Media: Bezos courts White House as Musk’s star dims in Trump’s inner circle

The apparent breakdown in relations between Donald Trump and Elon Musk has created a power vacuum around the US president — and it seems Jeff Bezos may be positioning himself to fill it.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the Amazon founder and Blue Origin chief has spoken twice with President Trump this month, a sign that the 61-year-old billionaire may be vying for influence in the West Wing following Trump’s very public falling out with Musk.

One of their recent discussions reportedly included Trump expressing a desire to see a manned mission to the moon during his next term in office. The comment comes as Trump returns to the White House with a renewed focus on space dominance — and as Blue Origin, Bezos’s private spaceflight company, looks to close the gap with its archrival SpaceX.

Sources also revealed that Dave Limp, CEO of Blue Origin, visited the White House in mid-June for a meeting with Trump’s Chief of Staff, Susie Wiles. That visit reportedly took place between the two calls Bezos made to Trump, signalling a clear uptick in engagement between the tech mogul and the administration.

The outreach from Bezos comes just days after the dramatic implosion of Trump’s alliance with Musk. Their bitter feud exploded when Musk called for Trump’s impeachment and resurfaced rumours about Trump’s past ties to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. In retaliation, Trump threatened to cancel billions of dollars in federal contracts to Musk’s companies, including SpaceX, which provides crucial services to the US space program. Musk shot back by threatening to pull SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft “immediately” from service.

While Musk later admitted he “went too far,” the clash left an opening that Bezos appears eager to exploit. According to insiders, Blue Origin executives had long viewed Musk’s cosy ties with Trump as a serious obstacle to their own ambitions for lucrative government contracts. With Musk now on the outs, those concerns have eased.

Although Trump and Bezos clashed frequently during the former president’s first term — often trading barbs over Amazon’s business practices and The Washington Post’s editorial stance — the tone appears to have shifted. After attending Trump’s inauguration in January, Bezos is now engaged in what one source described as a “charm offensive.”

In a notable gesture of rapprochement, Trump has reportedly been invited to Bezos’s lavish wedding celebration in Venice this weekend, where the billionaire will marry Lauren Sanchez. While the president is not expected to attend, his daughter Ivanka Trump will reportedly be present at the festivities alongside other celebrities and power players.

Meanwhile, the rivalry between Musk and Bezos remains as fierce as ever, especially in the race to dominate outer space. Despite its prestige, Blue Origin has fallen behind. Over the past year, SpaceX has conducted over 140 successful launches, compared to just one by Blue Origin. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets are reusable and operate at significantly lower cost, solidifying the company’s lead in spaceflight economics.

In April, SpaceX signed a $5.9 billion contract for 28 future launches, dwarfing Blue Origin’s $2.4 billion deal for seven missions.

By Tamilla Hasanova