Trump-era lobbying shifts from K Street to Mar-a-Lago as Big Oil and Tech vie for influence
Lobby groups are increasingly courting Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago residence, with major oil firms and Silicon Valley CEOs seeking policy favors ahead of the midterm elections.
Washington’s lobbying landscape is expanding beyond K Street as Donald Trump moves part of his influence operations to Mar-a-Lago. Late-September talks saw senior executives from ExxonMobil, Chevron and other supermajors argue against a proposed diesel export ban and request that European nations free up gas and diesel stocks. Within 48 hours, top Silicon Valley figures—including Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai, Greg Brockman, Dario Amodei, Jensen Huang, Alex Karp, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk—met the president to advocate for voluntary AI and crypto oversight that would shield them from European regulation.
These rapid-fire meetings underscore the lobbying surge driven by the MAGA agenda and the looming November midterms, where rising fuel costs and persistent inflation threaten GOP electoral prospects. Analysts note that both oil and tech sectors are deploying substantial lobbying resources to shape policy before formal proposals emerge. The shift to Mar-a-Lago highlights the blending of Trump’s personal brand with traditional political influence channels.
Why it matters
The story shows how powerful industries are leveraging the president’s personal venue to shape U.S. policy before elections.
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