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WASHINGTON — After an exchange between AT&T’s CEO and a union representing its workers, the company said it took steps to pay workers a $1,000 bonus in response to President Donald Trump’s tax cuts.

The announcement by the company Wednesday had raised questions about whether it was attempting to curry favour with Trump. The president has been a vocal critic of AT&T’s proposed $85 billion merger with Time Warner, which also owns CNN — the media outlet the Trump administration has treated as a nemesis.

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Other companies quickly followed AT&T’s lead, including Boeing, Comcast and Wells Fargo. This led to questions among corporate watchdogs about whether this was a co-ordinated effort to generate public support for a plan that bestows much of its benefits on the wealthy and corporations.

But Dallas-based AT&T said its decision to give a bonus to 200,000 workers stemmed from an inquiry by the Communications Workers of America, a union representing many of its workers.