Palantir CEO Alex Karp says Democrats could win his support for president in 2028. His data software firm works for the Pentagon and for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). It holds about $2 billion in federal contracts, NPR reported. He spoke with Politico's Adam Wren on Nov. 10, a week after Democrats won Congress.
What he said
Wren asked whether Democrats had corrected course this cycle, with candidates running to the center. Had they "corrected in a way that could win back your support ahead of 2028?" Karp answered, "Absolutely." His 2028 pick "could obviously be a Democrat," he said, but not anyone "on the woke right or left." His test is "economic justice and competence."
Politico reported that Karp would not back a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. Asked about New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a DSA member, Karp said of the DSA, "They like to gaslight Jews and segregate Blacks." Karp is Jewish and half Black. Of Mamdani, he added, "Maybe we could agree on economic justice." Profoundd did not contact the DSA.
His record
"I've been a Democrat my whole life," Karp told Wren. "I am voting against Trump," he told the Financial Times in July 2024. After Trump won, Karp gave $1 million to MAGA Inc., Trump's super PAC, on Dec. 12, 2024. A super PAC can raise unlimited money to back candidates. In October 2025, he told Fox Business, "I support the president a lot."
Karp says he favors "very controlled migration," done "humanely" and "competently." He welcomed Trump's remark, which he recalled as "we kind of went too far." Trump's words, to CBS News on Nov. 8, were "I think it might be too tough, yeah."
"My giving is equal Democrat, Republican," Karp told Politico. Some of it he will not disclose. Federal records show only reported gifts. For candidates and parties, from 2023 to the 2024 election, about $678,000 (74%) went to Democrats and $239,000 (26%) to Republicans. Since January 2025, $69,400 (11%) went to Democrats and about $558,000 (89%) to Republicans. Over both, that is about $747,000 (48%) to Democrats and $797,000 (52%) to Republicans. Since 2025 he also gave $1.34 million to seven super PACs. None spent to help a Democrat. Counting them, his reported giving since 2025 is about $1.9 million (96%) to the Republican side and $69,400 (4%) to Democrats.
Critics and Congress
The Blaze, a conservative site, wrote that "it appears that Karp simply went along to get along." Tech leaders "particularly like to swing after they know the results," Politico's Calder McHugh said. Of his giving, Karp told Wren, "I'm also not the village idiot. Of course I give to everybody." He cited "a responsibility to my company, to its shareholders, to the American people." In July, before the vote, he warned that the people behind AI could get "10, 100 times wealthier than they already are," Fortune reported.
Sen. Ron Wyden's office told NPR that if Palantir does not answer, "compulsory processes will be on the table." Former Republican Rep. Chris Stewart called Democrats' subpoena plans "weaponizing justice." He said they are "going after anyone associated with Republicans." Democrats set to lead committees say their probes target alleged corruption, the Deseret News reported.
Is the tech right moving?
The conservative Washington Examiner wrote that Karp "is moving away from President Donald Trump." Parts of the industry "had begun distancing themselves from Republicans before the vote," AFP reported. Since the vote, Meta and OpenAI have widened contacts with Democrats, TechCrunch reported. Palantir hired former Democratic Sen. Jon Tester as an adviser. Hires like that happen "fairly frequently" when power shifts, McHugh said.
Through Nov. 12, Profoundd and its reviewers turned up no other named Trump-backing tech leader moving toward Democrats. Many have been "unusually quiet," Futurism reported. No federal reports yet cover gifts since Election Day. The first are due Dec. 3.
Reporting through Thursday, November 12, 2026. Sources: POLITICO, full interview with Alex Karp and Jon Tester (video), Nov. 12, 2026; Politico Playbook, Nov. 11, 2026; Playbook and Decoded podcast, Nov. 12, 2026; Federal Election Commission, individual contribution records and independent expenditure records, retrieved Nov. 12, 2026; ProPublica FEC Itemizer; CBS News, Nov. 8, 2026; Fox News, Oct. 24, 2025; Fox Business, July 20, 2024; Fortune, Aug. 19, 2024; Fortune, July 17, 2026; NPR, Nov. 9, 2026; The Blaze, Nov. 11, 2026; Washington Examiner, Nov. 11, 2026; AFP via The Korea Times, Nov. 6, 2026; Deseret News, Nov. 12, 2026; Digital Today, citing TechCrunch, Nov. 9, 2026; Futurism, Nov. 11, 2026.
