President Trump awards top national science prizes to Big Tech leaders

President Donald Trump awarded top technology executives the highest science and technology honors in the United States on Thursday. TechCrunch reported that the honors were presented at the Golden Age of American Innovation Summit. News.sbs.co.kr reported that during the event, President Trump described Elon Musk as a national treasure and his friend. [1][6]

TechCrunch reported that Elon Musk, Jensen Huang, Sergey Brin, and Lisa Su of AMD received the National Medal of Science. TechCrunch also reported that Michael Dell of Dell Technologies and Satya Nadella of Microsoft received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation. [1]

The award recipients have donated nearly 6 billion dollars to efforts tied to President Trump and his administration, according to TechCrunch citing The New Republic. TechCrunch reported that Alphabet and Microsoft gave money to the presidential inauguration fund and the White House ballroom. TechCrunch added that AMD contributed to a pro-Trump Super PAC, while Michael and Susan Dell pledged 6.25 billion dollars to fund the Trump Accounts. [1]

Donald Trump serves as the 47th president of the United States, having previously served as the 45th president. Big Tech commonly refers to dominant technology companies including Microsoft and Alphabet. These firming relationships between government leaders and corporate executives remain under close observation by financial market analysts. [4][8][9]