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Washington Post Legend Tears Into Bezos for Bowing to Trump

A legendary newspaperman is opening fire on his own billionaire boss.

A legendary investigative reporter is launching a scathing public attack against his own billionaire boss.

Bob Woodward, the veteran Washington investigative reporter who helped uncover the Watergate scandal, has delivered a searing rebuke of Jeff Bezos in his upcoming memoir, which The New York Times has obtained ahead of its release.

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Woodward alleges that the Amazon founder turned his back on newsroom staff and compromised public trust to appease President Donald Trump.

The assessment will be published on Nov. 24 in Secrets, which chronicles his 55 years in journalism. Woodward, who still holds the title of associate editor at the newspaper, details his growing disillusionment with the tech billionaire after initially trusting him to safeguard the institution.

Woodward reveals that when he was preparing to publish a hard-hitting book about Trump, Bezos reassured him. “Don’t worry, I have your back, Bob,” he writes that Bezos told him. “I’ll always have your back.”

However, Woodward now writes that “always” turned out to be far shorter than promised.

He writes that Bezos has been “compromising public trust in The Washington Post’s aggressive and independent journalism” out of deference to Trump.

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While noting that Bezos has not directly interfered in news stories, Woodward argues that the billionaire’s sweeping staff cuts, personal ingratiation with Trump, and overhaul of the editorial page have betrayed a proud legacy.

Woodward’s disillusionment solidified when Bezos decided to spike a planned presidential endorsement of Kamala Harris, declaring the paper would no longer endorse presidential candidates.

“At the time, I thought, is he not reading his own newspaper or my books about Trump?” Woodward writes, adding that the timing made it look “like Bezos and the newspaper were capitulating to Trump.”

Bezos subsequently restricted the opinion pages to advocating only “personal liberties and free markets,” with no dissenting views.

“I could only imagine the agony this kind of decision would have caused Kay or Ben,” Woodward writes, referring to legendary publisher Katharine Graham and executive editor Benjamin C. Bradlee.

Woodward also laments that Bezos has failed to publicly defend independent journalism against Trump’s intimidation tactics. “It pains me that Jeff Bezos has remained silent,” he writes. “It is not too late for media owners to prioritize moral courage over financial gain.”

In response, newsroom leadership defended the paper’s current direction. Executive editor Matt Murray praised the reporting and said Bezos had never interfered in news coverage, adding, “With Jeff’s backing, the company is getting back in shape and poised for our best decade.”

Woodward also noted that Bezos has never tried to overstep the mark by meddling in editorial decisions. Indeed, The Post was the first to publish a look at Woodward’s memoir.

Newly promoted CEO and publisher Jeff D’Onofrio added that Bezos “remains unwavering in defense of our work, our independence and the safety of our journalists.”

Veteran White House reporter Peter Baker, who worked for more than 20 years at the Washington Post before moving to the New York Times, reported on Woodward’s excerpts for the latter.

He has been a vocal critic of Bezos’s ownership of the storied title. In February this year, he railed against cuts to the Post’s newsroom, which eliminated around 800 journalists.

“No struggling newspaper ever saved itself by becoming a worse and less essential product. But what’s happening today at the @washingtonpost is not just the latest devastating contraction of the news industry; it’s the gutting of an American institution vital for a healthy society,” the correspondent wrote on X.

That move was defended as a critical business decision, and as CNN’s Brian Stelter pointed out in Tuesday morning’s Reliable Sources newsletter, Bezos has poured cash into the Post since he bought the money-losing paper in 2013.

“Perhaps Bezos would say he took a stand by bankrolling the Post’s financial losses year after year,” he said.

However, a disappointed Woodward suggested the financing has cooled. “I believed at the time that Bezos would provide the finances for The Post to continue to operate courageously. Jeff delivered on his word, initially,” he said.

A Bezos rep has been contacted for comment.

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