Trump weighs in on potential Zuckerberg run

President Trump on Wednesday said that a potential presidential run by Facebook’s CEO “wouldn’t be too frightening,” while heaping praise on Mark Zuckerberg and other Silicon Valley leaders.

Trump was asked about Facebook’s decision to allow politicians to lie in advertisements on the platform in an interview with CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

“I’d rather him just do whatever he’s going to do,” Trump said. “You know, he’s done — he’s done a hell of a job, when you think of it … he’s going to do what he has to do.”

Trump then said he “heard [Zuckerberg] was going to run for president.”

“That wouldn’t be too frightening, I don’t think,” he continued. “But he does have that monster behind him.”

Zuckerberg has been floated as a potential presidential candidate, but the Facebook executive has never publicly commented on reports suggesting that.

During the interview with CNBC, Trump also weighed in on pressure on Apple to unlock the phones of the Pensacola, Fla., shooter.

“I understand both sides of the argument,” Trump said. “You’re dealing with drug lords and you’re dealing with terrorists, and if you’re dealing with murderers, I don’t care … we have to find out what’s going on.”

Trump also praised Tesla CEO Elon Musk in the interview, saying “you have to give him credit” and calling him a “genius.”

“I spoke to him very recently, and he’s also doing the rockets. He likes rockets,” Trump told CNBC.

“I was worried about him, because he’s one of our great geniuses, and we have to protect our genius. You know, we have to protect Thomas Edison and we have to protect all of these people that — came up with originally the light bulb and — the wheel and all of these things. And he’s one of our very smart people and we want to — we want to cherish those people.”