Peter Thiel criticized the Trump administration’s staffing strategy on the MD Meets podcast, saying the second term favored loyalty over competence and produced "not very smart, but very loyal" officials. He said he preferred to reassess Trump's legacy in 10 years but regretted the appointment choices. Thiel warned that voter exhaustion with establishment parties could empower Democratic Socialists — a shift he described as potentially catastrophic. He distinguished the 2016 disruption he supported from the far-left disruption he fears.
Peter Thiel Slams Trump’s 'Loyalty Test' Appointments as 'Not Very Smart' and Warns of a Far-Left Shift
Peter Thiel Dings Trump’s Loyalty Tests For ‘Not Very Smart’ Administration Officials
Peter Thiel sharply criticized the Trump administration’s preference for loyalty over competence, saying the practice of elevating loyal but poorly qualified aides has harmed the GOP’s electoral prospects. Thiel made the comments on the podcast MD Meets in a conversation with German journalist Mathias Döpfner.
Döpfner asked whether Thiel regretted supporting Donald Trump in 2016 and how he would assess the president’s record. Thiel replied that he preferred to reassess Trump’s legacy in a decade, but he expressed clear misgivings about personnel choices.
"My fast all answer is, you should ask me in 10 years or so, and we'll see in 10 years how it all works out," Thiel said. He added: "I wish he had appointed more competent people."
Thiel contrasted the two administrations' mistakes: the first term, he said, suffered from internal infighting among disparate appointees, while the second term he described as overcorrecting with loyalty tests that produced an administration "staffed by not very smart, but very loyal people."
"I think the two administrations kind of made opposite mistakes... The second administration, I think, overcorrected for the mistake of the first term with all these loyalty tests. You got an administration staffed by not very smart, but very loyal people," Thiel said.
He warned that widespread voter fatigue with both parties’ establishments could open the door to more radical alternatives. Thiel said he fears growing exhaustion with the Democratic establishment could empower Democratic Socialists — a development he described as potentially catastrophic.
"I worry... that the establishment Democratic Party has failed as badly as the establishment Republicans. There is a risk the U.S. will shift very far to the left, and that's the real disruption we're going to get," he said.
Thiel reiterated that he welcomed the disruptive energy that helped elect Trump in 2016 but drew a sharp distinction between that disruption and what he called the threat of a far-left realignment.
MD Meets has posted the full conversation, in which Thiel walks through his thinking on personnel, party dynamics, and the long-term political risks he perceives for the United States.
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