NEW YORK– President-elect Donald Trump was certainly top of mind on Wednesday when media executives, finance bigwigs and tech entrepreneurs gathered in New York City to hear from some of the world’s most influential people at the annual New York Times DealBook Summit.
Rather than the hostility that could be expected from elites at the event, some were optimistic.
“I’m very hopeful — he seems to have a lot of energy around reducing regulation,” billionaire Jeff Bezos told Times columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin during an on-stage conversation.
“My point of view is, if I can help him do that, I’m going to help him,” Bezos continued. “Because we do have too much regulation in this country.”
Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos said he was “hopeful” about Trump’s second administration Wednesday at the New York Times DealBook Summit. (The New York Times DealBook Summit 2024 Live/posted by Andrew Ross Sorkin)
Bezos, who owns the Washington Post, faced significant backlash from both employees and subscribers when he nixed the liberal newspaper’s planned endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris days before the election.
“It was the right decision,” Bezos told Sorkin.
“I’m proud of the decision we made, and it was far from cowardly because we knew there would be blowback,” he added. “We did the right thing.”
Bezos dismissed the belief that he didn’t want his paper to endorse Harris because Trump could hold a grudge against Amazon, the Washington Post or his other companies. He even suggested that he likes what he’s seen from Trump since his victory over Harris.
“I’m very optimistic that President Trump is serious about this regulatory agenda and I think he has a good chance of succeeding,” Bezos said.
Sorkin then asked, “What about this idea that he thinks the press is the enemy?”
Bezos said he would “try and talk him out of that,” and said Trump has “grown” in the last few years.
“I don’t think he’s going to see it the same way. Maybe I’ll be wrong,” Bezos said.
“What I’ve seen so far is he is calmer than he was the first time,” Bezos added. “And more confident, more settled.”
President-elect Donald Trump was top of mind for media executives, finance bigwigs and tech entrepreneurs at the annual New York Times DealBook Summit. (Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
Bezos wasn’t the only high-profile speaker to discuss Trump.
Former President Bill Clinton, who told Sorkin he “wished” President Biden hadn’t repeatedly promised he wouldn’t pardon his son Hunter Biden if he was going to do it anyway, also evoked the incoming president.
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Clinton said Democrats haven’t learned to disagree with the press without sounding like a “left-wing version of Donald Trump,” noting that some Republicans appreciate anti-press rhetoric, but liberals largely frown upon it.
Jerome Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve, also spoke at the event and said he was “confident” that working with Trump’s Treasury nominee, Scott Bessent, would be smooth. “Call Her Daddy” podcast host Alex Cooper revealed that her team had discussions with Trump’s campaign ahead of the election – an interview never took place, but she did interview Harris – and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman sacked concerns that Elon Musk’s close relationship to Trump could hurt OpenAI.
Alex Cooper, host of “Call Her Daddy” and founder of the Unwell Network, speaks during the New York Times annual DealBook summit at Jazz at Lincoln Center on December 04, 2024 in New York City. ((Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images))
“I believe pretty strongly that Elon will do the right thing and that it would be profoundly un-American to use political power to the degree that Elon would hurt competitors and advantage his own businesses,” Altman told Sorkin.
Citadel CEO Ken Griffin, a GOP donor, kicked things off hours before Bezos took the stage by suggesting America is “back to business” to a packed crowd inside Jazz at Lincoln Center.
“For corporate America, it’s a better world today than it was before the election,” Griffin told Sorkin.
The annual DealBook conference in New York City showcases some of the most influential people in the world. Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, and tennis legend Serena Williams were among other speakers.
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Former CNN boss Chris Licht, New England Patriots owner Bob Kraft, billionaire hedge fund guru Bill Ackman, Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan, longtime anchor Katie Couric, former CNN boss Jeff Zucker, Lance Armstrong and fashion designer Rebecca Minkoff were among the high-profile attendees of the suumit.