Peter Thiel said President Donald Trump’s second administration overcorrected for first-term infighting with loyalty tests, leaving it staffed by “not very smart, but very loyal people.” He wished Trump had appointed more competent people.
Thiel was an early Silicon Valley backer of Trump in 2016, giving $1.25 million through campaign and super PAC donations, according to The New York Times. He did not donate to Trump’s 2020 or 2024 campaigns. OpenSecrets says Thiel later gave $15 million to Protect Ohio Values, a super PAC supporting JD Vance’s 2022 Senate run.
On the “MD Meets” podcast, Thiel also said he feared voters might tire of Republicans as they did near the end of George W. Bush’s presidency. He said that if Democratic Socialists took over the Democratic Party, it would be a much bigger deal, and called that possibility “the end of America.”
