Silicon Valley insiders told The Post they were impressed by “eloquent and articulate” Donald Trump at Thursday night’s presidential fundraiser in the posh, stereotypically progressive San Francisco neighborhood of Pacific Heights.
“He wasn’t the guy I see on TV,” one source who attended the event — which raised north of $12 million according to a campaign spokesperson — told The Post. “He was very thoughtful and self-deprecating.”
More than 100 people paid as much as $300,000 a head to attend the fundraiser hosted by venture capitalist David Sacks at his multimillion dollar home, sources confirmed.
Guests included crypto exchange founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, Commissioner for the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission Jacob Helberg, venture capitalist Shervin Pishevar, CEO Tom Siebel of C3.ai, and Joe Voboril who is a partner at 1789 Capital.
Venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya, a member of the popular podcast “All In” with Sacks and tech insiders Jason Calacanis and David Friedberg, was also a host.
The Post is told that Trump opened his nearly 45-minute speech by talking about his late uncle John G. Trump — an engineer who was an MIT professor for nearly four decades — and joking that he should’ve followed in his uncle’s footsteps as a way to connect with the largely techie crowd.
But he quickly turned to serious topics like the importance of unleashing artificial intelligence innovation and why the US needs to be prepared to provided the massive energy AI will require.
“Fossil fuel is the only way to do it … solar and wind just can’t cut it,” the source said of Trump’s remarks.
“Last night, there was energy and excitement for a Republican presidential candidate unlike anything I’ve ever seen in Silicon Valley,” Helberg, who is also an adviser to software company Palantir, told The Post.
Helberg, who previously stumped for Democrats including Pete Buttigieg, added: “This event was proof that President Trump’s campaign is creating a generational realignment among technology founders, Millennials, gays and Jewish Americans that transcends party lines and makes him more competitive in even the most traditionally blue communities.”
One guest said it was “surreal” to attend a pro-Trump event in liberal-leaning Pacific Heights — just blocks from Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s mansion.
Sources said Trump, who was introduced to the crowd by Senator J.D. Vance from Ohio, also discussed foreign policy and highlighted the threat that both Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin pose.
He noted that, since he left office Russia, has gotten far richer, far more powerful and far more aggressive.
“Trump had made notes he wanted to reference … I’d never seen that [from him],” one guest said. “He took it seriously.”
There were reportedly a handful of employees from Coinbase in attendance and, while Trump’s speech didn’t focus on cryptocurrency, he is said to have made a brief jab at Securities and Exchange Commissioner Gary Gensler — whose increased scrutiny of the industry has provoked the ire of many in cryptocurrency.
“Crypto radicalized and politicized people,” one Trump advisor told The Post,
Spotting the Winkelvoss twins, Trump called them out as “the guys who created Facebook” and joked “the gene pool” did them “so many favors,” sources said.
The pair — who famously sued Mark Zuckerberg, claiming Facebook was their idea — have gone on to start crypto exchange Gemini.
The advisor noted that Trump is making an effort to appeal to voters who haven’t historically been Republicans.
In fact, sources said many of the attendees see themselves as “apolitical” or independent but feel forced to find a new political home after what they consider a disastrous Biden presidency.
One source said his decision to attend was “less about love for Trump and more about backlash to progressive polices… but there is enormous support here.”
“You’re seeing more and more people embrace Trump,” Helberg told The Post. “When they see one of their peers embrace him, it changes things.”
