Jeff Bezos privately described his purchase of The Washington Post as “the worst investment” he has ever made during a dinner with Donald Trump in December 2024, according to a new book by Jonathan Swan and Maggie Haberman. The account says Bezos also complained about the paper’s business management after it lost more than $100 million that year.
According to the book, Bezos told Trump, “The people there are terrible.” He added that, unlike his other companies, “They don’t listen. In my other companies they listen.” Trump, who has long attacked the paper’s coverage, used the meeting to vent his own frustrations, telling Bezos, “This Washington Post is really unfair. You need to handle it better.”
The dinner came after The Washington Post decided in October 2024 not to issue a formal endorsement for Kamala Harris in the presidential race, a move that triggered subscription cancellations and internal criticism. Bezos defended the decision, arguing that presidential endorsements do not change election outcomes and instead create a perception of bias.
The newspaper then carried out a broad round of cuts in February 2026, laying off about one third of its staff and shutting down the sports section, book coverage and several foreign bureaus. Executive editor Matt Murray told employees, “We can’t be everything for everyone.”
