One person in Thiel’s circle tells The Daily Beast that Thiel has been “shit-talking” Trump over what he views as the president’s hamfisted and botched handling of the pandemic that has resulted in a stalled economy, massive job losses, and a U.S. death toll approaching 90,000. Another person familiar with Thiel’s recent griping said that Thiel was “clearly very frustrated” with the president’s uneven public appearances, particularly the daily White House press briefings Trump held that often ended in head-scratching pronouncements or politically disastrous boasts…

The Daily Beast asked more than a dozen Trump campaign officials, White House aides, and others close to the president and involved in his re-election effort if Thiel had been quietly working with Team Trump on anything 2020 or campaign cash-related, if there had been any meaningful contact in the past three months, or if Thiel had come up in any planning conversations, even in passing. None could offer any examples, and each said they weren’t aware of anything of that nature.

“He ghosted us,” a senior 2020 Trump campaign source said bluntly. “If anything [new] has happened, I haven’t heard about it.”