Amazon founder Jeff Bezos was once a vocal critic of Donald Trump. But that changed during last year’s election campaign. Now, he has instructed the newspaper he owns, The Washington Post, to shift its editorial line to be more in line with the president. So what provoked Bezos’s political change of heart?

Murad Ahmed and the FT’s US media editor Anna Nicolau speak to Marty Baron, the former executive editor of the Washington Post, about why Bezos bought the Post in the first place, the effect his ownership is having on the newspaper, and how the editorial shift is symptomatic of a larger impact the president seems to be having across the American media landscape.

Jeff Bezos and the Washington Post did not reply to a request for comment.

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This season of Tech Tonic is presented by Murad Ahmed and produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon. The senior producer is Edwin Lane and the executive producer is Flo Phillips. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Original music by Metaphor Music, Manuela Saragosa and Topher Forhecz are the FT’s acting co-heads of audio.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When Donald Trump re-entered the White House, Elon Musk came with him as his ‘tech bro-in-chief’, tasked with rebooting the government machine. But five months on, Musk’s ambitious plan to cut $2tn from the annual government budget has failed, and his relationship with the president has ended in a bitter break-up. Could the world’s richest man come to regret his time in politics?

Murad Ahmed speaks to Joe Miller, the FT’s Washington correspondent, about how and why Musk’s time in DC came to an abrupt end, and to Stephen Morris, the FT’s San Francisco bureau chief, about what this means for Musk’s business empire.

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Musk vs Trump is a cautionary tale for Silicon Valley

This season of Tech Tonic is presented by Murad Ahmed and produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon. The senior producer is Edwin Lane and the executive producer is Flo Phillips. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Original music by Metaphor Music, Manuela Saragosa and Topher Forhecz are the FT’s acting co-heads of audio.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

During the US president’s first term in office, Tim Cook appeared to be the ultimate Trump whisperer, winning tariff exemptions despite Apple’s heavy reliance on Chinese manufacturing. Now, the iPhone-maker-in-chief has found himself under the toughest pressure yet from Trump, who has threatened smartphone tariffs as high as 25%. Does Tim Cook still have a way out, or is Apple out of options? And what does Cook's relationship with Trump tell us about the future of the trade war?

FT tech editor Murad Ahmed speaks to Patrick McGee, author of Apple in China: The Capture of the World's Greatest Company; Doug Guthrie, a former negotiator for Apple in Beijing; and FT tech correspondent Michael Acton about the complicated relationship between Cook and Trump.

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Donald Trump threatens Apple and Samsung with 25% tariff on devices

Apple set to expand India supply chain through $1.5bn Foxconn plant

Apple delays iPhone AI features as it stumbles in race with rivals

This season of Tech Tonic is presented by Murad Ahmed and produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon. The senior producer is Edwin Lane and the executive producer is Flo Phillips. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Original music by Metaphor Music, Manuela Saragosa and Topher Forhecz are the FT’s acting heads of audio.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.