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Amazon founder Jeff Bezos appears to be positioning himself for a more collaborative approach to President-elect Donald Trump as he prepares to take back the White House in January.
Bezos praised Trump’s energy in cutting regulations during a conference in New York on Wednesday and even offered to support efforts to roll back an “overregulated system.”
“I’m actually very optimistic this time around,” Bezos remarked. “He seems to have a lot of energy around reducing regulation. If I can help do that, I’m going to help him.” The billionaire also noted “We do have too many regulations in this country.”
Bezos’s remarks are in stark contrast to his past opposition to Trump.
Trump has frequently railed against the so-called “Amazon Washington Post” for alleged anti-Trump bias.
The president-elect also accused Bezos of leveraging the Post for his own benefit, and pursuing an agenda against his administration.
Bezos also addressed the controversy surrounding his decision to bar the Washington Post from endorsing presidential candidates, which drew sharp criticism, with readers cancelling subscriptions en masse “Presidential endorsements do nothing to tip the scales of an election,” Bezos explained. “No undecided voters in Pennsylvania are going to say, ‘I’m going with Newspaper A’s endorsement.’ None.”
He also acknowledged that the decision carried public relations risks.
“You can’t do the wrong thing because you are worried about bad PR,” he said.
But it appears Bezos is working to rebuild the paper’s readership, adding, “We saved The Washington Post once. This will be the second time.”
The billionaire Amazon founder also expressed hope that Trump’s view of the press has evolved, saying he would try to talk him “out of the idea” that the press is the enemy.
“You’ve probably grown in the last eight years. He has, too.”
Despite the apparent U-turn, tensions between Bezos and Trump still remain.
During Trump’s presidency, Amazon sued the government over allegations that political bias influenced the Pentagon’s decision to deny a $10 billion cloud-computing contract.
But Bezos’s optimism for the future could mean he gets on board with the MAGA agenda.