Jeff Bezos saw a vacuum—and rocketed in.
The billionaire founder of the Blue Origin space company has worked to charm Donald Trump in recent months, and even invited the president to his lavish, star-studded wedding in Venice, White House officials told The Wall Street Journal. The president apparently isn’t planning to attend, due to scheduling conflicts.
According to the Journal, Bezos and executives from his space company have pushed for more government contracts in the wake of Trump’s explosive bust-up with rival billionaire space company founder Elon Musk at the start of the month.
Bezos, who made his billions with Amazon before turning his attention to space, has reportedly spoken with Trump at least twice this month and Blue Origin CEO David Limp visited with Trump’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles, at the White House.
The White House did not immediately return a request for comment.
While Blue Origin is backed by one of the world’s richest men, the company, like its rivals, relies on government contracts for steady income, credibility, and access to major U.S. space projects.
Blue Origin has long trailed Musk’s SpaceX, both in terms of technical milestones and contract wins, and Blue Origin executives had reportedly been concerned about Musk’s closeness with Trump.
When Trump and Musk’s bubbling feud turned into an all-out war earlier this month, Trump threatened the Tesla CEO with “serious consequences” if he funded Democratic candidates to run against Republicans who support Trump’s “Big Beautiful” spending bill.
He also suggested he could strip Musk of government contracts and subsidies that benefit his businesses.
Trump and Bezos were not on good terms during his first presidency, with Trump attacking both Amazon and The Washington Post—which Bezos owns—and once referring to him as “Jeff Bozo.”
But the once-strained relationship seemed to warm up ahead of Trump’s second term, with Amazon donating $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund. Bezos sat in what came to be known as the “billionaires’ row” flanking Trump at the event.
His three-day wedding to Lauren Sánchez kicks off on Thursday in Italy. The opulent, multimillion-dollar affair is expected to take place in several locations in and around Venice, with a stacked guest list reportedly including the president’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, her husband Jared Kushner, Oprah Winfrey, Mick Jagger, Kim Kardashian, and Leonardo DiCaprio. Ivanka was seen arriving with her family in Venice earlier this week.
More than 90 private jets are expected to descend on Venice for the nuptials.
One of the wedding events was relocated from its original venue due to planned protests, with organizers opting for a more secure location to avoid disruptions. Weeks of protests led up to the festivities, with activists erecting a huge banner that read, “If you can rent Venice for your wedding, you can pay more tax.”
