Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s break-up appeared to leave a gaping hole in the White House with the position of the president’s “first buddy” up for grabs.
According to a report, another tech billionaire, Jeff Bezos, could be eyeing the spot.
The 61-year-old founder of Blue Origin, a competitor of Musk’s SpaceX, has already spoken to Trump twice this month, reports The Wall Street Journal.
During one conversation, sources said that Trump expressed a desire to see a crewed mission to the moon before the end of his tenure.
Those sources added that Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp visited the White House to meet with Trump’s Chief of Staff Susie Wiles in mid-June, which was bookended by Trump-Bezos calls.
Bezos and his Blue Origin executives have also appealed for more government contracts in conversations with Trump and his staff.
The Amazon co-founder’s initial outreach to the president reportedly came just days after the spectacular Trump-Musk feud erupted.
It saw the world’s richest man go on a destructive rampage, calling for Trump’s impeachment and accusing him of being linked to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
In return, the president said that he may terminate billions of dollars in federal contracts to Musk’s companies, including SpaceX. Musk threatened to “immediately” withdraw SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft from service, a critical component of the U.S. space program.
While Musk conceded he went “too far,” Bezos reportedly capitalized on the fallout in an attempt to close the gap between his space exploration company and SpaceX.
Musk and Trump’s frayed relationship also alleviated Blue Origin executives’ concerns that the Tesla CEO’s position in the White House posed a threat to the company’s access to lucrative government contracts, according to sources.
Trump and Bezos’s relationship hasn’t always been cordial. The president’s first term was marked by the pair making public jabs about both business and political conflicts.
After attending Trump’s inauguration in January, Bezos now appears to be digging in on his charm offensive.
The president has even got the invite to Bezos’s celebrity-filled Venice wedding to Lauren Sanchez this weekend, sources said. While Trump is not expected to make the journey to the Venetian waterways, his daughter, Ivanka, will be in attendance.
Musk and Bezos, two of the wealthiest people on the planet, have clashed for years in the race to conquer space. SpaceX ultimately surpassed Blue Origin to become NASA’s leading contractor.
Over the past year, SpaceX has launched more than 140 missions compared with Blue Origin’s single launch.
Musk’s Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets are both reusable and are launched at a dramatically lower cost than competitor crafts.
In April, SpaceX reached $5.9 billion deal for 28 flights planned for the years ahead. Blue Origin was awarded $2.4 billion for seven launches.
