President-elect Donald Trump appears to have left a positive impression on former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates.
The billionaires met up after the 2024 presidential election, Gates told The Wall Street Journal, and shared an “intriguing” three-hour-long dinner together. Gates shared that the private meal only included Trump, himself, and the two individuals that help manage their respective affairs.
Though Gates reportedly helped fund Vice President Kamala Harris’ 2024 campaign, the philanthropist said he was “impressed” by Trump’s interests.
“It was quite wide-ranging,” Gates said of their conversation.
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Bill Gates and Donald Trump.
Global health is an important matter to Gates, who as co-chair of the Gates Foundation works to fight disease and poverty worldwide. The billionaire shared that his discussion with Trump had them both “pretty excited” about a variety of topics, including vaccine innovation.
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They discussed polio in particular, as “we’re very close to getting that done, but if you stop, it’ll spread back,” Gates said. Thus, the disease has had a resurgence in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Gaza and Africa, to name a few areas, he added.
“He was fascinated to hear what he could do to maximize the chance that during the next four years, that incredible milestone will be achieved,” Gates said of Trump.
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“I felt like he was energized and looking forward to helping to drive innovation,” he continued. “You know, I was frankly impressed with how well he showed a lot of interest in the issues I brought up.”
Gates’ positive assessment of Trump comes months after he reportedly donated $50 million to a nonprofit organization that helped support Harris’ bid for president, according to The New York Times, though he didn’t publicly endorse the Democratic nominee.
Before 2024, Gates largely stayed out of politics and kept his views private.
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