“I remember just being like, ‘Holy cow, this is crazy,’” Gebbia told host Katie Miller, a former Trump administration official.

Mass importation of voters was and still is their goal https://t.co/DBdJ8uCCxa

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 2, 2025

“There’s no reason we shouldn’t be enforcing the laws of our country and our border,” he added.

Gebbia — a billionaire entrepreneur who was long considered a Silicon Valley liberal — said his shift began around 2021, when the Biden administration’s handling of the southern border left him deeply concerned.

After expressing frustration to friends, Gebbia said he turned to Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and close advisor, for insight.

“I started to pull on that thread,” Gebbia said. “I began to look at other topics and eventually came to the point where I don’t think I can support a political party that wants to have an open border.”

He also credited his growing friendships with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., now Secretary of Health and Human Services, and Elon Musk as part of his ideological evolution.

“I’ve been on my journey. Everyone’s been on a journey,” he said.

Elon Musk reacted to Gebbia’s remarks on X, formerly Twitter, backing his concerns about immigration enforcement.

“Mass importation of voters was and still is their goal,” Musk posted in response to a clip of Gebbia’s interview with Miller.

Musk and Gebbia have maintained a close professional relationship; Gebbia sits on Tesla’s board and was introduced to DOGE earlier this year through Musk.

In February 2025, Gebbia announced he was joining Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, a Trump-backed initiative focused on modernizing outdated government systems.

Airbnb co-founder @jgebbia is working with @DOGE to digitize the government’s antiquated retirement process — which is literally housed in 22,000 filing cabinets in a Pennsylvania cave.

“The process takes many months — and we’re going to make it just many days.” pic.twitter.com/o68oP0Jd4O

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 27, 2025

In a major vote of confidence, President Donald Trump in August 2025 appointed Gebbia as the first-ever Chief Design Officer of the United States, where he will lead a massive overhaul of federal websites and user experiences.

“I’m honored to be appointed by Trump as the first Chief Design Officer of the United States of America,” Gebbia posted on X. “My directive is to update today’s government services to be as satisfying to use as the Apple Store.”

The initiative, called “America by Design,” aims to modernize nearly 26,000 federal websites — many of which are outdated, clunky, and not mobile-friendly. According to the White House, fewer than 6% of government websites meet modern performance standards.

Trump’s executive order establishing the National Design Studio describes a government “lagging behind in usability and aesthetics,” and tasks Gebbia with leading a new chapter in public sector design and innovation.

Gebbia acknowledged that his political shift hasn’t come without consequences.

“The hate mail text messages that I got were disheartening to say the least,” he told Miller in the podcast interview. “It was just depressing for some period of time.”

While Gebbia left his operational role at Airbnb in 2022, he remains on the board.

JUDGE RULES TRUMP DEPLOYMENT OF NATIONAL GUARD TO LOS ANGELES VIOLATED FEDERAL LAW

Despite the blowback, Gebbia says he remains committed to public service and believes in the mission he’s taken on to help the federal government become more efficient.

From Airbnb designer to federal reformer, Gebbia’s transformation has placed him at the center of one of the most high-profile tech-government collaborations in U.S. history.