Update your 2025 bingo cards to include Jeff Bezos’ partnership with fellow archrival Elon Musk. DOGE.
The Amazon founder said Wednesday that he is ready to support President-elect Donald Trump’s deregulation agenda, a top priority for the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Bezos spoke throughout The New York Times DealBook Summit 2024 with Andrew Ross Sorkin.
“I’m very optimistic this time,” Bezos said of Trump winning a second term, insisting he was “very optimistic.”
“It seems to have a lot of power to reduce regulation. And my point of view, if I help him do that, I’ll help him.”
Jeff Bezos Live at DealBook Summit 2024 https://t.co/PcXa2yMZx6
— Andrew Ross Sorkin (@andrewrsorkin) December 4, 2024
He added that Trump appears “more relaxed this time” and “more settled”.
“You’ve probably grown up in the last eight years,” he told Sorkin. “He too.”
Deregulation has been a major focus for Trump and his newly created DOGE, which he heads Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and biotech founder Vivek Ramaswamy. So far, Musk and Ramaswamy have said they will flout regulations by moving ideas around end of summer hours, eliminate entire government agenciesand even started The official DOGE podcast.
By offering to collaborate with the new administration, Bezos will take a page from Musk’s book. Musk’s SpaceX has been a fierce competitor to Blue Origin positioning himself as a key partner of the government. Bezos’ gesture could be a strategic move to mend fences and protect his companies’ interests, from the fight against Amazon to Blue Origin’s federal bailout. However, Bezos said he had promised Musk that he would not use his position in government to benefit his companies or harm competitors at face value.
“Again, I could be wrong about that,” Bezos said. “But I think it could be true.”
Bezos said that he has been very successful in life without being cynical. “I’ve rarely been taken advantage of because of it,” he said. “It’s happened a couple of times, but not very often… Why be cynical? Let’s go in hoping that the statements made are correct, that this will be done in the public interest. If that turns out to be naive, “we’ll see,” Bezos said.
Whether Musk would be open to working with Bezos, who he has derided as a “copycat” in the past, is an open question. It also remains to be seen whether Trump will take up Bezos’ offer, as the two have a rocky past relationship, rooted in both personal and professional feuds.
Trump frequently criticized Bezos during his presidency, often targeting him The Washington PostBezos’s owner, accused of unfair and biased coverage. Trump has taken aim at Amazon in the past, accusing the company of exploiting tax loopholes and underpaying US Postal ServiceBezos and Amazon have denied it.
