Amazon founder and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos says he is “optimistic” about President-elect Donald Trump’s second term, and that he hopes to help the 45th and soon-to-be 47th president will cut federal regulations, adding that he believes Trump is “calmer” than he was eight years ago.
“He seems to have a lot of energy around reducing regulation and if I can help him do that, I’m going to help him,” Bezos said onstage while speaking at the New York Times‘ DealBook Summit on Wednesday, according to a report by the Washington Post. “We do have too much regulation in this country,” the billionaire added.
After being asked if he was concerned about Trump’s allegedly aggressive opinions on journalists, Bezos reportedly answered that he hopes he can persuade the soon-to-be 47th president that the press is “not the enemy.”
Bezos, who is also the owner of the Washington Post, added that Trump is “calmer” and has “grown in the past eight years” since he was first elected president in 2016.
As Breitbart News reported, in October, the Post announced that it would not endorse any candidates in the then-upcoming presidential election.
Notably, this was the first time the newspaper had chosen not to endorse for a presidential candidate in 36 years — and was a move that sparked outrage among left-wing activists.
At the time, Bezos defended his decision not to have the Post endorse a candidate, and even went on to admit that Americans do not find the newspaper nor competing papers “credible” or “accurate.”
Bezos also addressed the non-endorsement at the DealBook Summit on Wednesday, saying he believes he made the right choice, claiming it will improve readers’ trust in the newspaper, and denied having made his decision in an effort to curry favor with a potential second Trump administration.
“The Post covers all presidents very aggressively,” Bezos said adding that the newspaper “is going to continue to cover all presidents very aggressively.”
Bezos also talked about his space exploration endeavors via his company, Blue Origin — a competitor of SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk. His competitor famously endorsed Trump during the election, campaigned for him, and was recently announced as head of the incoming administration’s newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), tasked with advising Trump on cuts to federal agencies.
The Amazon founder reportedly said that he believes Musk won’t use his newfound friendship with Trump to hurt his competitors or benefit his own companies — and even spoke positively about Musk leading DOGE alongside Vivek Ramaswamy.
“I am very optimistic that President Trump is serious about this regulatory agenda, and I think he has a good chance of succeeding,” Bezos said.
“Why be cynical?” he added. “Let’s go into it hoping that the statements that have been made are correct and this has been done aboveboard in the public interest. And if that turns out to be naive, well, we’ll see. But I think it’s going to be great. I’m hoping.”
Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
