Bezos says Trump is more mature and disciplined in second term

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos said Wednesday that President Donald Trump is a more mature and disciplined version of himself in his second term.

“I’m comparing him to his first term, and I think he is a more mature, more disciplined version of himself than he was in his first term,” Bezos told CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin. “Again, I’ve worked with all the presidents, I will work with all the presidents, you know, and I hope to do that going forward if they’ll have me, but we need our business leaders to provide input into the administration, regardless of who the president is.”

Bezos said he is on America’s side and has worked with past presidents. He said he helped former President Barack Obama and former President Joe Biden whenever he could and still calls Obama for advice.

“I’m on the side of America, and that is so important,” Bezos said. “I think we are, but we get perceived as being like, you know, partisan or whatever.”

Bezos said Trump has good ideas and deserves credit where it is due. He also said at the start of the term that Trump had mellowed and seemed calmer.

Sorkin asked Bezos about criticism that Amazon and The Washington Post have tried to placate the president, including with the “MELANIA” documentary about the first lady. Bezos said the claim is false.

“Yes, the Melania thing is a falsehood that will not die,” he said. “It’s not true. We have denied it. Melania’s office has denied it, it’s not true. I had nothing to do with that.”

Bezos said the documentary was a good business decision even though he had no role in it. He said the same about the movie “Project Hail Mary.”

“Amazon’s a big company, it makes a lot of decisions, but no, this idea that somehow that is a way of buying influence, it’s just not correct,” he said.

The “MELANIA” documentary debuted at the top of Amazon Prime’s streaming charts after premiering in March. It follows 20 days in Melania Trump’s life just before her husband’s second term and became the most-streamed film on the platform and the most-streamed content overall in the United States one day after its streaming premiere.