A silicon valley tech adviser who previously donated to a major Democrat campaign four years ago is now funneling cash into Donald Trump's 2024 campaign, according to a report.
Jacob Helberg has reportedly given a $1 million donation to Donald Trump's presidential campaign, according to The Washington Post , four years after raising money within his exclusive circle for Democrat Pete Buttigieg's failed 2020 primary campaign.
Helberg serves on an advisory board to Palantir and runs the Hill and Valley Forum, an informal defense technology group that proved to be crucial in pushing Congress to pass divest-or-ban legislation aimed at social media app TikTok.
Helberg is one of several influential backers of tech leaders who have pledged allegiance to the former president.
Following the pandemic, an artificial intelligence arms race against China, and a mission to ban TikTok in the United States, Helberg told The Post that his views and party allegiances have shifted.
In Silicon Valley, "the social cost of supporting Trump isn't as great as it was," said Helberg of his decision to switch parties, adding that it was because "Trump was right on a lot of make-or-break issues for America."
Earlier this month, Helberg visited Mar-a-Lago, where he says he "fell in love" with Trump while socializing with a number of GOP vice presidential hopefuls, the Post reported.
The group spoke on topics such as the risks of overregulating artificial intelligence and the importance of Silicon Valley in playing a role in the development of military technologies, said the tech leader.
As the November election looms, the political climate among Silicon Valley donors has been one of distaste for both choices in the 2024 election.
Biden "has proved himself to be the most woke president we've ever had," despite pitching himself as a centrist, added Helberg.
As a gay man, he stated that the GOP's stances on LGBTQ+ issues, which include a law in his home state of Florida limiting school curriculum addressing gender and sexual orientation, didn't bother him.
He believes the party is actually becoming less socially conservative on the federal level, while Biden is seen by many as too old, and his policies are not aligned with the tech sector's interests.
In April, Biden signed the law, giving the TikTok parent company ByteDance up to a year to either sell the app or face a nationwide ban.
While Helberg appreciates Biden's support of the bill, he noted that Trump has been a TikTok opponent since 2020, when his administration attempted to force the Chinese parent company to sell the services to a US company.
