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The richest person in the world, Bill Gates, had a “good conversation” with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump Tuesday and said his administration would have “a very upbeat message” on innovation in the same way former President John F. Kennedy once did by urging them to fly to the moon.
"In the same way President Kennedy talked about the space mission and got the country behind that," the Microsoft founder told MSNBC.
"I think whether it's education or stopping epidemics ... there can be a very upbeat message that (Trump's) administration (is) going to organize things, get rid of regulatory barriers, and have American leadership through innovation."
The two billionaires met at Trump Tower in New York and, unsurprisingly, hit it off given their shared interest in keeping their billions. Gates said he recently spoke to Trump by phone for the first time, saying they had "a lot of common friends."
"It was a good time," Gates told reporters afterward. "We had a good conversation about innovation, how it can help in health, education, the impact of foreign aid and energy, and a wide-ranging conversation about the power of innovation."
It is a surprising reaction to Trump given the fact that Gates just Monday set up a new fund to invest in clean technology together with other wealthy donors.
Trump has previously claimed that climate change is a hoax created by China to steal U.S. jobs. He also just appointed Rick Perry, former Texas governor and climate change denier, to head the U.S. Department of Energy.
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During the U.S. presidential campaign, Gates had said he expected to have positive relations with either Hillary Clinton or Trump, which is not surprising considering both candidates had close relations to millionaires and billionaires.
Trump is scheduled to meet leaders of several major technology groups this week and is expected to push them to create jobs after saying last week that he would like Apple, whose coveted iPhones are made in China, to open a large factory in the U.S.
But he will be stepping into hostile territory. The tech sector overwhelmingly supported the Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and has expressed fear about the effect Trump's policies will have on the industry.
The sole notable exception is the controversial PayPal co-founder and early Facebook investor Peter Thiel, currently a member of Trump's transition team.
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