Two years after $1 million to Trump's super PAC, Palantir's Karp says he's a Democrat

A Democrat, suddenly

Palantir▼−3.69% — Palantir, down 3.69 percent today chief executive Alex Karp told Politico on November 11 that he has "been a Democrat my whole life" and that "all of our products are essentially progressive" ¹. His giving, he said, is "equal, Democrat, Republican," and he is open to voting Democratic in 2028 ². Eight months earlier he had argued his technology "disrupts" the economic power of "largely Democratic" voters ¹. A Reddit▼−2.11% — Reddit, down 2.11 percent today thread on the interview collected 7,150 points in two days ³.

Ten days, four hedges

The record around the interview is dated and fast. On November 3, Democrats won both chambers of Congress, and technology companies were already bracing for a wave of Democratic scrutiny of their ties with the Trump administration when the new Congress sits in January ⁴.

On November 4, FEC filings reviewed by Sludge↗ showed a Palantir manager gave $44,300 this cycle to the fundraising committees of Hakeem Jeffries, the Democrat positioned to be speaker ⁵. On November 9, President Trump nominated Palantir's chief information security officer, Michael LoSapio, to run CISA, the federal cyber defense agency, a nomination that goes to the incoming Democratic Senate if the lame duck does not act ⁶. The same day, former Democratic senator Jon Tester of Montana confirmed an advisory role at the company ⁷.

The government is the customer underneath

The customer underneath all of it is the US government: Palantir's software supports Army command systems and the Pentagon's Maven AI platform, used in operations in Venezuela and Iran ⁸.

Cover bought on every side

Read in sequence, the moves hedge both parties at once: $1 million to the pro-Trump super PAC MAGA Inc. in December 2024 ², a manager's money to the incoming speaker's committees ⁵, a Democratic ex-senator on the payroll, the security chief in line for a Senate-confirmed post ⁶, and now the chief executive claiming the other party.

Tester, whom the company approached in July, before the election ⁷, described the job plainly: "Let's just say that they're pulled in front of a committee. I'm more than happy to talk [to the company] about the different members on the committee that I know" ⁷. He says the role is advisory, not lobbying ⁴.

The quarter behind the politics

The customer being defended paid $953 million last quarter, up 96 percent ¹⁰. For the first time, it was not the bigger half: US commercial revenue reached $984 million, up 148 percent ¹⁰. Total revenue was $2.31 billion, up 96 percent year over year, the thirteenth straight quarterly acceleration, and full-year guidance rose to about $8.53 billion ⁹¹⁰.

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The fraying edge is bookings: total contract value signed in US commercial fell 31 percent from the second quarter ⁹. Institutions moved too: the iShares Expanded Tech-Software ETF trimmed all 106 of its positions↗ on October 29, and its largest single sale was Palantir, 135,521 shares for $26.6 million ¹¹. The stock fell about 3 percent after hours on the beat and is down about 5 percent this year ¹⁰.

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Two priced paths, one reading

If the incoming Congress opens the file, Senator Ron Wyden, incoming chairman of the Finance Committee, has said compulsory processes are "on the table" if Palantir stays unresponsive ⁴, and roughly 41 percent of last quarter's revenue sits in the government book ¹⁰. If commercial carries instead, the raised $8.53 billion guide and a US commercial floor above $3.56 billion do the work ¹⁰. One closely read earnings note↗ puts the stock near 75 times estimated 2027 revenue ⁹, which prices the good path. The tell is US commercial bookings at the fourth-quarter print, against revenue guidance of about $2.65 billion ⁹.

Karp can change parties in an interview. The bookings line changes once a quarter.