Meta Platforms on Monday appointed former Trump administration official Dina Powell McCormick as its president and vice chairman, a move that strengthens the company’s lobbying presence in Washington, D.C.
Minutes after the announcement, former President Donald Trump congratulated Powell McCormick on his Truth Social account, calling her a “fantastic, and very talented, person” who served his administration with “strength and distinction.”
Her appointment is part of a broader series of changes at Meta over the past year that appear to align the company more closely with Trump. Meta is ramping up investments in frontier AI and personal superintelligence, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg seeking support from the former president to expand data centers and energy capacity for these projects.
Ahead of Trump’s second inauguration, Zuckerberg reportedly visited him at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. In recent months, Meta has also ended its U.S. fact-checking program, elevated Republican Joel Kaplan to chief global affairs officer, and scaled back diversity initiatives—moves seen as appealing to Trump. In early January, Meta hired former Trump trade adviser CJ Mahoney as head of its legal team, replacing Jennifer Newstead, who served under the Biden administration. Meta declined to comment on whether Powell McCormick’s appointment was meant to court Trump’s favor.
According to Meta, Powell McCormick will help the company expand its data centers, build strategic capital partnerships, and grow its long-term investment capacity.
Powell McCormick brings extensive financial and political experience. She spent 16 years in senior leadership at Goldman Sachs and served as deputy national security adviser to Trump in his first term. She was also a senior White House adviser under former President George W. Bush. Her husband, U.S. Senator David McCormick, chairs the Senate subcommittee on energy policy, an area Powell McCormick will be involved with at Meta. A spokesperson for the senator confirmed he will “continue to comply with all U.S. Senate ethics rules.”
Her new role mirrors the influence former COO Sheryl Sandberg wielded during her tenure, when she leveraged ties to Washington and the Democratic Party to help Meta navigate regulatory scrutiny. Powell McCormick resigned from Meta’s board in December, just eight months after joining.
The appointment comes as Meta struggles to maintain relevance in the competitive AI sector. Its Llama 4 model received a lukewarm reception, prompting the company to commit up to $72 billion in capital spending in 2025.