Alex Karp, the billionaire CEO of data-mining company Palantir, issues a stark warning: Americans’ safety is non-negotiable.
In an interview with CNBC, Karp emphasized that were he to have his way with foreign policy, he would not be afraid of striking back at adversaries that have hurt U.S. citizens.
“I mainly support, by the way, something that seems to be escaping both parties, which is, if you touch an American, we will inflict pain on you for generations,” Karp said. “That should be the U.S. policy, whether that happens in Gaza, whether that happens in Ukraine, wherever that happens, you cannot touch America,” Karp said.
A spokesperson for Palantir declined to comment to Fortune.
Karp’s words come as the U.S. is engaged in military conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East. The Palantir CEO has previously said that the future could “very likely” see the U.S. involved in a three-front war against Russia, China, and Iran.
Karp told the New York Times that the U.S. could be at a disadvantage in such a conflict because its enemies have equal technological capabilities and less restraint.
“I think we’re in an age when [a] nuclear deterrent is actually less effective, because the West is very unlikely to use anything like a nuclear bomb, whereas our adversaries might,” he said. “Where you have technological parity but moral disparity, the actual disparity is much greater than people think.”
The self-proclaimed “unhappy radical Democrat” was raised by leftist activists and some of his political opinions differ from the hard right leanings of his Palantir cofounder Peter Thiel. Last month, Karp told the Times that he supported Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential election, meanwhile Thiel has said he’ll be voting for former President Donald Trump.
Palantir is a major military contractor, and with an average of 43% of its revenue coming from the U.S. government, its business fortune relies largely on politics. The company brought in about $2.2 billion in revenue last year, and on Monday, joined the S&P 500 index of large market cap companies for the first time.
Despite the Democratic leanings of its CEO, Karp said Palantir includes people that support both Trump and Harris. Either way, the company’s business has done well under both parties because they recognize the superiority of Palantir’s products, he added.
No matter which party is in power, Karp said his foreign policy stance remains the same. The best way to defend the country is to ensure that no adversary can kidnap, hurt, or kill Americans without severe consequences—something he said is common right now.
“Just in general, in foreign policy, we need to talk less and act more.”
