Mark Zuckerberg Meets With Trump at Mar-a-Lago

Mark Zuckerberg met on Wednesday with President-elect Donald J. Trump in a rare face-to-face encounter, the latest attempt by the Meta chief executive to establish a positive rapport with Mr. Trump.

The meeting, confirmed by three people with knowledge of the matter, was initiated by Mr. Zuckerberg, who has had a strained relationship with Mr. Trump over the past decade. Mr. Trump, who has long maintained that Meta has unfairly restrained him and other conservatives across its social media apps, has lobbed broadsides against Mr. Zuckerberg on social media and during stump speeches.

Mr. Zuckerberg flew into West Palm Beach, Fla., on Tuesday evening before joining Mr. Trump at his hotel and club, Mar-a-Lago, on Wednesday, according to the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the meeting. The two men largely exchanged pleasantries, with Mr. Zuckerberg congratulating Mr. Trump on winning the presidency.

After the early afternoon meeting, Mr. Trump and Mr. Zuckerberg planned to have dinner at Mr. Trump’s hotel later that evening, the people said.

“It’s an important time for the future of American innovation,” a Meta representative said in a statement. “Mark was grateful for the invitation to join President Trump for dinner and the opportunity to meet with members of his team about the incoming administration.”

But Mr. Zuckerberg’s overtures come as the chief executive seeks to insulate Meta — which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp — from any potential blowback from the incoming administration. Meta has long been a target of conservatives in Washington; some in Congress have called for reining in what they see as censorship of conservative viewpoints. And Mr. Trump has personally called for Mr. Zuckerberg to be jailed in retaliation for “plotting against” him during the 2020 election.