Trump rejected invitation to Bezos wedding
Donald Trump rejected an invitation to Jeff Bezos's star-studded Venetian wedding.
Mr Bezos, the tech billionaire, was reportedly trying to cosy up to the US president, in what could be seen as an attempt to fill the position of 'First Buddy' vacated by Elon Musk.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that the 61 year-old, who is preparing for his lavish three-day wedding in Venice, had spoken twice to Mr Trump in the last few weeks.
As part of his charm offensive, Mr Bezos extended an invitation to his upcoming nuptials with Lauren Sanchez, the journalist.
White House officials confirmed to the WSJ that the invitation had been offered. Mr Trump was not expected to attend the Venice ceremony owing to scheduling conflicts, however.
Mr Trump's daughter Ivanka, a friend of Ms Sanchez' is expected to attend, along with her husband, Jared Kushner.
Donald Jr, the president's eldest son, is also going.
In 2019, Mr Trump mocked Mr Bezos as 'Jeff Bozo' in a dig at the Washington Post, which the billionaire owned.
However, the newspaper did not support Kamala Harris in last year's presidential election, breaking a liberal tradition going back decades.
In February, the Post refused to run an advert attacking the administration that asked whether Donald Trump or Elon Musk was running the country.
Earlier this year, Mr Bezos abandoned plans to display how much Mr Trump's proposed tariffs were costing Amazon customers on each transaction following a direct appeal from the president.
Mr Bezos, the founder of Amazon and one of the world's richest men, appears to be trying to exploit Mr Trump's spectacular falling out with Mr Musk, which started at the end of last month.
Dave Limp, chief executive of Mr Bezos's space company Blue Origin, has also held talks with Susie Wiles, the White House Chief of Staff, the WSJ reported.
There are powerful business reasons for Bezos's approach, notably the possibility of government contracts for Blue Origin.
Until now, Elon Musk's SpaceX has dominated the market, spectacularly outstripping Blue Origin in the race to become Nasa's main contractor since the US stopped using the Russians to ferry missions to the International Space Station.
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