A small but growing segment of Silicon Valley is all in on Donald Trump, sources told The Post — and say the stigma that previously came with supporting him has all but dissipated.
“It’s very different than 2016 when you were ostracized … in 2016 you would have had backlash from portfolio companies or founders [if you endorsed Trump],” said one source who asked to speak on the condition of anonymity, but is now revealing to friends and colleagues that he supports Trump. “The stigma is going away.”
It’s a dramatic pivot from 2016 and 2020 when many kept quiet because they feared backlash from employees, colleagues and investors — and that they would be blacklisted in the tech community, sources add.
Earlier this month, notable tech venture capitalists David Sacks and Chamath Palihapitiya hosted a $12 million fundraiser for the former president in the traditionally ultra-progressive neighborhood of Pacific Heights. Last week, Trump joined the pair on their “All In” podcast, co-hosted by David Friedberg and Jason Calacanis last week.
On it, he highlighted how his policies would benefit Silicon Valley, including expanding access to visas for high skilled workers, deregulating cryptocurrency and supporting energy independence, which Trump says will generate the needed electricity for artificial intelligence innovation.
And Trump could solidify much of that support with a possible vice-president pick, sources told The Post.
Ohio Senator and former Bay Area venture capitalist J.D. Vance has been instrumental in brokering introductions between Trump and tech investors — he encouraged Sacks and Palihapitiya to host their fundraiser earlier this month and introduced Trump at the event, according to reports.
And sources in the pro-Trump tech faction revealed to The Post that they have told the campaign that Vance, 39, could invigorate a younger techie demographic and serve as a direct pipeline from Silicon Valley to the White House if Trump is elected.
“Vance comes from the tech world so he has a lot of credibility,” one Republican bundler, who is pushing for Vance as VP, told The Post. “He is focused on the kind of policy relevant to the tech investor community that will spur innovation and entrepreneurship … he’s also in a younger generation.”
Trump said over the weekend that he has made up his mind who his running mate will be but that the person hadn’t yet been told. Vance, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) are said to be frontrunners.
Vance, who famously wrote about his working-class Ohio upbringing in the 2016 memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” worked at PayPal founder and Republican mega donor Peter Thiel’s firm Mithril Capital before his election to the senate in 2022. Thiel also gave Vance a $10 million donation to clinch a win in that competitive race.
“Those in tech view Vance as one of them,” a source close to conservative tech investors told The Post. “He knows venture and tech … he’s one of their own who has become a senator.”
Tech sources told The Post that support of Vance is just the latest in what appears to be a growing dialogue between Trump and serious players in Silicon Valley.
Trump has notched endorsements from a handful of venture capitalists who had previously stayed out of the political fray, including Shaun Maguire, a partner at Sequoia Capital who accompanied Elon Musk to Israel, and his colleague Doug Leone. Ryan Selkis, the founder of cryptocurrency data firm Messari, even posted on X encouraging founders to endorse Trump before the “floodgates” open.
And Gemini founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss announced twin million dollar donations in Bitcoin to Trump — a move that some sources say is representative of crypto’s rightward turn as Biden cracks down on digital currency.
But after four years of Biden, “a lot of people are becoming incredibly disillusioned” and want a change, said. Jacob Helberg, adviser to the software company Palantir. “No one knew the extent of how aggressive Biden would be.”
That includes the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act which is set to expire in 2025 if not renewed, a sluggish IPO market and an aggressive Securities and Exchange Commission that has gone after crypto. It’s all caused some techies who characterize themselves purely as “economic animals” to look outside the Democratic party.
“[People in tech] always wanted lower taxes but now it is compounded,” a former Democratic bundler who is now supporting Trump told The Post. “Before they had one issue they disliked about Biden, but now it’s three or four things.”
While one former Democrat described his decision to support Trump as a “straight-up business issue,” others in Silicon Valley cited a handful of social issues — including support for Israel, Biden’s lax immigration policies and Elon Musk’s criticism of a Democratic emphasis on DEI — for making people think differently.
“It helps when the richest man in the world is expressing frustrations with Joe Biden,” one Trump bundler told The Post.
“Everyone is waiting to see if Musk makes an endorsement,” a Democratic donor told The Post. “Trump has played it smart by offering him a role in the administration.”
While Musk has said he will not donate to either candidate and has yet to make an endorsement, he did meet with Trump and is planning to host a town hall with him on X. He’s also said he’s “leaning away” from voting for Biden.
“The more unfair the attacks on Trump seem to the public, the higher he will rise in the polls,” Musk tweeted last month.
The Biden administration has, at times, snubbed Musk by hosting events celebrating America’s electric vehicle production without including him — a fact that the tech community has noticed.
“Elon has done more for electric vehicles than anyone and Biden wouldn’t invite him to a White House event … it’s petty and political,” said one venture capitalist who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “And SpaceX has revitalized the space economy and [Musk] gets no credit.”
The venture capitalist added that Biden’s executive order on AI, requiring companies share trade secrets with the government, catalyzed him and several Silicon Valley colleagues to reconsider support for Biden.
“Many look at Trump and they think he is more supportive of what impacts them,” he said.
While Biden is still expected to win California by a landslide, his approval rating has dropped 20 points, from 62% when he first took office to 42% today — an indication, sources said, that people could be open to alternatives.
Said Helberg: “Trump’s style is an acquired taste, but a growing faction of Silicon Valley has acquired that taste.”
