Amazon has a lot to lose if the US president chases its government cloud contracts

April 5, 2018

Donald Trump is reportedly out to punish Jeff Bezos, but his government departments haven’t felt the same way so far.

Backstory: Reports say that Trump is “obsessed with Amazon” and wants to “go after” it. Rumors suggest he’s motivated not by claims that the firm hurts other American businesses, but rather by the fact that Bezos owns the Washington Post, which Trump dislikes. It’s said Trump may focus on Amazon’s government cloud contracts as a means of attack.

Lots at stake: The Wall Street Journal reports that Amazon Web Service’s cloud computing contracts with the government could be worth as much as $2.8 billion this year and $4.6 billion by 2019. It’s also hoping to win a 10-year contract worth $10 billion with the Department of Defense.

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Stoking the spat: Bloomberg reports that Oracle’s CEO, Safra Catz, called into question the bidding process for Pentagon cloud computing contracts during a private dinner with Trump on Tuesday. She argued that the process seemed to be skewed in Amazon’s favor. The Pentagon denied partiality.

What now? Sources tell the Journal that Trump isn’t involved in deciding who wins the DoD contract, and Bloomberg notes that he didn’t suggest to Catz that he would get involved in the bidding process. Bezos will be hoping that remains the case.

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