President Trump and CEO of Dell Technologies Michael Dell<\/p>\n
Just weeks after President Donald Trump<\/a> urged Americans to \u201cgo out and buy a Dell\u201d and months after he bought millions of dollars worth of stock in the company, the computer giant was awarded a $9.7 billion Pentagon<\/a> contract.<\/p>\n The Department of Defense confirmed the contract with Dell Federal Systems, the government-focused arm of Dell Technologies, on Wednesday.<\/p>\n Euronews reported<\/a>:<\/p>\n As part of the Core Enterprise Technology<\/a> Agreement (CETA<\/a>), a Pentagon-wide Microsoft<\/a> licensing and software procurement framework, the company will provide and manage Microsoft software licences, cloud subscriptions and on-premises software licensing across the US military<\/a>, intelligence agencies and the US Coast Guard.<\/em><\/p>\n The contract would have raised scrutiny regardless, given the Dell family\u2019s proximity to Trump in his second term. CEO Michael Dell and his wife, Susan, have pledged<\/a> $6.25 billion to help fund the so-called \u201cTrump accounts\u201d that were part of the president\u2019s 2025 mega budget<\/a> legislation, a policy that critics have described as a tax shelter for the wealthy.<\/p>\n This tied the Dell family fortune to Trump\u2019s political agenda. In recent months, he\u2019s also hitched it to his own personal wealth.<\/p>\n Follow this:<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n First, Trump quietly buys up to $5 million of Dell stock.<\/p>\n Then, he urges his followers to \u201cgo out and buy a Dell.\u201d<\/p>\n Today, his Pentagon awards a $9.7 billion deal to Dell.<\/p>\n\n