Nick Clegg, Meta's longtime policy chief, said on Thursday he is leaving his post and will be replaced by deputy Joel Kaplan, a prominent figure in Republican circles. Why it matters: The move comes shortly after CEO Mark Zuckerberg dined with President-elect Trump at Mar-a-lago and as Republicans will soon control all three branches of federal government.

Meta has replaced president of global affairs Nick Clegg with Joel Kaplan, a Republican former staffer for President George W. Bush. Clegg is a former British deputy prime minister and Liberal Democrats leader.

Nick Clegg departs Meta after leading global affairs as longtime Republican Joel Kaplan, a key policy advocate, steps into the role.

In his note, Clegg said that former Federal Communications Commission chairman Kevin Martin would replace Kaplan as Meta's vice president of global policy. He mentioned that Kaplan would work closely with David Ginsburg, the company's vice president of global communications and public affairs.

The president of Meta's Global Affairs team, Nick Clegg, is stepping down from his position at the company, the executive announced in a tweet on

Clegg joined Facebook as its communications chief in 2018 after losing his seat as an MP in 2017. He quickly rose to president of global affairs, the most influential lobbying and advocacy roles at the Silicon Valley giant, and has since become a close confidant to Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg.

In a post on his personal Facebook account and later X, Clegg wrote: "My time at the company coincided with a significant resetting of the relationship between ‘big tech’ and

Nick Clegg, Meta’s president of global affairs and a prominent voice in shaping the company’s policies, has announced his departure after seven years. Clegg shared the news on X and Threads, expressing that “this is the right time for me to move on” from his role at the social media giant.

Former UK deputy prime minister Clegg ceded his job to Kaplan, who served as deputy chief of staff for policy under George W Bush.