Despite their erratic relationship, billionaire Silicon Valley investor Peter Thiel declared he would support former president Donald Trump in the November election.

Thiel said on Thursday at the Aspen Ideas Festival that he was hesitant to support. The CEO of Paypal was a fervent supporter of President Trump in 2016, but their friendship soured when he allegedly refused to give Trump his endorsement, even though the 45th president urged him to.

In an on-stage interview, Thiel declared, “I’ll vote for Trump if you hold a pistol to my head.” “I refuse to donate any funds to his superPAC.”

The business tycoon has already provided significant funding to both Trump and Republican contenders. He gave $1.25 million to Trump’s 2016 campaign and approximately $35 million to 16 Republican candidates running for federal office in 2022. Out of the 16 candidates, 12 were successful in their elections.

Thiel stated in 2023 that he would not support any presidential candidate in November of this year, but he did not offer his endorsement in an interview with the Atlantic, wherein he censured Trump.

He said to the publication, “There are a lot of things I got wrong.” It exceeded my expectations in terms of craziness. It was riskier than I had anticipated. Even the most fundamental parts of the government proved to be unworkable. That aspect, then, was perhaps even worse than my low expectations.

Thiel apparently became dissatisfied with the Republican Party’s course in late 2022. He specifically takes issue with the party’s overemphasis on transgender and abortion rights rather than promoting innovation through deregulation and global competition.

At the 2016 Republican National Convention, he expressed his desire for the party to give economic issues more attention.

He declared on stage, “I am glad to be homosexual, but more than anything, I am pleased to be an American.” “While I don’t claim to agree with every aspect of our party’s agenda, bogus cultural conflicts serve as a diversion from our economic downturn, and only Donald Trump is being forthright about it among the contenders in this election.”