Peter Thiel Reportedly Told Friends ‘50% Chance’ Trump Presidency ‘Ends In Disaster’
- 7 years ago
Billionaire entrepreneur Peter Thiel’s support of President Trump may be waning.
Billionaire entrepreneur Peter Thiel’s support of President Trump may be waning.
BuzzFeed News is reporting that the PayPal co-founder “has distanced himself from the president in multiple private conversations, describing at different points this year an ‘incompetent’ administration, and one that may well end in ‘disaster.’”
The piece goes on to say, “In half a dozen private conversations with friends that were described to BuzzFeed News dating from spring 2016 to as recently as May, Thiel, who served on the Presidential Transition Team Executive Committee, has criticized Trump and his administration and developed increasingly pessimistic feelings about the president.”
In fact, he was reportedly referring to Trump’s presidency when he told friends earlier this year, “there is a 50% chance this whole thing ends in disaster.”
Thiel was viewed as a technology industry outlier when he openly supported Trump during the 2016 election, even speaking at the Republican National Convention and giving $1.25 million to the effort, notes CNN.
According to a report by The Atlantic last November, Thiel decided to back Trump due to the businessman’s promise of “a new American politics that overcomes denial, rejects bubble thinking, and reckons with reality.”
Some have speculated that the Silicon Valley titan has had a fairly significant influence on the administration--especially during the transition--with one of his nicknames at the time said to be “the shadow president.”
However, a CNN report from April notes that Thiel “has been largely absent from the industry's dealings with Trump during the first 100 days of the new administration, according to interviews with tech lobbyists and trade groups.”
Despite this and the more recent insider accounts about his pessimism towards the administration, Thiel issued a statement to BuzzFeed News, saying, “The night he won the election, I said President Trump would face an awesomely difficult task. Today it's clear that resistance to change in Washington, D.C. has been even fiercer than I anticipated. We still need change. I support President Trump in his ongoing fight to achieve it.”
Billionaire entrepreneur Peter Thiel’s support of President Trump may be waning.
BuzzFeed News is reporting that the PayPal co-founder “has distanced himself from the president in multiple private conversations, describing at different points this year an ‘incompetent’ administration, and one that may well end in ‘disaster.’”
The piece goes on to say, “In half a dozen private conversations with friends that were described to BuzzFeed News dating from spring 2016 to as recently as May, Thiel, who served on the Presidential Transition Team Executive Committee, has criticized Trump and his administration and developed increasingly pessimistic feelings about the president.”
In fact, he was reportedly referring to Trump’s presidency when he told friends earlier this year, “there is a 50% chance this whole thing ends in disaster.”
Thiel was viewed as a technology industry outlier when he openly supported Trump during the 2016 election, even speaking at the Republican National Convention and giving $1.25 million to the effort, notes CNN.
According to a report by The Atlantic last November, Thiel decided to back Trump due to the businessman’s promise of “a new American politics that overcomes denial, rejects bubble thinking, and reckons with reality.”
Some have speculated that the Silicon Valley titan has had a fairly significant influence on the administration--especially during the transition--with one of his nicknames at the time said to be “the shadow president.”
However, a CNN report from April notes that Thiel “has been largely absent from the industry's dealings with Trump during the first 100 days of the new administration, according to interviews with tech lobbyists and trade groups.”
Despite this and the more recent insider accounts about his pessimism towards the administration, Thiel issued a statement to BuzzFeed News, saying, “The night he won the election, I said President Trump would face an awesomely difficult task. Today it's clear that resistance to change in Washington, D.C. has been even fiercer than I anticipated. We still need change. I support President Trump in his ongoing fight to achieve it.”