Billionaire PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel sounded off in a new profile on his disappointment with politicians, including Donald Trump, as he claims he’s taking a break from being a GOP kingmaker.
Thiel, 56, has recently become synonymous with right-wing politics in America, a huge donor to the likes of Trump and now-Ohio Senator JD Vance.
However, Vance was one of his few successes in the 2022 midterms despite donating over $20million. It’s part of what’s been a difficult period for the billionaire.
More recently, Thiel’s rumored male model ex-boyfriend Jeff Thomas died after plunging from a Miami high rise in March.
He refused to discuss Thomas in a rare interview with Barton Gellman in The Atlantic, but he did discuss his newfound ambivalence with politics and the mistake he seems to admit in supporting Trump.
Billionaire PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel sounded off in a new profile on his disappointment with politicians, including Donald Trump , as he claims he’s taking a break from being a GOP kingmaker
‘Voting for Trump was like a not very articulate scream for help,’ Thiel claims, but said Trump ultimately couldn’t meet what he calls ‘low expectations,’ saying he was ‘disappointed and disenchanted’ with the ex-president.
‘There are a lot of things I got wrong,’ Thiel said. ‘It was crazier than I thought. It was more dangerous than I thought.’
Thiel’s disillusionment with Trump appears to be less with policy and more with competence.
‘They couldn’t get the most basic pieces of the government to work. So that was – I think that part was maybe worse than even my low expectations.’
The ill feeling appears to now be mutual between Trump and Thiel, with Trump expressing disappointment to the donor, that he ‘had expected way more’ from Thiel this election cycle.
Gellman reports that Trump later called Blake Masters – one of Thiel’s failed candidates in 2022 who lost a Senate race in Arizona – to tell him Thiel was a ‘f****** scumbag.’
However, he did say that he would not try to become a ‘never-Trump’ Republican in the future, despite calling Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election ‘not helpful.’
Thiel claims that he’s done pumping money into the Republican Party for the time being.
Thiel, 56, has recently become synonymous with right-wing politics in America, a huge donor to the likes of Trump
‘Voting for Trump was like a not very articulate scream for help,’ Thiel claims but said Trump ultimately couldn’t meet what he calls ‘low expectations,’ saying he was ‘disappointed and disenchanted’ with the ex-president
More recently, Thiel’s male model ex-boyfriend Jeff Thomas died after plunging from a Miami high rise in March. He refused to discuss Thomas in the interview
‘There’s always a chance I might change my mind,’ Thiel said. ‘But by talking to you, it makes it hard for me to change my mind.’
He added that his family and his understanding of how badly candidates will want his money should keep him out of politics for now.
‘My husband doesn’t want me to give them any more money, and he’s right. I know they’re going to be pestering me like crazy. And by talking to you, it’s going to lock me out of the cycle for 2024.’
However, Thiel has suggested that he will back Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in 2024.
The interview comes at the end of a difficult year for Thiel in both his political and personal life, which culminated in the March suicide of alleged boyfriend Jeff Thomas, who jumped to his death off a Miami high-rise.
Thomas was in a three-year relationship with PayPal co-founder Thiel, who put him up in a $13 million dollar mansion tucked in the Hollywood Hills, gifted him with lavish European trips, a $300,000 sports car, and access to the most coveted parties in town.
And now their circle of friends believe that Thomas’s death, a suspected suicide, was related at least in part to his depression over the incident, after which he was financially cut off from Thiel’s largesse.
Thiel would not comment on Thomas, citing his rumored ex’s family wanting privacy.
Thiel would not comment on Thomas, citing his rumored ex’s family wanting privacy
Jeff Thomas was the rumored boyfriend of billionaire mogul, Peter Thiel. Thomas was a successful model and social media influencer. His muscular physique and handsome looks garnered him more than 120,000 followers
Friends Drew Schiff, Chris Farmer, and Jeff Thomas enjoying the New Year’s Eve party where Thomas had a ‘messy confrontation’ with Thiel’s husband
However, he did briefly sound off on those who tried to dig dirt on the relationship, telling Gellman ‘the nihilism afflicting American politics is even deeper than I knew.’
Independent researchers and reporter Ryan Grim from The Intercept obtained an exclusive interview with Jeff Thomas that took place before the midterm elections for a not-yet-completed series on Thiel.
Thomas felt compelled to talk about Thiel’s hypocrisy as an active gay man who is also the largest funder of Donald Trump’s MAGA movement.
During the interview, Thomas described himself as a ‘kept’ boyfriend of Thiel, whose estimated worth is $8.14 billion, according to Bloomberg Billionaire’s Index.
Sources told DailyMail.com that the romance between the 55-year-old Thiel and the 35-year-old Thomas – 20 years his junior – was an ‘open secret’ in elite gay circles, particularly in Los Angeles.
Their circle of friends believe that Thomas’s death, a suspected suicide, was related at least in part to his depression over a messy confrontation with Thiel’s husband, after which he was financially cut off from Thiel’s largesse.
Some witnesses say the incident was ‘publicly humiliating’ for Thomas. Nearly 100 guests attended the event at Thiel’s lavish estate on Rivo Alto Island – one of the man-made Venetian islands in Biscayne Bay – including close friends of the couple and employees from Thiel Capital.
On March 8, weeks after the New Year’s Eve showdown, Thomas died after falling from the balcony of his Miami high rise in what police are investigating as a possible suicide.
Thiel (left) and Danzeisen share many businesses together and many homes. They also share two young daughters
Billionaire Peter Thiel purchased the $18million 10,000 square foot compound in Miami’s Venetian Islands in early 2021
Friends witnessed Thomas’s mental health decline after the trauma at the New Year’s Eve party.
The German-American venture capitalist became romantically involved with Thomas in late 2019 – sometime before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The stunning model provided physical intimacy and in exchange Thiel furnished Thomas with financial support and financial stability, a source told DailyMail.com.
During their nearly three-year romance, Thiel put Thomas up in a $13 million dollar mansion tucked in the Hollywood Hills, gifted him with lavish European trips, a $300,000 sports car, and access to the most coveted parties in town.
But, after the New Year’s Eve confrontation Thomas was cut off financially by Thiel, sources say.
A source told DailyMail.com that Thomas apparently violated the terms of his non- disclosure agreement with Thiel after he spoke to the media and that is when their relationship began to fray.
Thomas spoke openly about his struggles with mental health and appeared devastated and hurt by the New Year’s Eve fiasco.
He frequently posted selfies of himself – on the beach, at the gym, with his Frenchie named Birkin – sharing his goals that included working on himself in the year ahead.
One of these goals was becoming a Miami firefighter. He enrolled in EMT classes and was studying for his license.
Forty-eight hours before his death he was Facetiming with his family sharing his excitement about completing his EMT course and his future in Miami.
At 11:43am on March 8, only hours before his death, Thomas posted a selfie – relaxing in a plunge pool with the caption: ‘A cold plunge a day, keeps the doctor away,’ with the hashtags #coldplunge #wellness #mentalhealth.
Jeff Thomas was a successful model and influencer and popular figure on Instagram with more than 120,000 followers
Thomas taking a selfie that he posted to his Instagram ‘IamJeffThomas’
Thomas revealed in the not-yet published audio interview obtained by DailyMail.com that he believed Thiel was going to supply him with a monthly allowance in perpetuity and that it would be written into legal documents.
However, it is unclear whether those legal documents exist.
In the interview Thomas spoke about losing his way in a toxic relationship and had conversations with Thiel about how to best part ways.
Thomas’s tragic and untimely death sent shockwaves through the modeling and entertainment industry and gay community.
A police report shared with DailyMail.com shows that Miami police were called to the luxury building at 465 Brickell Avenue on March 8 at 4:12pm.
When emergency personnel arrived, Thomas’s body was found on the pool deck outside the luxury Icon Brickell complex. He was pronounced dead by Miami Fire Rescue at 4:24pm.
Thomas’s dog was taken by animal control officers, and his ex-boyfriend, Dimitris, who had a Frenchie from the same litter, is now taking care of it, a source said.
A police spokesperson from the Miami Police Department said ‘the investigation is open and ongoing’ but was unable to release further details when contacted by DailyMail.com.
Two sources with knowledge of the investigation told The Intercept that detectives have been in contact with Thiel and plan to interview him as part of the probe.
There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by Thiel.