Dec 12 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms ( META ) has donated

$1 million to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's inaugural

fund, a company spokesperson told Reuters in an emailed

response.

The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the news, said

the donation was a departure from past practice by CEO Mark

Zuckerberg and Meta.

Zuckerberg had declined to endorse either Donald Trump or

Joe Biden for this year's election, in a media interview that

took place before Biden stepped down as the Democratic nominee

and was replaced by Kamala Harris.

The billionaire CEO, however, had complemented Trump's

reaction to the July 13 assassination attempt as "one of the

most badass things I've ever seen in my life," among his recent

attempts to appeal to conservative users.

Zuckerberg had met Trump after the elections in late

November, according to the New York Times, a meeting that the

newspaper said was the latest attempt by the Meta boss to

establish a positive rapport with Trump.

Trump and Zuckerberg's Meta have had strained relations in

the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election.

The president-elect accused Meta of suppressing content that

would have hurt Biden in the 2020 election, and also criticized

Zuckerberg's donations to bolster election infrastructure.

Meta suspended Trump's Facebook and Instagram accounts for

about two years following the January 2021 Capitol riots.