Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos said Elon Musk‘s budding relationship with President-elect Donald Trump won’t give SpaceX a leg up on its competitors.
“Elon has been very clear that he’s doing this for the public interest and not for his personal gain,” Bezos told Reuters in an interview published on Monday. “And I take him at face value.”
Bezos spoke ahead of Blue Origin’s launch of its New Glenn rocket, which was ultimately scrubbed due to a need to “troubleshoot a vehicle subsystem issue.”
The Amazon founder has repeatedly downplayed any concerns that Musk’s self-described status as Trump’s “first buddy” will give any of his companies an advantage.
Last month, Bezos said he was hopeful that Musk’s work will remain above board.
“Let’s go into it hoping that the statements that have been made are correct, that this is going to be done, you know, above board, in the public interest,” Bezos said during The New York Times’ Dealbook conference. “If that turns out to be naive, well, then we’ll see.”
Musk’s power has been on full display in recent weeks. He took a leading role in killing a bipartisan government funding bill loaded with unrelated provisions to entice congressional Democrats to support it. Congress eventually averted a government shutdown, but the episode led some Democratic lawmakers to call out “President Musk” and the influence he will wield in Trump’s Washington.
Trump and Musk have been virtually inseparable from Trump since Election Day. Musk’s role in the Department of Government Efficiency will give him power to call for major cuts to federal spending.
Blue Origin and SpaceX are already part of a joint Pentagon launch contract that could be worth up to $5.6 billion.
Trump has previously said that Musk has “the credibility” to carry out DOGE’s mission.
“I think that Elon puts the country long before his company,” Trump told Time Magazine last month.
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