Karsten Wenzlaff, Advisor
August 26th, 2025
Karsten Wenzlaff is a Crowdfunding and Fintech Expert from Germany. He is Secretary-General of Digit[...]
Trump’s Inauguration Marks New Chapter for Tech Giants
Trump | Jan 21, 2025
Image: Freepik AI/ibrandify
Amidst Global Scrutiny, Trump's Inauguration Signals New Era of Collaboration with Tech Giants
Yesterday, President-elect Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 47th President of the United States, marking a turning point for the tech industry. Leaders from some of the world’s most influential technology companies have been meeting, contributing funds, and jockeying for support from Donald Trump and his Republican administration during the run-up to the event, which showcased a laundry list of big tech CEOs in attendance such as X's Elon Musk, Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Google's Sundar Pichai, Apple's Tim Cook, Microsoft's Satya Nadella and TikTok's Shou Zi Chew to name a few. This alignment is due to Donald Trump's shift towards innovation friendly policies, an easing of regulatory constraints, and partnerships that align government priorities with tech growth and business opportunities.
From Critic to Ally
Trump's first term's administration was combative against several tech giants, pushing antitrust lawsuits and bans on platforms like TikTok due to national security concerns. However, leading up to his inauguration he promised to 'save' TikTok by delaying its national ban, which was celebrated by its 170 million American users. Shou Zi Chew, CEO of TikTok praised Trump's efforts: “We are grateful for the president’s commitment to finding a solution that keeps TikTok available for our users in the United States.”
See: Kevin O’Leary’s TikTok Bid – Privacy and Innovation
Another glaring example that the administration is keen on fostering tech partnerships to boost innovation is the appointment of Elon Musk to run DOGE (The Department of Government Efficiency). DOGE is not only a hat-tip to the cryptocurrency by the same ticker symbol, but faced with massive national debt, Trump's approach to cost reduction and streamlining outdated bureaucratic processes with (not just) new technologies but also tech thinking and execution.
Different Story Globally
As the U.S. administration pivots to collaborative relationships with big tech, policymakers and regulators globally are ramping up scrutiny across a range of issues from data privacy, antitrust concerns, content moderation, and ethical implications of artificial intelligence.
The European Union's Digital Markets Act (DMA) and Digital Services Act (DSA) are designed against monopolistic practices and require more openness about how algorithms make decisions. Several high profile antitrust cases. For example, the EU charged Apple with breaching the DMA forcing it to pay €13 billion in taxes to Ireland. The EU also fined Google for abusing its dominance in comparative shopping practices, fining them €2.4 billion.
See: Canada Sues Google Over Anti-Competitive Ad Practices
In India, the government is rolling out strict data localization laws and content moderation policies to curb everything from national security to a growing comfortableness about foreign tech firms influencing of domestic politics and culture.
China has taken an even tougher stance by cracking down on its own tech giants, including Alibaba and Tencent. The Chinese government is also introducing stricter data governance rules and control over the digital economy, seeking to align tech innovation with national priorities.
In Canada, the government introduced of the Online News Act (Bill C-18) requiring tech giants like Google and Meta to compensate Canadian news outlets for using their content, creating a lot of friction. While Google complied and committed to annual payments to a collective fund managed by the media sector, Meta decided to block news content on Facebook and Instagram in Canada instead, leading to a significant 90% drop on Canadian news publisher's facebook pages since implementing the ban.
Outlook
Striking the right balance will be key over the next four years. On one hand, governments must address public concerns about data privacy, misinformation and monopolistic practices. On the other hand, there's a strong need to collaborate with tech to advance economic growth and innovation.
See: Canada and Trump Risk Index What Fintechs Need to Know
Big tech is sandwiched between these priorities and will need to adapt to local requirements in each country they operate in without compromising their global visions. For financial technology companies and investors, the next four years will be full of opportunities and complexities, as aligning with government priorities becomes an essential ingredient for success.
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, artificial intelligence, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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