Trump warns: Zuckerberg could “spend the rest of his life in prison”

Former President Donald Trump rails against Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in his upcoming book, accusing the tech magnate of undermining him in the last election and threatening possible prison time.

Trump, 78, recounted his meeting with Zuckerberg, 40, and fumed about the 2020 election in his upcoming book, “Save America,” which is set to hit bookstores Sept. 3.

“We are watching him closely, and if he does anything illegal this time, he will spend the rest of his life in prison – like others who cheat in the 2024 presidential election,” Trump wrote in the book, according to a preview obtained by Politico.

The 45th president has repeatedly sharply criticized the meta boss in the past. Earlier this year, he defied his own party and expressed his support for TikTok, warning: “If you abolish TikTok, Facebook and sugar jewelry will double their business.”

Congress later passed a bipartisan bill that would force TikTok's parent company ByteDance to divest from the popular video-sharing platform or face exclusion from major app stores. This law was passed in response to national security concerns.

The basis for Trump's interest in TikTok was, as the Washington Post previously reported, the lobbying efforts of major Republican donor Jeff Yass.

Last month, Trump railed against Zuckerberg in a tirade for Truth Social, saying, “Voter cheaters on a scale never seen before, and they're going to be sent to jail for a long time. We already know who you are. DON'T DO IT! ZUCKERBUCKS, be careful.”

“Zuckerbucks” is a reference to the approximately $420 million that Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan have donated to help state and local governments conduct their elections during the Covid-19 pandemic.

He has since indicated that he does not plan to make further donations of a similar size in the run-up to the November 5 presidential election.

“They were designed to be bipartisan and to span urban, rural and suburban communities,” Zuckerberg wrote in a recent letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).

“Despite the analysis I've seen that proves otherwise, I know that some people believe this work has benefited one party more than the other,” he added. “My goal is to remain neutral and not play a role – or even appear to play a role – in either direction. As such, I don't plan to make a similar contribution this election cycle.”

Republicans have long scrutinized Meta, sharply criticizing the platform for initially suppressing the Washington Post's sensational story about then-future First Son Hunter Biden's laptop and alleged cooperation with the government to restrict certain COVID-19 content.

“I believe the government's pressure was wrong, and I regret that we did not speak more clearly about it,” Zuckerberg wrote in his recent letter to Jordan. “I also think we made some decisions that, in hindsight and with new information, we would not make today.”

Jordan also chairs the House subcommittee on the militarization of the federal government, which has targeted Meta and other major technology companies.

“As I told our teams then, I firmly believe that we should not compromise our content standards because of pressure from any government in any direction – and we are ready to fight back if it happens again,” he wrote.

Meta banned Trump from Facebook and Instagram after his activity in connection with the Capitol riots on January 6, 2021. Trump was reinstated early last year.

During his social media exile, Trump created a new platform, Truth Social, where he unleashed his unvarnished thoughts into cyberspace. Trump has also begun to increase the pace of his posts on X.

In his forthcoming book, Trump also recounts in a caption how Zuckerberg “came to the Oval Office to see me. He brought his very nice wife to dinner, was as nice as can be, and all the while plotting to install nefarious lockers, in a veritable CONSPIRACY AGAINST THE PRESIDENT,” according to Politico.

“He told me there was no one like Trump on Facebook. But at the same time, and for whatever reason, he turned his opinion against me.”

The Post has contacted Meta for comment.