Meta appoints former Trump adviser Dina Powell McCormick as president

Meta Platforms (META.O), opens new tab on Monday named Dina Powell McCormick, a former senior official in U.S. President Donald Trump’s first administration, as its president and vice chairman.
Powell McCormick, who spent 16 years in senior leadership roles at Goldman Sachs (GS.N), opens new tab, served as deputy national security adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump in his first term, and as a senior White House adviser under former President George W. Bush. Her appointment is the latest in a series of changes Meta has made in the last year that more closely align the company with Trump. Meta is accelerating investments in frontier AI and personal superintelligence. CEO Mark Zuckerberg is seeking Trump's support to build data centers and energy capacity for those investments.
Trump congratulated Powell McCormick on her appointment in a social media post, praising her as a "fantastic, and very talented, person" who served his administration with "strength and distinction."
A spokesperson for Meta did not immediately respond to a message from Reuters about whether her hiring is designed to appeal to Trump.Meta said Powell McCormick will be a key figure in deciding the company's strategic direction and execution. Her responsibilities will also include forging new strategic capital partnerships and expanding the company's "long-term investment capacity," according to a company statement.
"Dina's experience at the highest levels of global finance, combined with her deep relationships around the world, makes her uniquely suited to help Meta manage this next phase of growth," Zuckerberg said in a statement.
Powell's role echoes efforts by previous Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, who during her tenure leveraged her deep ties to the Washington establishment and the Democratic party, to help the company navigate scrutiny from lawmakers and regulators.
Meta in early January hired former Trump trade adviser C.J. Mahoney to lead its legal team, replacing general counsel Jennifer Newstead, who served in former President Joe Biden's administration. Other changes that likely appealed to Trump included scrapping its U.S. fact-checking program, elevating Republican Joel Kaplan as the company's new chief global affairs officer and ending its diversity programs.