This is surprising mostly because Thiel is a libertarian.  Trump has staked out policy positions that provoke a much stronger central government.<p>To be specific.<p>- Increased federal regulation.  Especially especially around restrictions of foreign trade.  China&#x2F; Korea etc.<p>-Speech restrictions. Trump has advocated new laws against the press and others than disparage him (i.e. those small hands jokes for example or like Bill Maher- called him son of a chimp and was sued- trump lost and wants to change the laws so he&#x27;d win)<p>-Intervention in leading American business sourcing and investment decisions.  Carrier AC is an example and of course Apple.<p>- Pro Gun control.  This is in direct contrast to libertarian views.  They dont want any rules from the government on gun control.<p>Now one could argue that Trump has a non interventionist military policy which is a traditional libertarian view. However, Bush ran on that platform in 2000 but becasue he was so inexperienced he ended up started several large wars including Iraq which was a dramatic failure.  Trump is less experienced than Bush was so it&#x27;s possible he is at a high risk of entering new wars as well.<p>There is zero about trump that has anything to do with being a libertarian.  That&#x27;s the puzzling part.