--- ---  # Watch Live: Peter Thiel Discusses His Donald Trump Endorsement  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Updated: Dec 13, 2023 4:45 PM UTCPublished: Oct 31, 2016 2:52 PM UTC  Peter Thiel, president of Thiel Capital, speaks at the annual Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California, on April 29, 2013. Peter Thiel, president of Thiel Capital, speaks at the annual Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California, on April 29, 2013.Bloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Updated: Dec 13, 2023 4:45 PM UTCPublished: Oct 31, 2016 2:52 PM UTC Silicon Valley billionaire [Peter Thiel](http://time.com/4416093/peter-thiel-donald-trump/), who has endorsed Donald Trump for president, will discuss his support for the Republican nominee and his thoughts on the 2016 election on Monday. The venture capitalist and entrepreneur is attending a [National Press Club event](http://www.press.org/events/peter-thiel) in Washington D.C., where he will answer questions from reporters about his endorsement. Thiel, who co-founded PayPal and Palantir Technologies Inc., said he would donate $1.25 million to Trump’s campaign after [announcing his support](http://time.com/4417679/republican-convention-peter-thiel-transcript/) for the candidate at the Republican National Convention in July. The announcement [sparked anger](http://fortune.com/2016/10/30/peter-thiel-donald-trump/) among those in the technology industry. Thiel said Friday that he was “surprised by the intensity” of the backlash in an interview with the New York _Times_. “We’re at such a crucial point that you have to overlook personal characteristics,” he said. The event begins at 11 a.m. EST. Watch it live above. Donald Trump: Watch Peter Thiel Discuss His Endorsement Live ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4551527/peter-thiel-donald-trump-watch-live/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4551527/peter-thiel-donald-trump-watch-live/"},"headline":"Watch Live: Peter Thiel Discusses His Donald Trump Endorsement","datePublished":"2016-10-31T14:52:26.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-13T16:45:54.000Z","description":"Thiel had announced his support for Trump in July at the Republican National Convention","url":"https://time.com/4551527/peter-thiel-donald-trump-watch-live/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt16af47d578c14927/6988ac398e0601929e4680db/peter-thiel-donald-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt16af47d578c14927/6988ac398e0601929e4680db/peter-thiel-donald-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Key Speakers At The Milken Institute Global Conference","caption":"Peter Thiel, president of Thiel Capital, speaks at the annual Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California, on April 29, 2013.","creditText":"Bloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4551527/peter-thiel-donald-trump-watch-live/","name":"Watch Live: Peter Thiel Discusses His Donald Trump Endorsement"}}]}] ```