"Frankly Impressed": Bill Gates On 3-Hour Dinner With Donald Trump

Just days from Donald Trump's inauguration, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates revealed he had a three-hour dinner with the President-elect, calling the meeting "intriguing" and "impressive."

"I had a chance, about two weeks ago, to go have a long and actually quite intriguing dinner with him," Mr Gates told The Wall Street Journal.

Their conversation, which he described as "wide-ranging," touched on various topics, including HIV, polio, and the COVID-19 pandemic. "I spoke a lot about HIV and that [The Gates] Foundation is literally working on a cure for that. We're at an early stage," he told WSJ's Editor-in-Chief Emma Tucker.

The billionaire entrepreneur was particularly "impressed" by Trump's energy and willingness to drive innovation. "I felt like he was energised and looking forward to helping to drive innovation," Mr Gates said. "I was frankly impressed with how well he showed a lot of interest in the issues I brought up."

He also highlighted the parallels between the accelerated vaccine development during the COVID-19 pandemic and the potential for similar progress in HIV research. "He in the COVID days accelerated the vaccine innovation," Mr Gates said. "So I was asking him if maybe the same kind of thing could be done here," adding that both got "pretty excited about that."

The pair also discussed the ongoing fight against polio. "We're very close to getting that done, but if you stop, it'll spread back," Mr Gates said, adding that the President-elect was "fascinated to hear what he could do to maximise the chance that during the next four years that incredible milestone will be achieved."

The dinner comes weeks after Trump posted on Truth Social, hinting at Mr Gates' visit to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. "Where are you? When are you coming to the 'Center of the Universe,' Mar-a-Lago. Bill Gates asked to come, tonight. We miss you and x! New Year's Eve is going to be AMAZING!!! DJT," Trump wrote.

The dinner was also attended by incoming White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and one of Mr Gates' staffers.

Mr Gates is the latest billionaire to meet with Trump following his historic 2024 election win. Other business leaders, including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, have also visited Mar-a-Lago ahead of Trump's January 20 inauguration.

Bill Gates had previously met with Donald Trump in 2016, ahead of his first term as President.