Palantir cofounder and CEO Alex Karp said President Donald Trump doesn’t accept paradigms leading to “stupid” outcomes — and it’s something he does “very, very well.”
“He’s quite brilliant at this,” Karp, who said he has identified as a Democrat for most of his life, said in an interview with CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Tuesday.
Karp made the remarks when asked about early US talks with Russia about a potential end to the Ukraine war and Trump’s past comments that he wanted to secure $500 billion worth of rare earth minerals from Ukraine. Karp said it’s an example of Trump rejecting a paradigm.
“So what I see is he’s like, ‘I’m not accepting a paradigm where America just keeps financing things, there’s no real discussion,” Karp said.
The Palantir CEO said those who want to be builders can take a lesson out of Trump’s playbook.
“Do not accept a paradigm that is stupid, no matter who tells you that you should have it,” Karp said.
The Palantir CEO said Elon Musk, who leads the Department of Government Efficiency, is “the most important builder in the world” and criticized the way many on the political left have responded to Musk’s efforts to cut down on “fraud, waste, and abuse.” Karp said people should want to know where their taxpayer dollars are going, and those who have questions about his methods should engage in discussion with him about it.
Labor unions and other groups have filed various lawsuits against DOGE’s efforts to access government data, like the Treasury Department’s payment system, and significantly scale back the federal workforce. Some of the initiatives are on hold as the cases wind through the courts.
“What the progressive left should be doing is saying, ‘OK, Elon you’re clearly the most qualified person in the world to do something like this, we want to dialogue with you about how you’re doing and what are you doing,” Karp said, adding that he doesn’t think that’s happening.
Karp previously voiced support for DOGE and has also been outspoken about issues like antisemitism and denounced the 2024 college protests against Israel.
Palantir is a software company that provides AI solutions and data analytics for government and commercial entities. It has several government contracts, including with the Department of Defense and US Army.
Karp is currently on a press tour promoting a book he coauthored called “The Technological Republic: Hard Power, Soft Belief, and the Future of the West.” In it, he argues that the West has abandoned its sense of ambition and become complacent and that “Silicon Valley has lost its way.”
Pushing back against those who may view the West as “inferior,” the Palantir CEO said the world has entered a technological revolution driven by a “software-defined world” led by the US. To succeed, Karp said countries need to have functional borders, militaries need to “be scary,” and education systems have to work.
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