Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg has visited Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort, further evidence of the apparent thawing in their once frosty relationship.

The president-elect already has a close and high-profile relationship with another tech leader, X owner Elon Musk.

Historically, however, there has been no such closeness between Trump and Mr Zuckerberg – Trump was banned from Facebook and Instagram after the Capitol riots and Trump threatened the meta boss with prison if he interfered in the 2024 presidential election.

However, there have been recent signs that strained relations are improving, culminating in Mr. Zuckerberg dining with the president-elect at his Florida mansion.

“Mark was grateful for the invitation to dinner with President Trump and for the opportunity to meet with members of his team about the new administration,” a Meta spokesperson told the BBC.

“It is an important time for the future of American innovation,” the statement continued.

In August, Trump wrote in a book that Mr Zuckerberg “would spend the rest of his life in prison” if he tried to interfere in the 2024 US election.

But the president-elect later softened his position, saying in a podcast in October that it was “nice” that Mr. Zuckerberg was “staying out of the election” and thanking him for a personal phone call afterward he was threatened with an assassination attempt.

There have also been signs that Mr Zuckerberg is trying to be more forthcoming with the new American president.

Trump was thrown by the metaplatforms Facebook and Instagram in 2021 for what the company described as “praise for people who committed violence at the Capitol on January 6th.”

However, this ban has now been lifted.

In August this year Mr. Zuckerberg expressed regret in rejecting content related to allegations against Joe Biden’s son Hunter, which had been a right-wing talking point ahead of the 2020 US presidential election.

He also said he would make no further contributions to support election infrastructure after a $400 million (£302 million) donation in 2020 was seen by some online members as a way to circumvent donation limits.

Mr. Zuckerberg said his donations are nonpartisan and his goal is to be neutral in elections.

It is not known what the two men discussed at dinner at Trump’s Florida home.

However, Meta has faced increasing regulation in recent years, among other things an ongoing Federal Trade Commission (FTC) antitrust investigation in 2020.

Still, Mr. Zuckerberg’s apparently improved relations with the president-elect have been completely overshadowed by Mr. Trump’s closeness to Elon Musk.

Trump’s close relationship with the X owner resulted in more than $100 million (£79 million) in campaign donations as well as support from the billionaire and his superfans.

Their relationship is so close that some refer to Musk as his “first buddy,” a reference to the president’s wife becoming first lady.

It ultimately led to becoming a billionaire will be tasked with leading a new Department of Government Efficiency (Doge).potentially giving him influence not only over government policy but also over regulation that threatens his business empire.