Jeff Bezos Claims Trump’s Brand of Genius Deserves Some Credit

The Amazon founder is somehow hitting a new low in sucking up to Trump.

Jeff Bezos is still sucking up to President Trump, even as his approval rating is at an all-time low.

In an interview with CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin Wednesday morning, the billionaire Amazon founder was asked about what he thought of President Trump’s second term amid tariffs and the war in Iran, and the tech CEO went out of his way to praise the president.

“I think he is a more mature, more disciplined version of himself than he was in his first term,” Bezos said. “Trump has lots of good ideas and been right about a lot of things. You have to give him credit where credit is due.”

Bezos on Trump: "I think he's a more mature, more disciplined version of himself than he was in his first term. Trump has lots of good ideas. He's been right about a lot of things. You have to give him credit where credit is due." pic.twitter.com/VPyFUGRJZs— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 20, 2026

Bezos on Trump: "I think he's a more mature, more disciplined version of himself than he was in his first term. Trump has lots of good ideas. He's been right about a lot of things. You have to give him credit where credit is due." pic.twitter.com/VPyFUGRJZs

“I’m on the side of America, and that’s where business leaders should be,” Bezos continued.

Earlier in the interview, Bezos was asked point-blank whether he is trying to placate Trump, citing the Melania documentary Amazon Prime made about the first lady.

“The Melania thing is a falsehood that will not die,” Bezos said, denying that he personally had anything to do with producing the movie or that a deal was reached at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. But, he still defended the documentary as a “good business decision.”

“It did very well in theaters, it’s done very well on streaming, people are very curious about Melania, so even though I had nothing to do with it, you know, it appears that the Amazon team made a very wise business decision,” Bezos said.

Bezos on the Melania movie: "By the way, it appears it was a good business decision. It did very well in theaters. It's done very well on streaming. People are very curious about Melania. So even though I had nothing to do with it, it appears the Amazon team made a very wise… pic.twitter.com/MeZ8nDc5y6— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 20, 2026

Bezos on the Melania movie: "By the way, it appears it was a good business decision. It did very well in theaters. It's done very well on streaming. People are very curious about Melania. So even though I had nothing to do with it, it appears the Amazon team made a very wise… pic.twitter.com/MeZ8nDc5y6

Amazon spent $40 million to acquire Melania and spent $35 million to market the film, and only ended up making about $16.7 million from its worldwide theatrical release. Based on those figures, it can hardly be considered a good business decision, unless the goal was to curry favor with the White House.

Bezos is ignoring Trump’s negative effect on the economy, from his arbitrary tariffs to the impact of the Iran war, because he wants to benefit from being on Trump’s good side. Americans are struggling as a result, and they’ve lost confidence in the president. But not Bezos, who has gone for broke in currying favor with Trump. He’s shifted the newspaper that he owns, The Washington Post, further towards the right, losing thousands of subscribers, and has decimated the publication’s staff with layoffs. But none of that matters if it keeps the president from messing with your cash flow.

Republicans Freak Out as Trump’s Primary Candidates Rack Up Wins

One person described Donald Trump’s choices as “self-owns.”

MAGA loyalists may be winning their primaries—but the Republican Party isn’t so sure that their winning streak will last through November.

Several of Donald Trump’s endorsees won their primaries over the last week, beating out prominent conservative Trump critics including Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy and Kentucky Representative Thomas Massie. But the president’s wins are creating a new headache for his legislative allies.

Republicans on Capitol Hill are concerned that Trump’s exclusive focus on pushing his political acolytes will come at a cost to their legislative majority in the upper and lower chambers, Politico reported Tuesday.

“Those so-called victories over the last couple weeks are just a mirage. They are self-owns,” one senior Senate Republican operative told the outlet. “We’re not actually beating Democrats, and we’re not actually advancing legislation. Instead, gas is up 45 percent due to our actions and the President’s decision to go to war with Iran. He’s focused on the ballroom. He’s announced a $1.8 billion restitution fund with zero details or congressional authority to do so. It just is crazy.”

Cassidy, in the few days since his recent loss, has morphed into something of a free agent apparently unbeholden to the Republican Party or the president: On Tuesday, the Louisiana lawmaker voted in favor of the war powers resolution for the first time, advancing the Democratic-led effort to end the Iran war.

“There are still many, many months to go before the election, and this president is going to have to continue to deal and work with, and partner with, or battle with this group of lawmakers,” Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska told reporters after the vote. “Even though Bill Cassidy lost his primary, he is still a voting member of the Senate until January.… So the president may have just opened some opportunities for people.”

Lawmakers are also reportedly grumbling about Trump’s choice to endorse Ken Paxton, Texas’s scandal-laden attorney general, for the Lone Star State’s GOP senatorial primary instead of Senator John Cornyn. Trump directly contradicted Senate Majority Leader John Thune by picking his own man in the race, and created new problems for the GOP’s fundraising arm, which had already spent some $90 million supporting Cornyn’s candidacy.

Trump’s preference boils down to loyalty, according to Punchbowl News: Paxton has been “extremely loyal” to the president, while Cornyn was apparently “very late in backing” Trump’s 2024 presidential bid.

It was a gamble and a loss for the nation’s conservative party, which had twisted and wrought itself in order to earn the president’s favor. Cornyn has done much to support other Republican candidates over the course of his career, becoming one of the party’s biggest earners by bringing in more than $400 million for auxiliary races.

Paxton and Cornyn are slated for a runoff race on May 26. But Trump’s choice could cost Republicans more than the Senate seat as the party is........

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