Technology
Trump's candidacy and views have been widely opposed by people who work in the technology sector on software and hardware. Before the election the technology sector mainly supported Hillary Clinton. Many in the sector denounced Paypal Founder Peter Thiel for supporting Trump.
After the election, Trump held a meeting with several CEOs from the biggest technology companies. It was attended by many industry leaders from Amazon, Google, Apple, Facebook, and Microsoft, and surprisingly, members of Trump's own family.
The technology sector often employs educated immigrants and therefore requires visas. The technology sector is also under scrutiny for evading taxation by keeping money outside of the US, often in Ireland, and the technology sector is automating jobs, which played into the protectionist rhetoric.
Timeline
| 2016.02.05 | Ninety-seven companies file opposition to Trump’s immigration order. techcrunch.com |
| 2016.05.18 | Amazon founder and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos responds to criticism from Trump washingtonpost.com |
| 2016.06.20 | Mark Zuckerberg decides to keep Trump supporter Peter Thiel on Facebook's board of directors. forbes.com |
| 2016.10.15 | Peter Thiel to donate $1.25 million in support of Trump. nytimes.com |
| 2016.10.17 | A famous Silicon Valley startup factory says it won't fire investor Peter Thiel for supporting Trump. businessinsider.com People are calling for Y Combinator to cut ties with the controversial billionaire investor following a $1.25 million donation to Donald Trump. |
| 2016.11.11 | Peter Thiel joins Trump's presidential transition team. theguardian.com (See also Presidential Transition) |
| 2016.12.13 | Palantir CEO Alex Karp to Attend Donald Trump’s Tech Meeting wsj.com Palantir Technologies Inc. Chief Executive Alex Karp plans to attend President-elect Donald Trump’s meeting with tech executives on Wednesday in New York, a Palantir spokeswoman said Tuesday. |
| 2016.12.14 | Elon Musk and Uber CEO Travis Kalanick are joining Trump's economic advisory team businessinsider.com The two executives are joining a team that also includes JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon and General Motors chief exec Mary Barra. |
| 2016.12.14 | Trump strikes conciliatory tone with tech leaders. usatoday.com |
| 2016.12.15 | Hundreds of Silicon Valley employees pledge to resist efforts to create a Muslim registry. teenvogue.com (See also Muslims, Muslim Registry) |
| 2016.12.15 | Who said what inside the Trump tech meeting: Immigration, paid maternity leave and becoming the ‘software president’ recode.net It’s almost like Recode was in the air duct at Trump Tower. |
| 2016.12.16 | Oracle CEO Safra Catz becomes second tech leader on Trump's transition team. siliconbeat.com |
| 2016.12.27 | Forgive me, techies, but here are the seven reasons why Silicon Valley likes Trump recode.net Deregulation and more favorable tax treatment of repatriated funds are high on the list. |
| 2017.01.13 | Tech workers protest Palantir’s involvement with immigration data. theverge.com |
| 2017.01.14 | Under Trump, big changes could be in store for tech, but details are scarce. recode.net |
| 2017.01.20 | Dear @Jack: It’s time to suspend Donald Trump from Twitter recode.net Trump needs to be held responsible and accountable — both for his own tweets and for the behavior of the followers he incites. |
| 2017.01.27 | Trump is using a dangerously insecure, out-of-date Android device as his phone. lawfareblog.com (See also Administration Errors) Anyone around the President should presume they are being actively recorded by hostile powers, unless they are absolutely positive the phone is out of the room. |
| 2017.01.28 | Google recalls staff after Trump executive order restricting entry for nationals of seven Muslim-majority countries. bbc.com (See also Immigration, Muslims, Muslim Immigration Ban) |
| 2017.01.30 | President Donald Trump’s clash with Silicon Valley over immigration is about to become even more contentious as leaked executive order draft discusses overhauling work-visa programs. bloomberg.com (See also First 100 Days, Muslim Immigration Ban, Immigration) |
| 2017.02.01 | Here’s why your browser may tell you the White House website isn’t secure washingtonpost.com (See also First 100 Days) |
| 2017.02.01 | Russia is conducting a counterintelligence raid -- arresting four men once trusted with Russian government secrets about hacking operations after suspected leaks to U.S. intelligence. money.cnn.com (See also First 100 Days, Russia, Russian Meddling in Election) |
| 2017.02.03 | The FCC is stopping nine companies from providing federally subsidized Internet to the poor. washingtonpost.com (See also Americans in Poverty) And it could signal broader restrictions for the program known as Lifeline. |
| 2017.02.04 | Amazon and Expedia join a lawsuit in federal court in Seattle, asking for key parts of the executive order to be declared unconstitutional. nytimes.com (See also First 100 Days, Muslim Immigration Ban, Immigration) |
| 2017.06.30 | The science division of the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) was unstaffed as of Friday as the three remaining employees departed. cbsnews.com (See also Environment) |
Analysis
A key question during the Trump administration is whether the sector remains free to innovate and disrupt with all the positive and negative side effects, or whether there will be quid quo pro to do business as in Russia and China. Much of Apple's manufacturing takes place in China because of lower production costs. Will the company be made to manufacture product in the US to avoid new taxes?
Additionally, will Trump, his family, and his supporters gain an unfair advantage in business deals? Will Palantir, for example, find regulators on their side and helping them?
Assessments
So far there is little noticeable impact on the technology sector. However, Trump can damage stock prices in a single tweet, and several CEOs are likely to be paying attention.