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Peter Thiel was one of President-elect Donald Trump's first major supporters in Silicon Valley, donating more than $1 million to groups that supported Trump's 2016 campaign.
However, that doesn't mean he's interested in actually serving full-time in Trump's second administration.
"I'm not going to do anything on a full-time basis," Thiel said on "Piers Morgan Uncensored," an online talk show. "You can't go full-time into government if you've been in a tech position like I have. It's just — the sort of things you have to be realistic about, what you can and can't do."
As Trump has begun staffing his new administration, he's plucked a handful of figures from tech world. They include entrepreneur and investor David Sacks, who's set to serve as an AI and crypto czar in the new administration, and Jacob Helberg, who works at Palantir and was recently nominated to a role at the State Department.
Elon Musk is perhaps the biggest tech-world figure who's working with Trump these days. Along with Vivek Ramaswamy, Musk is set to co-lead the "Department of Government Efficiency," a new initiative to root out wasteful spending in the federal government. It isn't a full-time role for Musk, and DOGE won't have any formal authority on its own.
As Thiel offered cautious praise for DOGE, Morgan asked him whether he might consider an "Elon-style role" with Trump.
"It's just not my area of comparative advantage," Thiel said. "I think politics is very important… I enjoy going on your show, thinking about it every now and then. If I spent my whole life thinking about this, man, I'd be depressed and crazy."
Despite Thiel's apparent lack of interest in working in the government himself, he's had a significant impact on politics in recent years.
Thiel was instrumental in the political rise of Vice President-elect JD Vance, pouring millions of dollars into a super PAC that supported the Ohio senator's 2022 campaign.
Another close associate of Thiel, Blake Masters, is reportedly in the running to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) under Trump.
