No Office, All Influence | Peter Thiel’s Shadow Role In The Trump Administration

TheBurningPlatform.com

Jon Hall | writerjonhall.substack.com

Lately, a wisp of smoke has curled up, down, and all around as Elon Musk’s messy split with the Trump administration dominates the headlines.

In April, I reported how ICE is working with Peter Thiel’s Palantir in reviving the spirit of the patriot act with ImmigrationOS.

In a federal register, ICE detailed their urgent need for system capabilities and outcomes involving “targeting and enforcement prioritization”, “self-deportation tracking” and an “immigration lifecycle process”.

In turn, megacorp Palantir is creating ImmigrationOS for the Trump administration, an all-comprehensive software able to analyze immigration lifecycles, illegal immigrants leaving the country, and tracking and deporting immigrants.

However, Palantir has been quietly datamining and tracking citizens since 2018. After it was founded in 2004 by Peter Thiel, Palantir worked with the Pentagon and CIA in Afghanistan and Iraq.

On top of that, Palantir has lent its services to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the FBI, and the Department of Homeland Security.

Over the years, Palantir has worked with Trump in different capacities. For instance, Palantir software fueled ICE raids on chicken processing plants in 2019, seeing 680 deported.

Palantir’s software was used in 2016 during another infamous ICE raid dubbed “Bronx 120”, where ICE agents terrorized the New York neighborhood when they raided homes, battered down doors with flash-bangs and assault rifles.

In 2018, the software used again – with ICE agents spreading out across the country, raiding nearly a hundred 7-Elevens. In government documents, Palantir has been described as “mission critical” to ICE.

Although Thiel has no official capacity in the White House, his network is well-sown and interwoven into Trump’s cabinet:

Chris Wright – a member of board of directors at Oklo, a company that has received funding from Hydrazine Capital, founded in part by Peter Thiel – is Trump’s Secretary of Energy.

Jacob Helberg – former high-official Palantir adviser – is now serving as Trump’s under secretary of state for economic growth, energy, and the environment.

Ken Howery – co-founder and first CFO of PayPal, which was founded in part by Thiel – is now ambassador to Denmark in the Trump administration.

Clark Minor – ex-Palantir executive – is the Chief Information Officer of Health and Human Services.

Jim O’Neill – a cofounder and former CEO of the Thiel Foundation itself – is the U.S. Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services under Trump.

Going even further, Peter Thiel has been described as JD Vance’s “mentor” and even introduced Vance to Trump in early 2021.

White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers, after being asked to comment on the report of the government contracting Palantir to compile a database of personal information on Americans, stated:

President Trump signed an executive order to eliminate information silos and streamline data collection across all agencies to increase government efficiency and save hard-earned taxpayer dollars.

Activist Jason Bassler claimed the database compiling American citizens would include “tax filings, student debt, social security, bank accounts, medical claims, and immigration status”.

Since Trump has taken office, Palantir has made more than $113 million in federal contracts. At the end of last month, Palantir received a brand new $795 million contract with the Department of Defense.

While headlines fixate on Elon Musk’s flameout and the swelling protests in LA, a quieter revolution is underway. Thiel doesn’t need a title – his code runs the entire system.

As dissent fills the streets, Palantir builds the infrastructure to watch it, predict it, and – if needed… erase it. The future isn’t coming. It’s already deployed.

Image: Source [Ghibli Style Edited]

Original Article: https://www.theburningplatform.com/2025/06/09/no-office-all-influence-peter-thiels-shadow-role-in-the-trump-administration/