London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Oct 03, 2026

Amazon claims Trump interfered with Pentagon contract in order to hurt Jeff Bezos

Amazon claims Trump interfered with Pentagon contract in order to hurt Jeff Bezos

Amazon alleged on Monday that President Donald Trump abused his position to apply "improper pressure" on Pentagon decision-makers to stop the company from winning a military contract worth billions of dollars.
In a formal protest unsealed at the US Court of Federal Claims, Amazon (AMZN) said Trump "launched repeated public and behind-the-scenes attacks" against the company in an effort to undermine its bid and hurt CEO Jeff Bezos, "his perceived political enemy" because of his ownership of The Washington Post.

The complaint calls for the Defense Department to revisit its decision to award the contract to Microsoft (MSFT). Hanging in the balance is a Pentagon procurement effort for cloud computing valued at $10 billion over 10 years.

"The stakes are high," Amazon said. "The question is whether the President of the United States should be allowed to use the budget of DoD to pursue his own personal and political ends." The White House declined to comment.

In a statement, the Defense Department said it would not be commenting on specific claims in Amazon's filing concerning the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure, or JEDI, cloud computing contract.

"This source selection decision was made by an expert team of career public servants and military officers from across the Department of Defense and in accordance with DoD's normal source-selection process," said Pentagon spokesperson Elissa Smith. "There were no external influences on the source selection decision. The department is confident in the JEDI award and remains focused on getting this critical capability into the hands of our warfighters as quickly and efficiently as possible."

Amazon's filing comes as House lawmakers prepare articles of impeachment over Trump's potential abuse of power for allegedly pressuring Ukraine's president to investigate his political rival Joe Biden and Biden's son, Hunter.

Amazon's complaint against Trump over the JEDI cloud computing contract zeroes in on the process of government contracting. The procurement process typically takes place under strict guidelines and outside the direction of political leaders.

The company, a leader in the cloud computing market with its Amazon Web Services unit, was long viewed as the front runner for the contract. Amazon now alleges the Defense Department made "inexplicable" errors in selecting Microsoft as the winner.

In a statement, Microsoft said it had "confidence" in the Defense Department staff who conducted the review. "We believe the facts will show they ran a detailed, thorough and fair process in determining the needs of the warfighter were best met by Microsoft," the company said.

According to the Amazon's filing, however, Pentagon officials reviewed an outdated version of Amazon's bid, ignored certain aspects of Amazon's capabilities and applied different levels of scrutiny to Amazon that Microsoft did not receive.

That treatment, Amazon claims, is a direct result of Trump's intervention. Amazon cited Trump's tweets, news articles about JEDI and a book about then-Defense Secretary James Mattis that claims Trump said he wanted Mattis to "screw Amazon" over the contract.

Trump has repeatedly gone after Bezos for his ownership of The Washington Post and the publication's coverage of him. While campaigning for office, Trump promised Amazon would have "such problems" if he became president. He has also complained that Amazon pays the US Postal Service a heavily subsidized rate for shipping its packages.

Prior to Microsoft winning the JEDI deal in October, Trump publicly vowed to take a "strong look" at the contract in response to complaints about the process from numerous businesses, including IBM (IBM), Microsoft and Oracle (ORCL).

CNN reported in July that Oracle was behind a campaign to undercut Amazon. The effort included a document that alleged a vast government conspiracy to help Amazon win the JEDI contract -a document that was presented to Trump earlier this summer.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Church of England to Apologize for Role in Historical Forced Adoptions
UK Defence Ministry Investigates Historical Use of RAF Bases by Jeffrey Epstein
Scottish Housing Completions Fall to 11-Year Low
Welsh First Minister Calls for Expanded Devolution Settlement
UK Pledges £50 Million to Expand Domestic Military Drone Capabilities
UK Opens First Commercial Geothermal Plant in Cornwall
Green Party Wins Gorton and Denton By-Election as Labour Falls to Third
Prime Minister Andy Burnham Opens Review of UK-EU Relationship
UK Inflation Rises to 3.1%, Adding Pressure on Household Finances
UK Removes VAT From Domestic Electricity Bills to Ease Winter Energy Costs
Counterterrorism Police Arrest Sixth Suspect Over RAF Fairford Incident
UK Councils to Receive Sweeping Planning Powers to Ban New Vape and Betting Shops
Chancellor John Healey Faces Tax and Pension Scrutiny Ahead of Autumn Budget
Metropolitan Police Apologise for Accidental Disclosure in High-Profile Investigation
UK Universities Report Record International Enrolment as Housing Pressure Grows
UK Logistics Firms Monitor Rhine Disruption as Low Water Threatens European Supply Chains
UK Food Industry Warns Inflation Could Approach 7%
UK Introduces Vaping Duty and Mandatory Retail Stamps
Scotland Raises Property Taxes and Expands Child Payment in Annual Budget
Greggs Plans Four Factory Closures With 740 Jobs at Risk
OECD Raises UK 2026 Growth Forecast to 1.1%
UK Inflation Rises to 3.1% as Bank of England Faces Rate Debate
Andy Burnham Criticises Brexit and Says Rejoining EU Single Market Remains an Option
UK Imposes New Sanctions on Russian Military Networks and Propagandists
UK Launches Nationwide Early-Release Prison Scheme
Andy Burnham Says Security Services See Signs of Iranian Involvement in RAF Fairford Incident
Manchester City Found Guilty on Premier League Financial Charges After Independent Investigation
Scottish Court to Rule on Bid to Force No-Confidence Vote Against Aberdeen Council Co-Leader
UK Bans Extra Charges for Seating Children Under 12 Beside Accompanying Adults
UK Introduces Vaping Duty and New Licensing Requirements
Greggs to Close Four UK Factories and Cut 740 Jobs
Hundreds of Prisoners Released Early as England and Wales Prisons Reach 98% Capacity
UK Unveils New Russia Sanctions Targeting War Funding and Shadow Fleet
Burnham Says There Are Strong Indications of Iranian Involvement in RAF Fairford Security Breach
Prime Minister Andy Burnham Raises Prospect of Reviewing Britain's Post-Brexit EU Relationship
Markets Price in Bank of England Rate Increases as Inflation Rises to 3.1%
UK Borrowing Costs Climb Toward 5.5% as Global Bond Sell-Off Intensifies
UK-France One-In-One-Out Migration Agreement Expires as London Seeks Alternative Measures
Southwest England Faces Flood Alerts After Heavy Autumn Storms
UK Expands Funding for Rapid Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure
Welsh Government Approves Funding to Upgrade South Wales Transport
Northern Ireland Tensions Rise as Orange Order Rejects Drumcree Compromise
NHS Leaders Back Early Design of Proposed National Care Service
More Than One-Third of Regional UK Universities Face Financial Deficits
UK Current Account Deficit Narrows as Cross-Border Financial Flows Remain Strong
Bank of England and FCA Issue New Rules for Stablecoins and Digital Assets
MI5 Warns UK Universities Over Research Links With Chinese Institutions
UK Energy Price Cap Rises 4% as Electricity VAT Is Temporarily Suspended
Equity Calls for UK Personality Rights to Protect Performers From AI Replication
OpenAI Pauses Advanced Model Training Following Safety Concerns
×