Jeff Bezos-owned Washington Post first to report Trump-friendly National Enquirer up for sale

The Washington Post was first to report Wednesday that the parent company of the National Enquirer is looking to sell the Trump-friendly supermarket tabloid.

A longtime source of salacious reporting, and some major scoops, the National Enquirer incurred the ire of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who owns the Post, after a monthslong investigation into the billionaire’s affair with Lauren Sanchez which hastened the demise of his marriage.

Sources said Anthony Melchiorre, the hedge fund manager propping up the National Enquirer financially, has become “disgusted” with the tabloid’s reporting tactics and prompted the search for a buyer. The tabloid is owned by American Media Inc.

Bezos, 55, and wife MacKenzie, 49, announced their divorce in January, nearly two days after Jeff Bezos says AMI informed him of an impending exposé on text messages he exchanged with his mistress. Jeff Bezos claimed AMI threatened to publish racy photos if he didn’t put out a statement saying the National Enquirer’s reporting on him wasn’t politically motivated.

The Enquirer published the sexually explicit text messages after the divorce was announced. “I love you, alive girl. I will show you with my body, and my lips and my eyes, very soon,” he said in one text from April 2018. A month later, he wrote: “I want to smell you, I want to breathe you in. I want to hold you tight … I want to kiss your lips … I love you. I am in love with you.”

Jeff Bezos, who has four children with his ex-wife, hit back at AMI in February, sharing copies of emails and accusing the National Enquirer of trying to blackmail him.

The sale of the National Enquirer will wrest influence of the tabloid from AMI President and CEO David Pecker, a friend of President Trump. The National Enquirer has largely given positive coverage of Trump as both candidate and president, bringing with it the weight of increased scrutiny.

Last year, federal prosecutors announced they had entered into a “non-prosecution agreement” with AMI, which acknowledged paying $150,000 to former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who alleged an affair with Trump, to prevent her story “from influencing the election.” In the process, AMI was given immunity in exchange for cooperation in the federal government’s investigation into the hush money paid to McDougal by former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen.

“The Trump thing was an issue, and [Melchiorre] was really disgusted by the Bezos reporting,” one source told the Post. Jeff Bezos acquired the Post in 2013 when he purchased it for $250 million.

Trump and Jeff Bezos have often butted heads, especially after the president stepped up his attacks on “fake news,” a descriptor he often applies to the Post.

Sanchez, a 49-year-old Los Angeles-based news anchor and her husband of 14 years, Patrick Whitesell, filed for divorce earlier this month, just one day after the Bezoses finalized their divorce. MacKenzie Bezos announced she had finalized her divorce from her husband of 25 years Thursday, tweeting out a statement saying Jeff Bezos keeps 75% of the company’s shares and full control of the Washington Post.

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