> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.fdaweb.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Trump Talks to 2 Silicon Valley Execs About FDA Roles
- URL: https://www.fdaweb.com/trump-talks-to-2-silicon-valley-execs-about-fda-roles/
- Published: 2017-01-12T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-14T21:59:47.000Z
- Author: David McFarland
- Tags: FDA Policy/General, #legacy-id-D5137714

President-elect **Donald Trump** 1/12 reportedly met with two Silicon Valley associates of billionaire tech investor **Peter Thiel** ([see earlier story](https://www.fdaweb.com/trump-team-looking-at-non-medical-person-to-lead-fda/)) for potential posts at FDA, according to [*The Hill*](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjE7sL0w73RAhUF0xQKHdFKCVIQqOcBCBowAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthehill.com%2Fhomenews%2Fadministration%2F313976-trump-meets-with-peter-thiel-allies-for-fda-jobs&usg=AFQjCNHsdH). Trump interviewed **Jim O’Neil**, a managing director of one of Theil’s venture capital firms, who is high on the top FDA post list, and previously served at HHS under **George W. Bush**. He also interviewed entrepreneur **Balaji Srinivasan**, who founded a genomic testing company and works at the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. Thiel had previously donated to a bitcoin startup launched by Srinivasan.

O’Neil has no medical background, unlike the past commissioners for over 50 years. And he has advocated for new radical approaches in allowing products on the market, Bloomberg notes. In a 2014 [speech](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Y7oazjaSyE&ref=fdaweb.com), he supported reforming FDA approval rules so that drugs could be given a “progressive approval,” where they are allowed on the market after demonstrating safety. “Let’s prove efficacy after they’ve been legalized,” he said at a conference called Rejuvenation Biotechnology. Srinivasan has [criticized](https://twitter.com/balajis/status/712245094670151682?ref=fdaweb.com) how FDA is run, sending several tweets last March that posed the agency as an obstacle to innovation, *The Hill* reported.