USA: Bill Gates reportedly backed outgoing US Vice President Kamala Harris with a $50 million donation in the 2024 election. Now, he has come out in praise of Donald Trump, who will be sworn in as US President on Jan 20.
The Microsoft co-founder is the latest in a line of technopreneurs praising Trump, who was banned from social media after he lost the 2020 election. Though falling in line with the rest, Gates still maintains a difference.
Trump shares Gates’ interest in public health
Unlike younger tech bros supporting Trump, Gates, 69, hasn’t been moved to admiration by the incoming president’s impatience with regulations like fact-checking and content moderation. Instead, he sees Trump as a potential partner in his campaign to improve public health.
That’s right. The burger-loving, golf-playing incoming US president voted to office for putting America first and promising to Make America Great Again (MAGA) is, according to Gates, interested in finding a cure for HIV and eradicating polio – improving lives not just in America but in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Africa.
Gates shared the good news in an interview with the Wall Street Journal’s editor-in-chief Emma Tucker.
“I had a chance, about two weeks ago, to go have a long and actually quite intriguing dinner with him,” Gates revealed. The only others present at the three-hour dinner were incoming White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Gates’ associate Larry Cohen.
Gates spoke to Trump about his philanthropic work and public health. “I spoke a lot about HIV and how [The Gates] Foundation is literally working on a cure for that. We’re at an early stage,” Gates said. He commended Trump’s role in accelerating vaccine development during the COVID-19 pandemic, suggesting that a similar approach could advance HIV research. “We both got pretty excited about that,” he added.
They also talked about eradicating polio. Gates emphasised the need to continue the campaign to wipe it out in regions like Pakistan, Afghanistan, Gaza, and parts of Africa, where there has been a resurgence of polio. “He [Trump] was fascinated to hear what he could do to maximise the chance that during the next four years, that incredible milestone will be achieved,” Gates remarked.
The billionaire philanthropist praised Trump, describing him as “energised and looking forward to helping drive innovation”. “I was frankly impressed with how well he showed a lot of interest in the issues I brought up,” Gates said.
Gates’ positive take on the incoming president is an about-turn from his financial support for Trump’s political rival, Kamala Harris.
The New York Times reported on Oct 22, 2024, just two weeks before the Nov 5 election, that Gates had privately said he had donated $50 million to the non-profit Future Forward supporting Harris, though he did not publicly endorse her.
The newspaper added that, when approached, he didn’t directly talk about the donation but said, “I support candidates who demonstrate a clear commitment to improving health care, reducing poverty and fighting climate change in the US and around the world.”
Microsoft’s co-founder is the latest billionaire to meet Trump following his historic 2024 election win. Other business leaders, including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, have also visited Mar-a-Lago. Bezos and Zuckerberg each stumped up $1 million for the president-elect’s inaugural fund.
Elon Musk, however, outdid everyone by spending $277 million to elect Trump and has been rewarded as the incoming president’s “First Buddy” with a key role in his administration.
While Gates’ dinner with Trump has been criticised as rank opportunism by some on Twitter, now X, others have noted that both parties wanted to meet.
Trump hinted on social media weeks before the dinner that Gates was coming to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Floria.”Where are you? When are you coming to the ‘Center of the Universe,’ Mar-a-Lago? Bill Gates asked to come tonight. We miss you and x! New Year’s Eve is going to be AMAZING!!! DJT,” Trump wrote on his platform, Truth Social.