Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, expressed a hopeful outlook regarding President-elect Donald Trump at The New York Times' DealBook Summit.
Bezos anticipates a more amicable regulatory environment under the forthcoming administration.
"I'm actually very optimistic this time around," Bezos stated. "He seems to have a lot of energy around reducing regulation. If I can help do that, I'm going to help him."
According to CNBC, Bezos' positive remarks come as a surprise given Trump's public criticism of the billionaire during his first term. Trump has consistently targeted Bezos and his companies, Amazon and The Washington Post, accusing them of tax evasion and disseminating "fake news," among other allegations. Trump has also blamed Amazon for the financial woes of the U.S. Postal Service due to its reliance on the service for package delivery.
In 2019, Amazon attributed its loss of a multibillion-dollar Department of Defense contract, known as JEDI, to Trump's "behind-the-scenes attacks" on the company. The friction between Bezos and Trump predates Trump's presidency. Before the 2016 election, Bezos condemned Trump's conduct, arguing that it "erodes our democracy." After Trump accused Bezos of using The Washington Post as a "tax shelter," Bezos humorously offered to send Trump into space on one of his Blue Origin rockets.
However, Bezos demonstrated a similar optimism during Trump's first transition period eight years ago. He was among the tech leaders who met with Trump in December 2016. "I found today's meeting with the president-elect, his transition team, and tech leaders to be very productive," Bezos said then. "I shared the view that the administration should make innovation one of its key pillars, which would create a huge number of jobs across the whole country, in all sectors, not just tech agriculture, infrastructure, manufacturing everywhere."
In the run-up to this year's election, Bezos maintained a conciliatory stance towards Trump. He praised Trump's "grace under literal fire" following an assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania rally in July. Bezos noted that Trump seems more composed and confident than during his first term. "You've probably grown in the last eight years," Bezos said. "He has too."
In a break from tradition, Bezos announced before the election that The Washington Post would not endorse a candidate. Despite the editorial team's prepared endorsement of Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, Bezos halted the plan in late October. "We knew there would be blowback and we did the right thing anyway," Bezos said, defending the decision as "far from cowardly."
Bezos' space company, Blue Origin, will frequently engage with Trump's administration for federal contracts, competing directly with Elon Musk's SpaceX. Musk, a key Trump ally, contributed nearly $75 million to America PAC, a pro-Trump super political action committee he established earlier this year. Despite the competition and political differences, Bezos remains optimistic about the future under Trump's administration, a testament to his commitment to fostering a conducive business environment.
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