6 ms·

The key point in the briefing (and the “developing” article is fairly brief) is that Amazon was considered the front-runner for contract, but Trump has a person

The key point in the briefing (and the “developing” article is fairly brief) is that Amazon was considered the front-runner for contract, but Trump has a personal vendetta against Amazon/Bezos and also made comments that he’d get personally involved in the JEDI decision (Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure). So of course this invites the question of whether petty politics influenced a $10B govt deal.

ListenLinda 7y ago
I haven’t done any research but I wonder if trump has it in for Amazon since they have a monopoly that so far hasn’t been challenged much.
- dragonwriter 7y ago
  > I wonder if trump has it in for Amazon since they have a monopoly that so far hasn’t been challenged much. Trump rather openly has it in for Jeff Bezos because of the existence of WaPo, which has spilled over into attacks on Amazon more than once before.
  - mikeyouse 7y ago
    Our president is a very public with his wild complaints there's no need to wonder why things happen: https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1084627451983073280?lang=en https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/10846274519830732... > "So sorry to hear the news about Jeff Bozo being taken down by a competitor whose reporting, I understand, is far more accurate than the reporting in his lobbyist newspaper, the Amazon Washington Post. Hopefully the paper will soon be placed in better & more responsible hands!" https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/08/trump-spites-jeff-bezos-hits-pause-on-10-billion-amazon-pentagon-contract https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/08/trump-spites-jeff-be... > "Trump has privately bemoaned the windfall the Pentagon’s upgrade could represent for Amazon and Bezos, the New York Times reported Thursday, and has also raised questions about the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure deal in comments to the press. “They’re saying it wasn’t competitively bid,” Trump said in mid-July. “Great companies are complaining about it, so we’re going to take a look at it.”
- ineedasername 7y ago
  I don't think he cares about any issue of monopoly. It has much more to do with negative coverage of Trump in the Washington Post. It appears Bezos has a very hands-off approach in terms of editorial direction there, but Trump still blames him for the coverage.
ImprovedSilence 7y ago
Whether petty politics influenced it or not, I bet Amazon sues, and just drags out the award even longer.
soniman 7y ago
If Amazon losing this deal makes US oligarchs think twice about getting involved in politics, it's probably a good thing.
- Grazester 7y ago
  Isn't the Washington Post(and in turn Bezos) that Trump has an issue?
  - Mountain_Skies 7y ago
    What was Bezos motive for purchasing the Washington Post? It certainly wasn't financial.
    - p0rkbelly 7y ago
      Haven't followed Bezos too closely, but, never thought of him to be a political person or saw anything where he made political comments. Buying the Washington Post certainly forced the world around him to see him as political...even if he considers himself not.
      - serf 7y ago
        > Haven't followed Bezos too closely, but, never thought of him to be a political person or saw anything where he made political comments. You never considered the idea that the richest man in the world may be political? It'd be more surprising for me to find out that he wasn't political; you don't accrue that kind of cash without playing political games at at least some point in your portfolio -- even if it's just for the opportunity to reduce your tax burdens.
        p0rkbelly 7y ago
        Oh, I think he's political. I think he carefully tried not appearing that way though. My point is, I don't think he bought the Post to be political or political reasons. I think he bought The Post because he's a rich collector of nice/novel/rare things..and it seemed like a fun hobby. At the time. If someone wanted to sell me The Post or let's say WSJ for what I consider pocket change, I would most certainly be interested. Good journalism is something that is going away, but, the obscenely rich can curate and prop up.
mxcrossb 7y ago
Was this info not in the original article? It seems to be the most important point, yet nobody else is discussing it in the comments.
- dlgeek 7y ago
  No. It just had the announcement and was only a paragraph long with a "This is a developing story, more to come soon" at the bottom."
- jmckib 7y ago
  I was also wondering why it's not being discussed much. It could be because HN is mostly non-political, although when I see political discussions come up there is a noticeable Republican slant.
  - jki275 7y ago
    Here? This site has a decisive leftist slant, with barely a few dissenting opinions that are always immediately downvoted into oblivion. If you think this site has a Republican slant, your own political perspective must be very badly skewed.

ListenLinda 7y ago

I haven’t done any research but I wonder if trump has it in for Amazon since they have a monopoly that so far hasn’t been challenged much.

dragonwriter 7y ago
> I wonder if trump has it in for Amazon since they have a monopoly that so far hasn’t been challenged much. Trump rather openly has it in for Jeff Bezos because of the existence of WaPo, which has spilled over into attacks on Amazon more than once before.
- mikeyouse 7y ago
  Our president is a very public with his wild complaints there's no need to wonder why things happen: https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1084627451983073280?lang=en https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/10846274519830732... > "So sorry to hear the news about Jeff Bozo being taken down by a competitor whose reporting, I understand, is far more accurate than the reporting in his lobbyist newspaper, the Amazon Washington Post. Hopefully the paper will soon be placed in better & more responsible hands!" https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/08/trump-spites-jeff-bezos-hits-pause-on-10-billion-amazon-pentagon-contract https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/08/trump-spites-jeff-be... > "Trump has privately bemoaned the windfall the Pentagon’s upgrade could represent for Amazon and Bezos, the New York Times reported Thursday, and has also raised questions about the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure deal in comments to the press. “They’re saying it wasn’t competitively bid,” Trump said in mid-July. “Great companies are complaining about it, so we’re going to take a look at it.”
ineedasername 7y ago
I don't think he cares about any issue of monopoly. It has much more to do with negative coverage of Trump in the Washington Post. It appears Bezos has a very hands-off approach in terms of editorial direction there, but Trump still blames him for the coverage.

ImprovedSilence 7y ago

Whether petty politics influenced it or not, I bet Amazon sues, and just drags out the award even longer.

soniman 7y ago

If Amazon losing this deal makes US oligarchs think twice about getting involved in politics, it's probably a good thing.

Grazester 7y ago
Isn't the Washington Post(and in turn Bezos) that Trump has an issue?
- Mountain_Skies 7y ago
  What was Bezos motive for purchasing the Washington Post? It certainly wasn't financial.
  - p0rkbelly 7y ago
    Haven't followed Bezos too closely, but, never thought of him to be a political person or saw anything where he made political comments. Buying the Washington Post certainly forced the world around him to see him as political...even if he considers himself not.
    - serf 7y ago
      > Haven't followed Bezos too closely, but, never thought of him to be a political person or saw anything where he made political comments. You never considered the idea that the richest man in the world may be political? It'd be more surprising for me to find out that he wasn't political; you don't accrue that kind of cash without playing political games at at least some point in your portfolio -- even if it's just for the opportunity to reduce your tax burdens.
      - p0rkbelly 7y ago
        Oh, I think he's political. I think he carefully tried not appearing that way though. My point is, I don't think he bought the Post to be political or political reasons. I think he bought The Post because he's a rich collector of nice/novel/rare things..and it seemed like a fun hobby. At the time. If someone wanted to sell me The Post or let's say WSJ for what I consider pocket change, I would most certainly be interested. Good journalism is something that is going away, but, the obscenely rich can curate and prop up.

mxcrossb 7y ago

Was this info not in the original article? It seems to be the most important point, yet nobody else is discussing it in the comments.

dlgeek 7y ago
No. It just had the announcement and was only a paragraph long with a "This is a developing story, more to come soon" at the bottom."
jmckib 7y ago
I was also wondering why it's not being discussed much. It could be because HN is mostly non-political, although when I see political discussions come up there is a noticeable Republican slant.
- jki275 7y ago
  Here? This site has a decisive leftist slant, with barely a few dissenting opinions that are always immediately downvoted into oblivion. If you think this site has a Republican slant, your own political perspective must be very badly skewed.