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Donald Trump has singled out Jeff Bezos for criticism in the past.
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But Bezos says that was a thing of the past. He likes Trump’s proposal to relax regulations in the US, and he wants to help.
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Also on Bezos’ agenda: convincing Trump that the media — including The Washington Post, which he owns — is not the enemy.
Some people are very concerned about the incoming Trump administration.
Jeff Bezos is not one of them.
Or rather: the second richest man in the world says he is not worried about Trump 2.0, even though Trump has pointed it out to him in the past. And Bezos says he could be an ally of Trump as he wants to help the next president cut red tape.
“I’m actually very optimistic this time,” he said at The New York Times’ DealBook conference on Wednesday. “I’m very hopeful. He seems to have a lot of energy in reducing regulations. And my position [is]If I can help him with that, I’m going to help him. Because we have too much regulation in this country.”
Bezos has also taken pains to portray Trump as someone who has evolved in recent years.
“What I’ve seen so far is that he’s calmer than the first time,” he told interviewer Andrew Ross Sorkin. “More secure, more organized.”
Bezos joins a line of business leaders — including many of his colleagues in the technology sector — who have gone out of their way to say nice things about Trump publicly after his election victory. It is in stark contrast to the reception Trump received after his first successful election.
It’s possible that Bezos actually feels good about Trump’s second term. “I’ve had a lot of success in life without being cynical,” he said Wednesday.
On the other hand, Bezos would certainly be happier if he didn’t have to worry about the problems Trump could pose to many of his interests for the next four years. That includes Amazon, which he no longer runs day-to-day but still accounts for the vast majority of his net worth; Blue Origin, his rocket company that competes with Trump ally Elon Musk’s SpaceX; and The Washington Post.
And Bezos’ critics say his decision not to give the Post presidential support this year was an attempt to appease Trump. On Wednesday, Bezos insisted that this was not the case, repeating the argument he made before the election: not issuing a statement of support makes the Post more trustworthy.
But Trump has repeatedly called the media “the enemy.” Will he not continue to treat the Post and its owner that way when he comes to power next year?
“I’m going to try to talk him out of that idea,” Bezos said. “I don’t think he’ll see it the same way, but maybe I’m wrong.”
Read the original article on Business Insider
