Jeff Bezos ended a nearly nine-month hiatus from X on Saturday by praising Donald Trump following the mass shooting at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
“Our former president showed extraordinary grace and courage while under literal attack tonight. We are incredibly grateful that he is safe and our heartfelt condolences go out to the victims and their families,” Bezos wrote on X, whose last post on the site was in October 2023.
Officials at major technology companies were quick to condemn Saturday’s shooting, which left at least two people dead, including the gunman.
But Bezos’ words of support are especially noteworthy given the former president’s long-standing and public feud with the Amazon founder.
In 2019, Trump mocked Bezos, calling him “Jeff Bozo,” and appeared to celebrate his divorce from MacKenzie Scott. The former president also slammed the Bezos-owned Washington Post.
“Very sad to hear the news that Jeff Bozo has been pushed out by a rival company whose reporting I understand to be far more accurate than that of his lobbyist newspaper, the Amazon Washington Post,” Trump wrote on Jan. 13, 2019. “I hope this newspaper is in more capable and responsible hands soon!”
Amazon acknowledged the public feud in a federal lawsuit after losing a $10 billion Department of Defense contract to Microsoft. At the time, the company alleged that Trump’s “repeated public and behind-the-scenes attacks” on Amazon and Bezos caused Amazon Web Services to lose a valuable contract to a competitor.
The Pentagon exited the contract in 2021 to explore multi-cloud deals with Amazon and Microsoft.
Andy Jassy, Amazon’s CEO since 2021, also condemned Saturday’s shooting.
“The events that took place in Pennsylvania today are unacceptable. Truly horrible. My heart goes out to the victim’s family. I am glad President Trump is safe and I wish him a speedy recovery,” Jassy wrote to X.
A spokesman for Trump did not respond to a request for comment.
