Jeff Bezos congratulates Trump for an ‘extraordinary political comeback’ after the Washington Post’s decision not to endorse a candidate

The Washington Post, which Jeff Bezos owns, declined to endorse a candidate in the presidential election this year — the first time in decades.

Jeff Bezos congratulated Donald Trump on his reelection less than two weeks after his newspaper’s decision not to endorse a candidate in the race.

The Amazon cofounder tagged Trump on social media Wednesday morning.

“Big congratulations to our 45th and now 47th President on an extraordinary political comeback and decisive victory. No nation has bigger opportunities. Wishing @realDonaldTrump all success in leading and uniting the America we all love,” Bezos said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

Bezos’ remarks arrive less than two weeks after the controversy at The Washington Post, which he owns, surrounding the newspaper’s decision not to endorse a presidential candidate for the first time in decades.

In a note to readers in late October, William Lewis, the Post’s publisher and CEO, said the paper was “returning to our roots of not endorsing presidential candidates” in this presidential election and all future ones and that its job was “to be independent.”

“We recognize that this will be read in a range of ways, including as a tacit endorsement of one candidate, or as a condemnation of another, or as an abdication of responsibility,” Lewis wrote.

“Our job at The Washington Post is to provide through the newsroom nonpartisan news for all Americans, and thought-provoking, reported views from our opinion team to help our readers make up their own minds,” his note continued.

The Washington Post later reported that Bezos made the call not to publish an already-drafted endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris, citing two sources briefed on the decision.

The newspaper’s decision sparked uproar: Three of the newspaper’s editorial board members, David Hoffman, Molly Roberts, and Mili Mitra, stepped down following the announcement. Editor-at-large Robert Kagan, columnist Michele Norris, and contributing columnist Danielle Allen resigned.

Many WaPo readers also railed against the decision, with more than 250,000 people reportedly canceling their subscriptions following the announcement.

Amid the uproar, Bezos doubled down on the newspaper’s decision in an op-ed.

“Presidential endorsements do nothing to tip the scales of an election,” he wrote. “What presidential endorsements actually do is create a perception of bias. A perception of non-independence. Ending them is a principled decision, and it’s the right one.”

The Washington Post endorsed Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, Hillary Clinton in 2016, and Joe Biden in 2020.

Bezos also said there was “no quid pro quo of any kind” in the decision not to endorse a candidate.

Two executives from Bezos’ aerospace company, Blue Origin — CEO Dave Limp and vice president of government relations Megan Mitchell — met with Trump on the day of the Post’s announcement, the Associated Press reported.

Bezos wrote in his op-ed that neither he nor Limp knew about the meeting ahead of time, as it was “scheduled quickly that morning.”

“I sighed when I found out, because I knew it would provide ammunition to those who would like to frame this as anything other than a principled decision,” he wrote. “There is no connection between it and our decision on presidential endorsements, and any suggestion otherwise is false.”

Bezos and Trump have a history

Bezos and Trump have had a contentious relationship at times.

While campaigning for the 2016 presidential election, Trump said Amazon would have “problems” if he became president. In 2016, Bezos said Trump’s wish to lock up Hillary Clinton or refuse to accept a loss in that election “erodes our democracy around the edges.”

Following Trump’s election that year, Bezos was one of several tech leaders who met with the president-elect in a meeting Bezos later described as “very productive.”

Trump has criticized the Washington Post as “lobbyist” and called Bezos “Jeff Bozo” in 2019.

More recently, Bezos said Trump showed “grace under literal fire” following the assassination attempt on him at a Pennsylvania rally in July.