'I wasn’t sure what number you wanted, Mr. President': Mark Zuckerberg’s $600 bn slip goes viral. Watch

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg made headlines at a White House dinner after announcing a massive $600 billion U.S. investment — only to be caught on a hot mic moments later admitting he wasn’t sure of the figure.

The awkward exchange unfolded during a high-profile tech dinner hosted by President Donald Trump at the White House. Trump, seated between First Lady Melania Trump and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, asked Zuckerberg how much Meta planned to invest in the U.S.

Zuckerberg responded, “Oh gosh, I think it's probably gonna be something like... I don't know, at least 600 billion dollars through 2028." Trump replied, “That's a lot. Thank you, Mark, great to have you,” drawing laughter from the room.

But as the moment passed, Zuckerberg leaned in and apologized to Trump, saying, “Sorry, I wasn't ready. I wasn't sure what number you wanted to go with,” triggering a chuckle from the President.

The moment was quickly picked up online, with users calling it “awkward” and “unprepared,” sparking memes and criticism across platforms.

The dinner, framed by Trump as a meeting of a “high IQ group,” featured tech titans including Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, and Oracle’s Safra Catz. Trump praised the executives as “the most brilliant people,” adding that they’re “leading a revolution in business.”

In more precise responses, Pichai stated that Google would invest $250 billion in the U.S. over the next two years. Nadella said Microsoft is investing $75–80 billion annually. Their confident delivery contrasted sharply with Zuckerberg’s hesitation.

Also in attendance were Google co-founder Sergey Brin and IBM CEO Arvind Krishna.