Peter Thiel faults Trump's 'loyalty tests,' says aides 'not very smart, but very loyal'

(L-R) President of China Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump are joined by U.S. Vice President JD Vance, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and the Chinese delegation in the Oval Office at the White House on September 24, 2026 in Washington, DC. (AFP Photo)

Billionaire Peter Thiel, one of U.S. President Donald Trump's earliest Silicon Valley backers, said the Trump administration is staffed by "not very smart, but very loyal people," calling its focus on loyalty an "over-correction" from Trump's first term.

The Palantir Technologies co-founder made the remarks on German journalist Mathias Döpfner's "MD Meets" podcast when asked whether he regretted backing Trump in 2016, HuffPost reported.

Thiel helped bankroll Trump's 2016 campaign and later U.S. Vice President JD Vance's Senate run, making his criticism a notable break from one of the administration's most prominent early supporters.

Peter Thiel says Trump's two terms made 'opposite mistakes'

Thiel said he should be asked about Trump's record again in 10 years, but added that he wished Trump had appointed "more competent people."

"I think the two administrations kind of made opposite mistakes," Thiel said.

"You know, the first administration brought in all these people who couldn't agree, and it was just all this internal fighting. The second administration I think had all these, they overcorrected for the mistake of the first term with all these loyalty tests," he added.

"I was wrong about many things. It was crazier than I thought. It was more dangerous than I thought," Thiel said.

Thiel said he fears voters are growing tired of the Republican Party, as they did at the end of George W. Bush's presidency, but this time enough to turn to Democratic Socialists.

"Hillary (Clinton), the establishment person, you know, barely beat (Bernie Sanders). And then again, the establishment won in 2020 and '24. I don't know if they'll be able to do it in '28," he said.

"The Republican Party is always a little bit the anti-establishment one. So, if the Democratic Socialists take over the Democratic Party, that's a much bigger deal. And that is like, I don't know, the end of America," Thiel said.

He said that while he welcomed Trump's disruption of establishment politics in 2016, he does not "want disruption of the Democratic Socialist variety. That seems catastrophic."

German-US entrepreneur, venture capitalist and conservative political activist Peter Thiel arrives on the red carpet for the Axel Springer Award in Berlin, Sept. 24, 2026. (AFP Photo)