Trump calls Facebook the enemy of the people. Meta’s stock sinks

By Matt Egan, CNN

Updated 11:37 PM EDT, Mon March 11, 2024

Facebook once again finds itself in the crosshairs of former President Donald Trump. And that’s making some traders on Wall Street nervous.

Meta Platforms (META), the owner of Facebook and one of the stars of the recent market rally, fell about 4% on Monday after Trump called into CNBC and labeled Facebook “an enemy of the people.”

Meta shares also retreated 1.2% on Friday following a post by Trump on Truth Social where the former president blasted Facebook as “a true Enemy of the People!”

Meta’s market valuation has dropped by more than $60 billion since Trump’s attacks began Thursday evening.

No major news appeared to drive the Meta selloff, other than the condemnation from the former – and possibly future – president of the United States.

“It has everything to do with the comments from former President Trump,” Gil Luria, an analyst at D.A. Davidson, told CNN. “Facebook has gone through waves of being dragged into the political debate – and it never bodes well for them.”

Trump surprised many last week by reversing his stance on TikTok and coming out against the TikTok ban that many in Congress – including many Republicans – are pushing for.

Why? Well, Trump argues that banning TikTok would help Facebook, a company the former president has a long history of battling with.

“The thing I don’t like is that without TikTok, you can make Facebook bigger, and I consider Facebook to be an enemy of the people, along with a lot of the media,” Trump told CNBC Monday morning before US markets opened.

Facebook imposed a two-year ban on Trump in the wake of the Jan 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Meta reinstated Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts in February 2023.

“I think Facebook has been very dishonest. I think Facebook has been very bad for our country, especially when it comes to elections,” Trump said.

Meta did not respond to a request for comment.

Investors are clearly taking notice of the attacks from Trump. At one point, Meta shares were down about 5% Monday, leaving them on track for the worst day since December 2022.

Luria, the D.A. Davidson analyst, said Trump’s comments raise concerns about Facebook becoming a target of Washington once again.

“When a presidential candidate refers to them as the enemy of the people, that really brings them back into the center of the debate – where they haven’t been for a few years,” Luria said.

Specifically, Luria said Trump, if elected president, could pressure Facebook by making it harder for Meta to make acquisitions in the future. The company’s prior acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp have been central to its growth.

US regulators recently gave the green light to a controversial merger between Truth Social owner Trump Media & Technology Group and a blank-check company. If approved by shareholders later this month, Trump would own a dominant stake in the newly-public company that could be worth billions.

The full House is set to vote this week on a bill that would give TikTok roughly five months to separate from its China-linked parent company or else app stores in the United States would be banned from hosting the app on their platforms.

President Joe Biden has said he is prepared to sign the TikTok bill into law if it passes Congress.

Trump calls Facebook the enemy of the people. Meta’s stock sinks

Trump称Facebook是人们最大的敌人。Meta的股票下跌

Facebook once again finds itself in the crosshairs of former President Donald Trump. And that’s making some traders on Wall Street nervous.

Facebook又一次发现自己成为了Trump的靶子，这让华尔街的一些交易员感到紧张。

Meta Platforms (META), the owner of Facebook and one of the stars of the recent market rally, fell about 4% on Monday after Trump called into CNBC and labeled Facebook “an enemy of the people.”

Facebook母公司，也是最近市场反弹之星之一的Meta平台，在Trump致电CNBC，称Facebook为“人们的敌人”之后，在周一股票下跌了约4%。

Meta shares also retreated 1.2% on Friday following a post by Trump on Truth Social where the former president blasted Facebook as “a true Enemy of the People!”

周五，Trump在Truth Social上发帖抨击Facebook是“人们的真正敌人”之后，Meta股价也下跌1了.2%。

Meta’s market valuation has dropped by more than $60 billion since Trump’s attacks began Thursday evening.

自从Trump在星期四晚上抨击以来，Meta的市场价值下跌了超过600亿美元。

No major news appeared to drive the Meta selloff, other than the condemnation from the former – and possibly future – president of the United States.

除了这位前总统——可能也是未来总统——的谴责之外，没有看到什么重大消息会推动Meta的抛售。

“It has everything to do with the comments from former President Trump,” Gil Luria, an analyst at D.A. Davidson, told CNN. “Facebook has gone through waves of being dragged into the political debate – and it never bodes well for them.”

“这一切都与Trump的言论有关，Davidson的分析师Gil Luria告诉CNN。“Facebook已经经历了好几次political debate的风波——这对他们来说从来都不是好兆头”。

Trump surprised many last week by reversing his stance on TikTok and coming out against the TikTok ban that many in Congress – including many Republicans – are pushing for.

上周，Trump改变了他对TikTok的立场，公开反对国会中很多人——包括很多共和党人——正在推动的TikTok禁令，这让很多人感到惊讶。

Why? Well, Trump argues that banning TikTok would help Facebook, a company the former president has a long history of battling with.

这是为什么呢？因为Trump认为，禁止TikTok将有助于Facebook，这位前总统长期以来一直在与Facebook斗争。

“The thing I don’t like is that without TikTok, you can make Facebook bigger, and I consider Facebook to be an enemy of the people, along with a lot of the media,” Trump told CNBC Monday morning before US markets opened.

“我不太喜欢的是，没有了TikTok，Facebook会变得更强大，而我认为Facebook是人们以及很多媒体的敌人”，Trump在周一早上美国股市开启前告诉CNBC。

Facebook imposed a two-year ban on Trump in the wake of the Jan 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Meta reinstated Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts in February 2023.

在2021年1月6日Capitol骚乱后，Facebook对Trump实施了为期两年的禁令。Meta于2023年2月恢复了Trump的Facebook和Instagram账户。

“I think Facebook has been very dishonest. I think Facebook has been very bad for our country, especially when it comes to elections,” Trump said.

“我认为Facebook很不诚实，我认为Facebook对我们国家来说非常糟糕”，Trump说道。

Meta did not respond to a request for comment.

Meta没有对此做出回应。

Investors are clearly taking notice of the attacks from Trump. At one point, Meta shares were down about 5% Monday, leaving them on track for the worst day since December 2022.

投资者显然注意到了Trump的抨击。周一，Meta股价一度下跌约5%，这是自2022年12月以来最糟糕的一天。

Luria, the D.A. Davidson analyst, said Trump’s comments raise concerns about Facebook becoming a target of Washington once again.

Davidson分析师Luria表示，Trump的言论引发了人们对Facebook再次成为Washington的目标的担忧。

“When a presidential candidate refers to them as the enemy of the people, that really brings them back into the center of the debate – where they haven’t been for a few years,” Luria said.

“当一位总统候选人称他们为人们的敌人时，这真的会让他们回到争论的中心——他们已经好几年没有这样”，Luria说道。

Specifically, Luria said Trump, if elected president, could pressure Facebook by making it harder for Meta to make acquisitions in the future. The company’s prior acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp have been central to its growth.

特别是，Luria提到，如果Trump当选，他可以让Meta在未来更难进行收购，以此来施压Facebook。Meta此前对Instagram和WhatsApp的收购一直是其增长的核心。

US regulators recently gave the green light to a controversial merger between Truth Social owner Trump Media & Technology Group and a blank-check company. If approved by shareholders later this month, Trump would own a dominant stake in the newly-public company that could be worth billions.

美国监管机构最近为Truth Social所有者Trump Media&Technology Group与一家空白支票公司之间的争议合并开了绿灯。如果本月晚些时候获得股东批准，Trump将拥有这家新上市公司的主要股份，价值可能达到数十亿美元。

The full House is set to vote this week / on a bill that would give TikTok roughly five months / to separate from its China-linked parent company / or else / app stores in the United States / would be banned from hosting the app on their platforms.

or else：否则

President Joe Biden has said he is prepared to sign the TikTok bill into law if it passes Congress.

Joe Biden表示，如果TikTok法案获得通过，他准备将其签署成为法律。