Lockheed Martin, the multinational defense and aerospace firm, is one of the latest big businesses to donate a million dollars to President-elect Donald Trump’s inaugural committee.
Recent major donors include Meta, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Amazon, Apple’s Tim Cook, and OpenAI’s Sam Altman.
Lockheed committed the money Dec. 2. But it also donated $1 million to both Trump’s inaugural committee in 2017 and President Joe Biden’s inaugural in 2020.
As of Friday, the company was worth more than $110 billion. Lockheed CEO Jim Taiclet reported $67.6 billion in net sales for 2023. The company deals almost exclusively in government defense contracts.
It engaged heavily with the first Trump administration — Ivanka Trump visited Lockheed Martin’s Colorado offices with then-CEO Marillyn Hewson as part of a focus on apprenticeships in 2019.
The inaugural committee has brought in more than $170 million — all the money it needs to run the receptions, dinners, and galas that will accompany the Jan. 20 swearing in. Donors still looking to give have been directed to fill the coffers of Trump-allied super PACs, according to people familiar with the matter.
Inaugural committee organizers are planning donor events, beginning with a Jan. 18 reception at the National Art Gallery. Donors will be able to hobnob with incoming Cabinet members and attend a black-tie dinner with Vice President-elect JD Vance, according to a schedule reviewed by CBS News.
Trump is planning a rally at Capital One Arena the day before the inauguration. He’ll then head to what’s being billed as a candlelight dinner at the National Building Museum.
After the swearing-in on Jan, Trump, the vice president, the Cabinet, members of Congress — and donors — are expected at The Starlight Ball at Union Station.
Jennifer Jacobs
Jennifer Jacobs is a senior White House reporter at CBS News.
