The Washington Post's motto: 'Democracy dies in darkness.' Then Jeff Bezos took $50 billion in government contracts, kissed Trump's ring, and proved democracy dies in broad daylight too.

The Washington Post, winner of multiple Pullitzer prizes and famed for exposing the Watergate Scandal, is the latest victim of the Trump administration’s relentless assault on the freedoms of democracy.

The paper was purchased by Amazon’s founder, Jeff Bezos, in 2013. Bezos apparently wanted to revitalise the aging journal, promising new investment and targeting a new global brand. He led with the slogan “Democracy dies in darkness”.

Initially all went well. The paper attracted fresh subscribers along with new journalistic talent. But by 2017, with a new president in office, the paper’s model was under pressure. The new president went after Bezos, both publicly and behind the scenes publicly criticising Amazon for paying too little in taxes and complaining about its advantageous deal with the US postal service. He also called out its journalists for incompetence. And in 2019, Amazon somehow lost a $10billion contract – the JEDI data storage and cloud computing services to the US - to Microsoft.

By the time of Trump’s second presidency the paper’s editorial direction shifted, with some observers suggesting Bezos prioritized business interests over editorial independence. The paper lurched perceptibly to the right. And famously, just days before the election, after 11 years and two election campaigns, declined to endorse Kamala Harris. Bezos went on to plant a moist kiss on the presidential ring with a $1million donation securing him a ring side seat at the inauguration. And in 2026 made an additional gesture of grovelling fealty with the $35million licensing fee for a film of the First Lady’s life.

For Bezos, this volte face has paid off in spades. There is after all much at stake. Amazon Web Services controls literally tens of billions of dollars of government contracts. From the USN’s highly specialised commercial cloud access contract, through the Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability contract and the NSA’s contract for cloud modernisation and data storage.

And then there are more billions of dollars from Federal contracts for Bezos’ space business. The lunar lander project and the US Space Force contract for national security launches. Amazon itself boasts of investments of more than $1.8 trillion in the US economy since 2010 and repeats claims that it is the top “Investment hero” in terms of capital investment for the sixth-year running.

And in return? Well, courtesy of Mr Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” Amazon’s more than 40% growth in pretax profits in 2025 incurred practically no tax at all. Reportedly its tax bill fell by some 87% - from $9 billion to $1.2 billion.

For the Washington Post, things look less good. The paper lost 250,000 digital subscribers after the decision not to endorse Kamala Harris and around $100million in advertising and subscription revenue. Its publisher reports that since 2020 the Post has lost half its audience. Analysts estimate losses amounting to $177m since 2023.

In February the suffering Post initiated swathing cost cuts, reducing the newsroom by 30%, firing most of its foreign journalists and scaling back coverage of sports and foreign news. Making plain to those lucky enough to remain what type of journalism is to be rewarded. A sad day for the free press.

There are good reasons for encouraging national growth and investment with tax breaks. But this raises significant questions about whether tax policy creates conflicts of interest for media owners with government contracts. So much for “Democracy dies in darkness”. Full marks to the Post’s readership for refusing to fund a press baron who appears to prioritize business interests over editorial independence.