Book: Trump Mocked Zuckerberg, Bezos Over Groveling Texts
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- Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan's book "Regime Change" reports that Trump showed associates flattering texts from Zuckerberg and Bezos, saying "You would not believe the texts I got from these tech guys" and that they were "kissing my ass."
- Elon Musk reportedly called the groveling "First-class groveling," per the book's account of his reaction.
- Mark Zuckerberg sent Trump a photo of a letter written by one of his young kids, who wrote they "looked forward to the golden age of America" — a slogan Trump repeated at rallies.
- Jeff Bezos reportedly told Trump that buying the Washington Post was his "worst investment" and that "people there are terrible," shortly before staff cuts at the paper.
- Coverage broke across the political spectrum — from Wired, the New York Times, and Fox News to Breitbart, the Daily Caller, and the Gateway Pundit — with social media reactions ranging from mockery of the tech CEOs to predictions of a "reckoning" for "sycophants."
- Implicator.ai framed the episode as proof that "access is not safety" for tech CEOs who cozy up to political power, while Raw Story reported that Trump also privately mocked Zuckerberg's kids.
Why it matters: This documents a specific pattern of tech CEOs personally courting Trump — from Bezos calling the Post his "worst investment" to Zuckerberg sharing a kid's "golden age" letter — only to be publicly mocked behind their backs. The story broke simultaneously across Breitbart to the NYT, giving it cross-partisan reach unusual for a book excerpt and amplifying the reputational damage to the executives named.
