Meta names former Trump adviser Dina Powell McCormick as president and vice chairman

Former counselor to the President of the United States Dina Powell McCormick smiles during the Women's Global Development and Prosperity (W-GDP) Initiative Roundtable, Sept. 23, 2019, in New York. (AP Photo/Sarah Stier, File)

NEW YORK — Facebook owner Meta has named Dina Powell McCormick, a former Trump administration adviser and longtime finance executive, as president and vice chairman of the tech giant.

Powell McCormick previously served on Meta’s board of directors — where, the company notes, she was “deeply engaged” in accelerating its artificial intelligence push across platforms. In her new management role, Meta says Powell McCormick will help guide its overall strategy, including the execution of multi-billion-dollar investments.

The news, announced Monday, quickly gained the applause of U.S. President Donald Trump. In a post on his social media platform Truth Social, the Republican president said the move was a “great choice” by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg — and noted that Powell McCormick had “served the Trump Administration with strength and distinction.”

Zuckerberg said in a statement that Powell McCormick’s experience in global finance, “combined with her deep relationships around the world,” made her “uniquely suited to help Meta” in its future growth.

Powell McCormick is a veteran of two presidential administrations and the Republican National Committee. She worked as a national security adviser at the start of Trump’s first term, and also held roles in the White House and the Secretary of State’s office under President George W. Bush. She is married to U.S. Sen. David McCormick, who served in high-level positions in the Commerce and Treasury departments under Bush — before he joined hedge fund Bridgewater Associates and rose to become CEO.

And Powell McCormick has a long background in finance. She spent 16 years in senior leadership at Goldman Sachs, but was most recently vice chair, president and head of global client services at merchant bank BDT & MSD Partners. She’s also held a handful of other corporate board positions — including at oil giant Exxon Mobil.

According to a securities filing, Powell McCormick had previously resigned from Meta’s board in December, eight months after joining as a director.

The addition of Powell McCormick to Meta’s management team arrived amid wider efforts from California-based Meta to boost its ties with Trump, who was once banned from Facebook. Like other powerful tech CEOs, Zuckerberg has dined with the president at the White House and doubled down on U.S. investment promises worth hundreds of billions of dollars.

Last year, the company also appointed Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO Dana White to its board, another familiar figure in Trump’s orbit.

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AP Reporter Marc Levy contributed to this report from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Wyatte Grantham-philips, The Associated Press