regulation.html) a digital regulatory agency and Senator Josh Hawley has proposed a particularly aggressive framework to manage A.I. companies. Mr. Vance himself has [said](https:\/\/thehill.com\/policy\/technology\/4491363-vance-biden-ftc-chief-is-doing-a-pretty-good-job\/) that Mr. Biden’s F.T.C. chair, Lina Khan, is “doing a pretty good job.”\n\nIn the presidential race, however, stray remarks about antitrust from Mr. Trump’s running mate hold little weight with the candidate himself. Mr. Trump controls his party, and tech leaders know the only voice that truly matters is the last one he heard whispering in his ear.\n\nA version of this article appears in print on Sept. 29, 2024, Section SR, Page 6 of the New York edition with the headline: The Strange Duo of Tech And Trump. [Order Reprints](https:\/\/nytimes.wrightsmedia.com\/) \\| [Today’s Paper](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/todayspaper) \\| [Subscribe](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscriptions\/Multiproduct\/lp8HYKU.html?campaignId=48JQY)\n\n## Related Content\n[More in Opinion](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/opinion)\n\n- ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/03\/opinion\/03lozada-image\/03lozada-image-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Illustration by Sam Whitney\/The New York Times\n- ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/03\/opinion\/03eks-parker-image\/03eks-parker-image-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  The New York Times\n- ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/01\/31\/opinion\/31grose-newsletter1\/31grose-newsletter1-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Russell Lee\/Library of Congress\n- ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/02\/opinion\/02bruni-newsletter-image\/02bruni-newsletter-image-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Ben Wiseman\n\nEditors’ Picks\n\n- ![Toshihisa Yoda, left, emigrated from Japan by boat in 1966 with a suitcase full of oil paints. Since 1990, he and his wife, Junko, and their son, Yoichiro, have lived and made art together in a fantastically cluttered SoHo loft.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/02\/multimedia\/02re-streetscapes-yodas-gvqp\/02re-streetscapes-yodas-gvqp-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n- ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/12\/23\/travel\/00trav-turbulence-illo\/00trav-turbulence-illo-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Jeremy Nguyen\n\nTrending in The Times\n\n- ![President Gustavo Petro of Colombia at the presidential palace in Bogotá, the capital, last month.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/01\/11\/multimedia\/03trump-news-colombia-petro1\/03trump-news-colombia-petro1-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Nathalia Angarita for The New York Times\n- ![Chappell Roan arrived in a burgundy, opaque chiffon cape, a custom design by Mugler. Below her cape, an opaque floor-length skirt hung in place from nipple piercings.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/01\/multimedia\/ST-NAKED-GRAMMYS-kczb\/ST-NAKED-GRAMMYS-kczb-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Neilson Barnard\/Getty Images\n- ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/03\/well\/03WELL-ASK-HUMIDIFIER1\/03WELL-ASK-HUMIDIFIER1-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Eric Helgas for The New York Times\n- ![Jim and Rachel Van Eerden’s “Walden”-inspired cabin in Stokesdale, N.C.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/03\/multimedia\/03re-Walden1-wcvl\/03re-Walden1-wcvl-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Sebastian Siadecki for The New York Times\n- ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/03\/multimedia\/03nytoday-wgbc\/03nytoday-wgbc-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Hiroko Masuike\/The New York Times\n- ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/03\/opinion\/03eks-parker-image\/03eks-parker-image-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  The New York Times\n- ![Venus Williams with her husband, Andrea Preti, during their wedding celebration in Palm Beach, Fla., in December. 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Meta Title	Opinion \| Why Do People Like Elon Musk Love Donald Trump? It’s Not Just About Money. - The New York Times
Meta Description	Trump’s backers in tech see him as a fellow victim of the state and a shield they need to escape accountability.
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Boilerpipe Text	Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT Guest Essay Sept. 25, 2024 Credit... Ana Miminoshvili Chris Hughes On a Friday morning in May, a day after Donald Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts in a scheme to influence the 2016 election by falsifying business records, I met a tech leader for breakfast in the Flatiron district of Manhattan. A lifelong Democrat, he had recently reinvented himself as an ardent Trump supporter. Unmoved by the conviction, he was on his way to a fund-raiser for the former president about a week later (starting ticket price: $50,000). I co-founded Facebook in college 20 years ago, but I left California and start-up culture behind long ago for public policy and economics. As we sat over scrambled eggs, chicken sausage and whole-wheat toast, I was struck by how many of the wealthiest and most powerful figures in Silicon Valley — including some I knew — were now loudly backing Mr. Trump. The event my companion jetted off to raised $12 million in a single evening. Among the former president’s highest-profile backers in the Valley are the venture capitalists Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, who endorsed Mr. Trump on their podcast, and Elon Musk, who founded one of the most well-funded super PACs supporting his campaign. Mr. Trump claims that Mark Zuckerberg called him to say that he wouldn’t support a Democrat in November, although Mr. Zuckerberg’s spokesperson denied the claim. It would be easy to write off tech’s rightward drift as nothing more than the rich acting in their economic self-interest, but Silicon Valley has always been driven by profit, and it hasn’t tilted Republican since the 1980s. Even now, it remains largely Democratic , though even some of Kamala Harris’s strongest Valley supporters worry about how she might approach tech policy. Mr. Trump appeals to some Silicon Valley elites because they identify with the man. To them, he is a fellow victim of the state, unjustly persecuted for his bold ideas. Practically, he is also the shield they need to escape accountability. Mr. Trump may threaten democratic norms and spread disinformation; he could even set off a recession, but he won’t challenge their ability to build the technology they like, no matter the social cost. These leaders are betting they can sway Mr. Trump to their ideas through public support and financial backing, and they might be right. Once a critic of cryptocurrency, he has shifted to opposing regulation after crypto executives donated to his campaign, and this month he and his sons unveiled a crypto business . Mr. Trump recently proposed a “government efficiency commission” — an idea Mr. Musk floated to him only weeks earlier. While Mr. Trump’s allies in Silicon Valley may be few, their support could grant them influence over how his potential second administration — and by extension, the Republican Party — shapes tech policy for years to come. As much as they want to influence Mr. Trump’s policies, they also want to strike back at the Biden-Harris administration, which they believe has unfairly targeted their industry. More than any other administration in the internet era, President Biden and Ms. Harris have pushed tech companies toward serving the public interest. Key to their approach is the support of start-ups to counterbalance the dominance of tech giants, whose combined market value eclipses the G.D.P. of many countries. Brian Deese, the former director of Mr. Biden’s National Economic Council, has made clear that “big” companies are not inherently bad. But when they wield their market power, they can unfairly increase prices, narrow consumer choice, lower wages and impede the innovation that comes from fruitful competition. Over the past three years, the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice have taken on some of the largest tech companies — Facebook, Google, Amazon and Apple — arguing that they’ve stifled competition and harmed consumers. They’ve already made progress, including a major antitrust ruling against Google that could create momentum for other cases. It’s not just antitrust. Mr. Biden’s Securities and Exchange Commission, led by Gary Gensler, another target of the tech elite backlash, has aggressively reined in cryptocurrencies, the mistakenly named category of products that offers little practical value to most Americans. The Biden-Harris administration also issued a landmark executive order last year that created a framework to ensure that artificial intelligence technologies are safe and fair. Most Americans see these actions as overdue. They blame tech companies for contributing to the mental health crisis among teenagers, political polarization, rampant misinformation and privacy violations. Many of us, reading the evidence about social media’s negative effects on our children, do not want to make the same mistake of failing to create guardrails for new technologies, however promising they may be. Mr. Trump’s tech supporters see it differently. Echoing monopolists of the past, they say they are the victims of zealous progressives who want to overregulate the industry. Constraints on their market power threaten the growth of their businesses — and challenge their foundational belief that technological advancement is good in and of itself. Last year, Mr. Andreessen, whose venture capital firm is heavily invested in crypto, wrote a widely discussed “ manifesto ” claiming that enemy voices of “bureaucracy, vetocracy, gerontocracy” are opposed to the “pursuit of technology, abundance and life.” In a barely concealed critique of the Biden-Harris administration, he argued that those who believe in carefully assessing the impact of new technologies before adopting them are “ deeply immoral.” It’s not surprising then that tech titans feel some camaraderie with Mr. Trump, who portrays himself as a savior and a martyr. Like them, he doesn’t want to have to play by the rules or entertain challenges to his vision for a “better” America. “Nobody knows the system better than me,” he said in his first presidential run, “which is why I alone can fix it.” He launched his 2024 campaign by saying, “I am a victim,” and continues to claim that the justice system is rigged, as are elections. He will fight for self-perceived victims of all sorts, even (or especially) the ones who live in gilded mansions. Arguments like Mr. Andreessen’s offer a false choice between economic and technological advancement — made possible by boundary-breaking business leaders — and ineffective, bureaucratic regulation. I, too, am a techno-optimist, and I believe that the world is largely better off because of the avalanche of technologies that have emerged over the past two decades. But just as we needed rules of the road for cars and safety regulations for planes, we need to manage these new technologies through public policy to ensure we like what they are doing to us, not resign ourselves to letting them run wild. Some Republicans have appeared to realize this, which can make the budding alliance between tech and Mr. Trump seem strange at first glance. A group of economic nationalists, which includes JD Vance, claims to want more oversight of tech companies. Teaming up with Democrats, Senator Lindsey Graham has proposed a digital regulatory agency and Senator Josh Hawley has proposed a particularly aggressive framework to manage A.I. companies. Mr. Vance himself has said that Mr. Biden’s F.T.C. chair, Lina Khan, is “doing a pretty good job.” In the presidential race, however, stray remarks about antitrust from Mr. Trump’s running mate hold little weight with the candidate himself. Mr. Trump controls his party, and tech leaders know the only voice that truly matters is the last one he heard whispering in his ear. A version of this article appears in print on Sept. 29, 2024 , Section SR, Page 6 of the New York edition with the headline: The Strange Duo of Tech And Trump . Order Reprints \| Today’s Paper \| Subscribe Related Content More in Opinion Illustration by Sam Whitney/The New York Times The New York Times Russell Lee/Library of Congress Ben Wiseman Editors’ Picks Jeremy Nguyen Trending in The Times Nathalia Angarita for The New York Times Neilson Barnard/Getty Images Eric Helgas for The New York Times Sebastian Siadecki for The New York Times Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times The New York Times David Bastianon Kerstin Wichmann Nathan Congleton/NBC, via Getty Images Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT
Markdown	[Skip to content](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/25/opinion/silicon-valley-trump.html#site-content)[Skip to site index](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/25/opinion/silicon-valley-trump.html#site-index) Search & Section Navigation Section Navigation Search [Log in](https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2Fsubscription%2Fonboarding-offer%3FcampaignId%3D7JFJX%26EXIT_URI%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.nytimes.com%252F2024%252F09%252F25%252Fopinion%252Fsilicon-valley-trump.html&asset=masthead) Tuesday, February 3, 2026 [Today’s Paper](https://www.nytimes.com/section/todayspaper) [Opinion](https://www.nytimes.com/section/opinion)\\|Why Do People Like Elon Musk Love Donald Trump? It’s Not Just About Money. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/25/opinion/silicon-valley-trump.html - Share full article - 1\.2k Advertisement [SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/25/opinion/silicon-valley-trump.html#after-top) [Opinion](https://www.nytimes.com/section/opinion) Supported by [SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/25/opinion/silicon-valley-trump.html#after-sponsor) Guest Essay # Why Do People Like Elon Musk Love Donald Trump? It’s Not Just About Money. Sept. 25, 2024 ![A pixelated photograph of a red “Make America Great Again” hat.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024/09/25/opinion/25Hughes/25Hughes-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Credit...Ana Miminoshvili - Share full article - 1\.2k By Chris Hughes Chris Hughes is the chair of the Economic Security Project and the author of the forthcoming book “[Marketcrafters: The 100-Year Struggle to Shape the American Economy](https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Marketcrafters/Chris-Hughes/9781668050170).” He is a co-founder of Facebook. [阅读简体中文版](https://cn.nytimes.com/opinion/20240927/silicon-valley-trump/ "Read in Simplified Chinese")[閱讀繁體中文版](https://cn.nytimes.com/opinion/20240927/silicon-valley-trump/zh-hant/ "Read in Traditional Chinese") On a Friday morning in May, a day after Donald Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts in a scheme to influence the 2016 election by falsifying business records, I met a tech leader for breakfast in the Flatiron district of Manhattan. A lifelong Democrat, he had recently reinvented himself as an ardent Trump supporter. Unmoved by the conviction, he was on his way to a fund-raiser for the former president about a week later (starting ticket price: \$50,000). I co-founded Facebook in college 20 years ago, but I left California and start-up culture behind long ago for public policy and economics. As we sat over scrambled eggs, chicken sausage and whole-wheat toast, I was struck by how many of the wealthiest and most powerful figures in Silicon Valley — including some I knew — were now loudly backing Mr. Trump. The event my companion jetted off to raised \$12 million in a single evening. Among the former president’s highest-profile backers in the Valley are the venture capitalists Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, who endorsed Mr. Trump on their podcast, and Elon Musk, who founded one of the most [well-funded super PACs](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/17/us/politics/elon-musk-donald-trump-super-pac.html) supporting his campaign. Mr. Trump [claims](https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/donald-trump-ear-campaign-assassination-attempt.html) that Mark Zuckerberg called him to say that he wouldn’t support a Democrat in November, although Mr. Zuckerberg’s spokesperson denied the claim. It would be easy to write off tech’s rightward drift as nothing more than the rich acting in their economic self-interest, but Silicon Valley has always been driven by profit, and it hasn’t tilted Republican since the 1980s. Even now, it remains [largely Democratic](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/20/business/dealbook/silicon-valley-trump.html), though even some of Kamala Harris’s strongest Valley supporters [worry](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-07-31/business-moguls-urge-harris-to-dump-biden-s-ftc-chair-lina-khan?sref=hlHfgL28) about how she might approach tech policy. Mr. Trump appeals to some Silicon Valley elites because they identify with the man. To them, he is a fellow victim of the state, unjustly persecuted for his bold ideas. Practically, he is also the shield they need to escape accountability. Mr. Trump may threaten democratic norms and spread disinformation; he could even set off a recession, but he won’t challenge their ability to build the technology they like, no matter the social cost. These leaders are betting they can sway Mr. Trump to their ideas through public support and financial backing, and they might be right. Once a critic of cryptocurrency, he has [shifted](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/07/14/trump-cryptocurrency-donors/) to opposing regulation after crypto executives donated to his campaign, and this month he and his sons [unveiled a crypto business](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/16/technology/trump-crypto-world-liberty-financial.html). Mr. Trump recently proposed a “government efficiency commission” — an idea Mr. Musk [floated](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/06/technology/elon-musk-donald-trump-influence.html) to him only weeks earlier. While Mr. Trump’s allies in Silicon Valley may be few, their support could grant them influence over how his potential second administration — and by extension, the Republican Party — shapes tech policy for years to come. As much as they want to influence Mr. Trump’s policies, they also want to strike back at the Biden-Harris administration, which they believe has unfairly targeted their industry. More than any other administration in the internet era, President Biden and Ms. Harris have pushed tech companies toward serving the public interest. Key to their approach is the support of start-ups to counterbalance the dominance of tech giants, whose combined market value eclipses the G.D.P. of many countries. Brian Deese, the former director of Mr. Biden’s National Economic Council, has [made clear](https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/07/14/brian-deese-remarks-on-president-bidens-competition-agenda/) that “big” companies are not inherently bad. But when they wield their market power, they can unfairly increase prices, narrow consumer choice, lower wages and impede the innovation that comes from fruitful competition. Over the past three years, the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice have taken on some of the largest tech companies — Facebook, Google, Amazon and Apple — arguing that they’ve stifled competition and harmed consumers. They’ve already made progress, including a major antitrust [ruling](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/05/technology/google-antitrust-ruling.html) against Google that could create momentum for other cases. ## Editors’ Picks [![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/01/31/multimedia/31baketime-mousse-single-vertical-spoonin-cfpq/31baketime-mousse-single-vertical-spoonin-cfpq-thumbLarge.jpg)My Favorite Dessert in New York City, Now on Demand](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/31/dining/chocolate-mousse-dessert-recipe.html) [![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/01/16/multimedia/00hw-hope-trauma-prevention-top-jcvw/00hw-hope-trauma-prevention-top-jcvw-thumbLarge.jpg)Childhood Trauma Doesn’t Have to Be a Lifelong Curse](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/31/headway/childhood-trauma-recovery-healing-research.html) [![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/01/30/business/30biz-adviser/30biz-adviser-thumbLarge.png)Tips for Lowering Your Credit Card Interest Rate](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/30/your-money/credit-card-debt-interest-rates.html) Advertisement [SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/25/opinion/silicon-valley-trump.html#after-pp_edpick) It’s not just antitrust. Mr. Biden’s Securities and Exchange Commission, led by Gary Gensler, another target of the tech elite backlash, has aggressively reined in cryptocurrencies, the [mistakenly named](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/14/opinion/bitcoin-cryptocurrency-flaws.html) category of products that offers little practical value to most Americans. The Biden-Harris administration also issued a landmark executive order last year that created a framework to ensure that artificial intelligence technologies are safe and fair. Most Americans see these actions as overdue. They blame tech companies for contributing to the mental health crisis among teenagers, political polarization, rampant misinformation and privacy violations. Many of us, reading the [evidence](https://www.anxiousgeneration.com/research/the-evidence) about social media’s negative effects on our children, do not want to make the same mistake of failing to create guardrails for new technologies, however promising they may be. Mr. Trump’s tech supporters see it differently. Echoing monopolists of the past, [they](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/17/technology/jd-vance-tech-silicon-valley.html) [say](https://www.politico.com/news/2024/07/16/david-sacks-trashes-san-francisco-rnc-00168589) they are the victims of zealous progressives who want to overregulate the industry. Constraints on their market power threaten the growth of their businesses — and challenge their foundational belief that technological advancement is good in and of itself. Last year, Mr. Andreessen, whose venture capital firm is heavily invested in crypto, wrote a widely discussed “[manifesto](https://a16z.com/the-techno-optimist-manifesto/)” claiming that enemy voices of “bureaucracy, vetocracy, gerontocracy” are opposed to the “pursuit of technology, abundance and life.” In a barely concealed critique of the Biden-Harris administration, he argued that those who believe in carefully assessing the impact of new technologies before adopting them are “deeply immoral.” It’s not surprising then that tech titans feel some camaraderie with Mr. Trump, who portrays himself as a savior and a martyr. Like them, he doesn’t want to have to play by the rules or entertain challenges to his vision for a “better” America. “Nobody knows the system better than me,” he [said](https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/22/us/politics/trump-transcript-rnc-address.html) in his first presidential run, “which is why I alone can fix it.” He [launched](https://www.rev.com/blog/transcripts/former-president-trump-announces-2024-presidential-bid-transcript) his 2024 campaign by saying, “I am a victim,” and continues to claim that the justice system is rigged, as are elections. He will fight for self-perceived victims of all sorts, even (or especially) the ones who live in gilded mansions. Arguments like Mr. Andreessen’s offer a false choice between economic and technological advancement — made possible by boundary-breaking business leaders — and ineffective, bureaucratic regulation. I, too, am a techno-optimist, and I believe that the world is largely better off because of the avalanche of technologies that have emerged over the past two decades. But just as we needed rules of the road for cars and safety regulations for planes, we need to manage these new technologies through public policy to ensure we like what they are doing to us, not resign ourselves to letting them run wild. Some Republicans have appeared to realize this, which can make the budding alliance between tech and Mr. Trump seem strange at first glance. A group of economic nationalists, which includes JD Vance, claims to want more oversight of tech companies. Teaming up with Democrats, Senator Lindsey Graham has [proposed](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/27/opinion/lindsey-graham-elizabeth-warren-big-tech-regulation.html) a digital regulatory agency and Senator Josh Hawley has proposed a particularly aggressive framework to manage A.I. companies. Mr. Vance himself has [said](https://thehill.com/policy/technology/4491363-vance-biden-ftc-chief-is-doing-a-pretty-good-job/) that Mr. Biden’s F.T.C. chair, Lina Khan, is “doing a pretty good job.” In the presidential race, however, stray remarks about antitrust from Mr. Trump’s running mate hold little weight with the candidate himself. Mr. Trump controls his party, and tech leaders know the only voice that truly matters is the last one he heard whispering in his ear. More on Silicon Valley’s role in the 2024 election [![]()How Elon Musk Is Influencing Donald Trump Sept. 6, 2024](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/06/technology/elon-musk-donald-trump-influence.html) [![]()Behind Kamala Harris’s Rise: Silicon Valley’s Wealthiest Woman Sept. 24, 2024](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/24/us/politics/kamala-harris-laurene-powell-jobs.html) [![]()Mark Zuckerberg Is Done With Politics Sept. 24, 2024](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/24/technology/mark-zuckerberg-trump-politics.html) Chris Hughes is the chair of the Economic Security Project and the author of the forthcoming book “[Marketcrafters: The 100-Year Struggle to Shape the American Economy](https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Marketcrafters/Chris-Hughes/9781668050170).” He is a co-founder of Facebook. The Times is committed to publishing [a diversity of letters](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/31/opinion/letters/letters-to-editor-new-york-times-women.html) to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some [tips](https://help.nytimes.com/hc/en-us/articles/115014925288-How-to-submit-a-letter-to-the-editor). And here’s our email: [letters@nytimes.com](mailto:letters@nytimes.com). Follow the New York Times Opinion section on [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/nytopinion), [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/nytopinion/), [TikTok](https://www.tiktok.com/@nytopinion), [WhatsApp](https://www.whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaN8tdZ5vKAGNwXaED0M), [X](http://twitter.com/NYTOpinion) and [Threads](https://www.threads.net/@nytopinion). A version of this article appears in print on Sept. 29, 2024, Section SR, Page 6 of the New York edition with the headline: The Strange Duo of Tech And Trump. 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Readable Markdown	Advertisement [SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/25/opinion/silicon-valley-trump.html#after-top) Guest Essay Sept. 25, 2024 ![A pixelated photograph of a red “Make America Great Again” hat.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024/09/25/opinion/25Hughes/25Hughes-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Credit...Ana Miminoshvili Chris Hughes On a Friday morning in May, a day after Donald Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts in a scheme to influence the 2016 election by falsifying business records, I met a tech leader for breakfast in the Flatiron district of Manhattan. A lifelong Democrat, he had recently reinvented himself as an ardent Trump supporter. Unmoved by the conviction, he was on his way to a fund-raiser for the former president about a week later (starting ticket price: \$50,000). I co-founded Facebook in college 20 years ago, but I left California and start-up culture behind long ago for public policy and economics. As we sat over scrambled eggs, chicken sausage and whole-wheat toast, I was struck by how many of the wealthiest and most powerful figures in Silicon Valley — including some I knew — were now loudly backing Mr. Trump. The event my companion jetted off to raised \$12 million in a single evening. Among the former president’s highest-profile backers in the Valley are the venture capitalists Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, who endorsed Mr. Trump on their podcast, and Elon Musk, who founded one of the most [well-funded super PACs](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/17/us/politics/elon-musk-donald-trump-super-pac.html) supporting his campaign. Mr. Trump [claims](https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/donald-trump-ear-campaign-assassination-attempt.html) that Mark Zuckerberg called him to say that he wouldn’t support a Democrat in November, although Mr. Zuckerberg’s spokesperson denied the claim. It would be easy to write off tech’s rightward drift as nothing more than the rich acting in their economic self-interest, but Silicon Valley has always been driven by profit, and it hasn’t tilted Republican since the 1980s. Even now, it remains [largely Democratic](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/20/business/dealbook/silicon-valley-trump.html), though even some of Kamala Harris’s strongest Valley supporters [worry](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-07-31/business-moguls-urge-harris-to-dump-biden-s-ftc-chair-lina-khan?sref=hlHfgL28) about how she might approach tech policy. Mr. Trump appeals to some Silicon Valley elites because they identify with the man. To them, he is a fellow victim of the state, unjustly persecuted for his bold ideas. Practically, he is also the shield they need to escape accountability. Mr. Trump may threaten democratic norms and spread disinformation; he could even set off a recession, but he won’t challenge their ability to build the technology they like, no matter the social cost. These leaders are betting they can sway Mr. Trump to their ideas through public support and financial backing, and they might be right. Once a critic of cryptocurrency, he has [shifted](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/07/14/trump-cryptocurrency-donors/) to opposing regulation after crypto executives donated to his campaign, and this month he and his sons [unveiled a crypto business](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/16/technology/trump-crypto-world-liberty-financial.html). Mr. Trump recently proposed a “government efficiency commission” — an idea Mr. Musk [floated](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/06/technology/elon-musk-donald-trump-influence.html) to him only weeks earlier. While Mr. Trump’s allies in Silicon Valley may be few, their support could grant them influence over how his potential second administration — and by extension, the Republican Party — shapes tech policy for years to come. As much as they want to influence Mr. Trump’s policies, they also want to strike back at the Biden-Harris administration, which they believe has unfairly targeted their industry. More than any other administration in the internet era, President Biden and Ms. Harris have pushed tech companies toward serving the public interest. Key to their approach is the support of start-ups to counterbalance the dominance of tech giants, whose combined market value eclipses the G.D.P. of many countries. Brian Deese, the former director of Mr. Biden’s National Economic Council, has [made clear](https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/07/14/brian-deese-remarks-on-president-bidens-competition-agenda/) that “big” companies are not inherently bad. But when they wield their market power, they can unfairly increase prices, narrow consumer choice, lower wages and impede the innovation that comes from fruitful competition. Over the past three years, the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice have taken on some of the largest tech companies — Facebook, Google, Amazon and Apple — arguing that they’ve stifled competition and harmed consumers. They’ve already made progress, including a major antitrust [ruling](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/05/technology/google-antitrust-ruling.html) against Google that could create momentum for other cases. It’s not just antitrust. Mr. Biden’s Securities and Exchange Commission, led by Gary Gensler, another target of the tech elite backlash, has aggressively reined in cryptocurrencies, the [mistakenly named](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/14/opinion/bitcoin-cryptocurrency-flaws.html) category of products that offers little practical value to most Americans. The Biden-Harris administration also issued a landmark executive order last year that created a framework to ensure that artificial intelligence technologies are safe and fair. Most Americans see these actions as overdue. They blame tech companies for contributing to the mental health crisis among teenagers, political polarization, rampant misinformation and privacy violations. Many of us, reading the [evidence](https://www.anxiousgeneration.com/research/the-evidence) about social media’s negative effects on our children, do not want to make the same mistake of failing to create guardrails for new technologies, however promising they may be. Mr. Trump’s tech supporters see it differently. Echoing monopolists of the past, [they](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/17/technology/jd-vance-tech-silicon-valley.html) [say](https://www.politico.com/news/2024/07/16/david-sacks-trashes-san-francisco-rnc-00168589) they are the victims of zealous progressives who want to overregulate the industry. Constraints on their market power threaten the growth of their businesses — and challenge their foundational belief that technological advancement is good in and of itself. Last year, Mr. Andreessen, whose venture capital firm is heavily invested in crypto, wrote a widely discussed “[manifesto](https://a16z.com/the-techno-optimist-manifesto/)” claiming that enemy voices of “bureaucracy, vetocracy, gerontocracy” are opposed to the “pursuit of technology, abundance and life.” In a barely concealed critique of the Biden-Harris administration, he argued that those who believe in carefully assessing the impact of new technologies before adopting them are “deeply immoral.” It’s not surprising then that tech titans feel some camaraderie with Mr. Trump, who portrays himself as a savior and a martyr. Like them, he doesn’t want to have to play by the rules or entertain challenges to his vision for a “better” America. “Nobody knows the system better than me,” he [said](https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/22/us/politics/trump-transcript-rnc-address.html) in his first presidential run, “which is why I alone can fix it.” He [launched](https://www.rev.com/blog/transcripts/former-president-trump-announces-2024-presidential-bid-transcript) his 2024 campaign by saying, “I am a victim,” and continues to claim that the justice system is rigged, as are elections. He will fight for self-perceived victims of all sorts, even (or especially) the ones who live in gilded mansions. Arguments like Mr. Andreessen’s offer a false choice between economic and technological advancement — made possible by boundary-breaking business leaders — and ineffective, bureaucratic regulation. I, too, am a techno-optimist, and I believe that the world is largely better off because of the avalanche of technologies that have emerged over the past two decades. But just as we needed rules of the road for cars and safety regulations for planes, we need to manage these new technologies through public policy to ensure we like what they are doing to us, not resign ourselves to letting them run wild. Some Republicans have appeared to realize this, which can make the budding alliance between tech and Mr. Trump seem strange at first glance. A group of economic nationalists, which includes JD Vance, claims to want more oversight of tech companies. Teaming up with Democrats, Senator Lindsey Graham has [proposed](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/27/opinion/lindsey-graham-elizabeth-warren-big-tech-regulation.html) a digital regulatory agency and Senator Josh Hawley has proposed a particularly aggressive framework to manage A.I. companies. Mr. Vance himself has [said](https://thehill.com/policy/technology/4491363-vance-biden-ftc-chief-is-doing-a-pretty-good-job/) that Mr. Biden’s F.T.C. chair, Lina Khan, is “doing a pretty good job.” In the presidential race, however, stray remarks about antitrust from Mr. Trump’s running mate hold little weight with the candidate himself. Mr. Trump controls his party, and tech leaders know the only voice that truly matters is the last one he heard whispering in his ear. A version of this article appears in print on Sept. 29, 2024, Section SR, Page 6 of the New York edition with the headline: The Strange Duo of Tech And Trump. 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