Jeff Bezos Praises Trump’s Second Term as ‘More Mature’

The Amazon founder and owner of The Washington Post also rejected the idea that he has made changes at his companies to gain favor with the president.

Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon and owner of The Washington Post, said on Wednesday that President Trump was “more mature, more disciplined” in his second term and defended his recent cuts to The Post’s newsroom.

“Trump has lots of good ideas, and he’s been right about a lot of things,” Mr. Bezos said in a lengthy interview with the journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “You have to give him credit where credit is due.”

Mr. Bezos has faced a great deal of criticism for what many perceive as attempts to curry favor with the Trump administration this time around, after clashing with Mr. Trump in his first term. Mr. Bezos sat at the dais at the president’s inauguration last year, and Amazon recently paid $40 million for a documentary about the first lady, Melania Trump, which it promoted with a $35 million rollout.