Why Jeff Bezos wants to ‘help’ out Donald Trump

Jeff Bezos

Amazon founder and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos is rather optimistic about Donald Trump's coming presidency. He further expressed some excitement about potential regulatory cutbacks in the coming years, as both hope to avoid clashes like those that saw Trump accuse Amazon of paying insufficient taxes in his first term.

During a wide-ranging interview at The New York Times DealBook Summit, Bezos stated, “I’m actually very optimistic this time around. He (Trump) seems to have a lot of energy around reducing regulation. If I can help do that, I’m going to help him. We do have too many regulations in this country.”

These comments follow Bezos' October decision to prohibit The Washington Post, which he owns, from endorsing the presidential candidates. However, this decision backfired as many subscribers canceled their subscriptions, and many long-standing journalists at the firm opposed this decision. Subsequently, Bezos defended the decision as unbiased and said that the American people had lost faith in the media.

Trump and Musk had also railed against Bezos and his firms during Trump’s first presidential term multiple times. However, Bezos has suggested that he does not expect Musk to use his place in the Trump administration to hurt business competitors this time around.

During the interview, Bezos also indicated his intention to convince Trump that the media isn't as bad as he may perceive. "You've probably grown in the last eight years. He has, too. This is not the case. The press is not the enemy."