Corporate America Cut Big Checks to Trump. Now CEOs Fear Subpoenas Are Coming

Some U.S. companies with close ties to President Trump are taking steps to gain favor with Democrats, worried they will become targets if Republicans lose control of the House.

Big tech companies, in particular those that made major donations to Trump’s legacy projects, are preparing for congressional and even potential criminal investigations, according to advisers, lobbyists and board members. Washington-based lawyers and lobbyists say that their clients are asking: What are our vulnerabilities?

Meta Platforms and others are writing big checks for Democrats ahead of the midterms, according to people familiar with the matter, a counterbalance to the tens of millions they gave to the White House ballroom and Republican initiatives. Other companies, including Paramount Skydance and Kalshi, are hiring former Democratic aides to bolster their government relations efforts.

Some companies are creating internal task forces to game out responses to potential congressional inquiries, particularly regarding their substantial financial support for Trump and his political operations, according to people involved in the discussions. Meta and Palantir are among the companies whose executives and advisers have discussed the likelihood they will face requests for information, future congressional hearings and even subpoenas, people involved in the discussions said.

Cooper Teboe, a Silicon Valley donor adviser and Democratic strategist, said Democrats could launch a wave of investigations if they take control of the House. His advice to companies who’ve been publicly cozying up to Trump and ignoring Democrats: “Get right with God.”

“You’re going to be totally f—ed next year or you’re going to figure it out this year and you’re going to make amends—and amends are going to be much more costly than they were previously,” he said.

Companies expect that the Trump administration won’t cooperate with congressional requests for information and therefore Congress will focus its efforts on businesses—which have less flexibility about complying with demands from lawmakers.

Democrats are doing little to ease their concerns. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who is in line to become speaker if Democrats take control of the chamber, said his party is focused on affordability and holding companies accountable. “The era of unbridled corruption visited upon the country by the Trump cartel will soon come to an end,” the New York congressman said.

Democrats need to gain just a handful of seats to win the House in the November midterm elections, and Republicans are increasingly worried about keeping control of the chamber. The GOP-controlled Senate is seen as a tossup, people from both parties say.

Expected targets for House Democrats include companies that have made large donations to Trump or Trump’s projects and those tied to Trump’s family members or children of the president’s senior aides, including Steve Witkoff and Howard Lutnick.

Executives from Amazon, Chevron, Pfizer, UnitedHealth and other big companies attended a summer seminar hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce focused on “managing potential congressional oversight and investigations,” according to documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

The conversation, facilitated by Chamber executives, explored a range of topics from informal congressional requests to subpoenas, as well as lessons from past investigations, and ways that companies should be prepared.

“The Chamber regularly engages with members and experts for discussions on topics relevant to the business community,” according to a Chamber spokesperson.

The law firm Cahill held a seminar in June with its congressional investigations group called “On the Hill with Cahill: Playbook for 2026 and Beyond.” It brought together lawyers, executives and congressional staff, along with House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R., Ky.), to discuss how companies should respond when Congress reaches out with subpoenas, according to an invitation reviewed by the Journal and people familiar with the event.

Executives and board members from some large public companies across sectors are discussing how to stay out of Democratic crosshairs and how to stay as neutral as possible, according to people involved in the conversations.

Meta is among a number of companies donating to Democratic political committees, the people familiar with the matter said. In recent months, the company has given $5 million to House Majority Forward, a political nonprofit aligned with House Democratic leadership, and $5 million to Majority Forward, the nonprofit aligned with Senate Democratic leadership, according to the people. Donations to these entities don’t require public disclosure, and they haven’t previously been reported.

Meta also gave $5 million donations this year to Republican leadership House and Senate aligned nonprofits, called American Action Network and One Nation respectively, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The company gave a $10 million donation to a Trump-aligned political committee in the spring, the Journal previously reported. These donations have brought Meta’s giving to political nonprofits for federal races to at least $30 million this year.

Meanwhile, OpenAI organized dinners this summer in D.C. that included Democratic lawmakers and the company’s CEO, Sam Altman, in an effort to bolster relationships with the party, according to a person familiar with the event.

Trump has more than two years left in office, and some companies say they can’t afford to overcorrect by cozying up too much to Democrats. As one policy executive put it: It is the Trump White House, not Congress, that can determine whether a deal is approved or a regulation rewritten.

Some executives who have aligned themselves with the Trump administration say they aren’t changing course. Instead, they are rushing to get deals done and secure other business matters that might have a regulatory or policy angle before a potential change in Congress.

SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who spent heavily to help Trump’s re-election campaign in 2024, is doubling down on the GOP for the midterms. He is planning to spend more than $100 million to help Republicans keep control of Congress, the Journal has reported.

Democrats—who have struggled to fundraise this cycle—are receptive to some of the charm offensives. Executives from Kalshi and Alphabet’s Google have been seen at recent events in Washington hosted by Jeffries, attendees said.

Jeffries recently traveled out West, meeting with some large technology companies in the Bay Area, according to people briefed on the events. He also hosted an annual fundraiser for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee at Torrey Pines, a luxury resort in the San Diego area.

Some companies with close ties to Trump have been hiring well-known Democrats. Paramount recently hired Shuwanza Goff, the former legislative director to President Joe Biden, as a vice president of U.S. government affairs.

Kalshi—the prediction market operator that counts the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., as a strategic adviser—has hired a former aide to President Barack Obama, Stephanie Cutter, as a policy adviser, and former Biden aide John Bivona, as head of federal government relations.

Neal Katyal, who served as acting solicitor general during the Obama administration, this year signed Kalshi as a client. He also co-wrote a 2019 bestseller titled “Impeach: The Case Against Donald Trump.”