Amazon founder Jeff Bezos expressed surprising optimism about President-elect Donald Trump’s second term, saying he anticipates potential benefits from reduced government regulation, The Associated Press reports.
“I’m actually very optimistic this time around. He seems to have a lot of energy around reducing regulation. If I can help do that, I’m going to help him,” Bezos said while speaking at The New York Times’ DealBook Summit on Wednesday.
Bezos’ comments come just weeks after his decision to prohibit The Washington Post, which he owns, from endorsing presidential candidates. This decision, announced in October, resulted in a significant backlash, including a large number of subscription cancellations and protests from Post journalists. Bezos defended his decision at the time, arguing that endorsements create a perception of bias at a time of declining public trust in media.
During the DealBook interview, Bezos stated his intention to persuade Trump to reconsider his characterization of the press as the “enemy.” This follows years of friction between Trump and Bezos, with the former president frequently criticizing both Amazon and The Washington Post. In 2019, Amazon even argued in court that Trump’s antagonism towards the company harmed its chances of securing a significant Pentagon contract. The Biden administration ultimately awarded contracts to both Amazon and Microsoft.
Addressing the appointment of Elon Musk to a regulatory role within the incoming Trump administration, Bezos downplayed concerns about potential conflicts of interest. Despite the rivalry between Bezos’ Blue Origin and Musk’s SpaceX, Bezos expressed confidence that Musk would not abuse his position to disadvantage competitors.
