Bezos congratulates Trump for 'extraordinary political comeback'

Jeff Bezos, the billionaire founder of Amazon and owner of The Washington Post, congratulated President-elect Trump on his resounding victory on election night this week.

"Big congratulations to our 45th and now 47th President on an extraordinary political comeback and decisive victory," Bezos wrote on social platform X. "No nation has bigger opportunities. Wishing [Trump] all success in leading and uniting the America we all love."

Bezos's shoutout to Trump is notable given his ownership of the Post and a recent controversy he stirred with a decision last month to kill an endorsement of either candidate in the 2024 White House race.

The media and tech mogul barred the Post from publishing an endorsement after the newspaper's editorial board had drafted an editorial backing Vice President Harris.

The decision sent shockwaves through the Post's newsroom and led media and political observers to express concern that Bezos, one of the richest people on earth, was attempting to curry favor with Trump.

Bezos pushed back on those accusations in an op-ed, published in the Post shortly after news broke the newspaper would not endorse a candidate.

“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,” he wrote.

“I would also like to be clear that no quid pro quo of any kind is at work here," the billionaire continued. "Neither campaign nor candidate was consulted or informed at any level or in any way about this decision. It was made entirely internally."

Trump, for his part, at a campaign rally in the final days of the run up to Election Day gloated about Bezos's edict and similar decisions by other major media outlets not to endorse a candidate.

“They’re saying, ‘This Democrat’s no good. They’re no good,’ and they think I’m doing a great job," Trump said at the time. "They just don’t want to say it.”