Squawk Pod: Palantir CEO Alex Karp & Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent

Date: November 4, 2025
Hosts: Joe Kernen, Becky Quick, Andrew Ross Sorkin
Guests: Alex Karp (CEO, Palantir), Scott Bessent (U.S. Treasury Secretary)

Episode Overview

On this Election Day episode, Squawk Pod dives into three critical topics shaping America’s economic and political landscape: the Supreme Court’s hearing on President Trump’s emergency tariff powers with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the intensifying debate over Elon Musk’s massive Tesla pay package, and Palantir’s explosive growth—and the skepticism it faces—from the words of CEO Alex Karp himself. The episode’s conversations span major policy moves, investor psychology, the societal impact of AI, and the ongoing government shutdown.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Supreme Court Showdown: Emergency Tariffs & Executive Power

• Context: The Supreme Court is set to review President Trump’s invocation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose emergency tariffs, with implications for executive vs. Congressional trade authority ([10:19]–[32:17]).

• Bessent’s Defense:

  • Bessent argues emergencies like the fentanyl crisis, the trade deficit with China, and threatened rare earth mineral export controls justified Trump’s broad use of tariff authority.
  • He draws parallels to the 2008 financial crisis, suggesting that foresight and swift executive action could prevent greater calamities:

    “What if someone had held up their hand like many people did before the great financial crisis and said, we're heading for a calamity...and if someone had exercised emergency powers, then we would not have had to go through 2008, 2009 and the aftermath.”
    — Scott Bessent [11:02], [18:19]

• Concerns Raised:

  • Andrew Ross Sorkin pushes back, questioning the longevity of the “emergency” and the risk of setting precedent, allowing future administrations (Democratic or Republican) to act unilaterally on other issues like climate change:

    “If the court blesses this unlimited presidential tariff power, future presidents… could use it as a climate emergency to tax imports... Does that concern you at all?”
    — Andrew Ross Sorkin [18:52]

  • Bessent expresses skepticism about using emergency powers for climate, labeling climate warnings as exaggerated.

2. Government Shutdown, Partisan Gridlock, and Health Care

• Government Shutdown Update:

  • Day 35 of the shutdown, highlighting severe impacts on travelers and food assistance programs ([02:35], [20:00]).
  • Bessent accuses Democrats of using the shutdown as a political weapon and invites “five brave Democrats” to cross the aisle and end the standoff.

• Healthcare Stalemate:

  • Bessent refuses to preview health care plans until the government reopens:

    “I'm not going to get into negotiations until the Democrats reopen the government.”
    — Scott Bessent [22:17]

3. Tesla’s $1 Trillion Pay Package: Global Dissent and Loyalty

• Norwegian Wealth Fund vs. Elon Musk:
  • Norway’s sovereign fund votes no on Musk’s pay, citing its scale and “key person risk;” Ron Baron’s Barron Capital votes yes, crediting Musk’s leadership for outsized returns ([03:21], [06:03], [13:03]).
  • Panelists joke about Norway’s “1%” ownership and the irony of their objections when Musk created so much value—nor their own GDP ([04:51], [12:43]).
  • Sorkin argues that the plan bakes in succession planning—a key point lost in the headlines:

    “If you really look… the plan... calls for, in fact, effectively creating a successor to Elon Musk as part of the actual plan itself…”
    — Andrew Ross Sorkin [05:21]

4. Alex Karp Unleashed: Palantir, AI, and War on Short Sellers

Palantir’s Growth and Analyst Skepticism

• Karp on Being “Misunderstood”:

  • Karp frames Palantir as a unique, “anti-playbook” company—built by iconoclasts and retail investors, not the establishment. He touts Palantir’s dominance, pragmatic innovation, and retail investor wins:

    “The more you actually know about building software, the more odd, unique and inexplicable our rise and success…looks and is.”
    — Alex Karp [34:45]

• On Analysts, Short Sellers, and Michael Burry:

  • Karp criticizes analysts, likening them to perpetual skeptics who have consistently been wrong on Palantir’s potential.

  • Specifically lambasts Michael Burry’s near-billion-dollar short position, framing it as both market manipulation and an attack on the sector driving America’s growth:

    “When I hear short sellers attacking what I believe is clearly the most important software company in America…simply to make money, and trying to call the AI revolution into question... it's super triggering.”
    — Alex Karp [37:03]

  • Karp’s memorable zinger to the shorts:

    “They're in the business of being skeptical and being wrong. And we're in the business of giving an unfair advantage to American workers, American war fighters and our investors.”
    — Alex Karp [32:44], [39:21]

  • On Palantir’s numbers:

    “We're just going to go do our things… If you want to short that, be my guest, you go ahead.”
    — Alex Karp [39:41]

Bigger Issues: Is AI a Bubble? And Who Benefits?

• AI Bubble Debate:

  • Karp argues there’s “a part of the market…printing cash”—and Palantir owns it. He welcomes the debate but says the numbers speak for themselves ([42:31]).
  • Key challenge: Making AI-driven GDP growth available to workers, not just the elite:

    “Most of GDP growth in this country is because of AI. The real question is: how do we grow that and expose workers? What is the worker available GDP?”
    — Alex Karp [41:37], [42:31]

• Societal Impact of AI and Safety:

  • Addresses national security, class divides, and AI’s dual-use in both lifting society and reinforcing inequalities.

  • Warns against relying on “experts” to solve existential problems (“the experts are not showing up, they’re scared, they’re drinking” [49:28]).

  • On personal and social safety:

    “How do you have maximum safety where you can still have a personal life?... Part of democracy is we get to keep that. And Palantir's architecture makes it possible to have heightened safety and reduce surveillance.”
    — Alex Karp [45:05]

  • On civil society and defending the underclass:

    “...we essentially have a class divide in this society where underclass people...absorb all the negative externalities of policies. The real question…is how can we make sure people participate in GDP? Which also means they can go home safely, they can go to school, they can come back from school, they can go to the border and not get shot.”
    — Alex Karp [45:05]

Signature Karp Moments

• On individuality:

  “I'm not the only one who's a freak show. I'm just more open about it.”
  — Alex Karp [49:28]

• On expert class and retail winners:

  “For the first time…average Americans got venture returns investing in Palantir.”
  — Alex Karp [34:45]

• On retail vs. the establishment:

  “We have these problems no other society has... But we should not screw it up. And the way we screw it up is we are all on the sidelines. We let experts tell us what we should think and we get screwed.”
  — Alex Karp [50:10]

Important Segment Timestamps

• [01:04] – Episode topic overview: emergency tariffs, Tesla pay package, Palantir earns, and AI debate.
• [10:19]–[18:52] – Scott Bessent defends Trump’s tariff emergency powers and recounts their policy justification.
• [20:00]–[23:32] – Shutdown, health care, and threats to New York’s role as finance capital.
• [13:03]–[13:49] – Ron Baron and Tesla’s $8B profits, Musk's importance.
• [32:44]–[50:26] – Extended interview: Alex Karp on Palantir, AI, short sellers, societal transformation.

Notable Quotes

• Scott Bessent:
  “If someone had exercised emergency powers, then we would not have had to go through 2008, 2009 and the aftermath.” [11:02]
  “The real discretion is people voting with their feet…more money should go to the states that people are moving to.” [26:58]

• Alex Karp:
  “They're in the business of being skeptical and being wrong. And we're in the business of giving an unfair advantage to American workers, American war fighters and our investors.” [32:44], [39:21]
  “Most of GDP growth in this country is because of AI. The real question is: how do we grow that and expose workers? What is the worker available GDP?” [41:37]
  “I'm not the only one who's a freak show. I'm just more open about it.” [49:28]

• Andrew Ross Sorkin:
  “If you really look… the [Tesla] plan…calls for, in fact, effectively creating a successor to Elon Musk as part of the actual plan itself…” [05:21]

Conclusion

This episode captures a tumultuous moment in U.S. economic and technological policy: a government shutdown approaches record length, the boundaries of executive power face Supreme Court scrutiny, and American innovation is on trial in boardrooms and investment circles. Scott Bessent defends controversial emergency tariffs as a matter of national security, while Alex Karp of Palantir vigorously rebuts short sellers and urges America not to rely on “experts” alone as AI reshapes the GDP and society. Throughout, the hosts bring clarity, skepticism, and humor to the debate, making sense of seismic shifts in politics, markets, and technology.