(Headline USA) Amazon founder and billionaire Jeff Bezos told big-wig investors this week that he is “optimistic” about President-elect Donald Trump’s agenda, specifically Trump’s plan to cut regulations throughout the federal government.
“I’m very hopeful—he seems to have a lot of energy around reducing regulation,” Bezos said during the New York Times Bookdeal Summit. “My point of view is, if I can help him do that, I’m going to help him. Because we do have too much regulation in this country.”
Though he didn’t directly cite Trump’s proposed Department of Government Efficiency, which will be led by tech mogul Elon Musk and former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, Bezos added it’s clear Trump is “serious” about cutting government bloat.
“I think he has a good chance of succeeding,” Bezos said.
Bezos, who also owns the Washington Post, was later pressed on his decision to prevent the liberal publication from endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris ahead of the 2024 election.
“It was the right decision,” Bezos said. “I’m proud of the decision we made, and it was far from cowardly because we knew there would be blowback. We did the right thing.”
When asked whether he was worried Trump might try to target leftist media outlets such as the Post, Bezos said he would ‘try and talk him out of that.” Bezos also admitted Trump has “grown” since the last time he was in office.
“I don’t think he’s going to see it the same way. Maybe I’ll be wrong,” Bezos said. “What I’ve seen so far is he is calmer than he was the first time. And more confident, more settled.”
Bezos wasn’t the only tech mogul who previously opposed Trump only to turn around and express support for the Republican president.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg was also reportedly “keen to play an active role” in tech policy for the incoming Trump administration.
