Washington Post, owned by Jeff Bezos, decides against placing $115,000 ad targeting Elon Musk on its front page

The Washington Post, owned by Jeff Bezos, allegedly decided not to proceed with publishing a $115,000 front-page ad directed at Elon Musk, the head of DOGE, due to Bezos’ emerging friendship with President Donald Trump.

Common Cause, an advocacy group, revealed that they had reached an expensive deal with the newspaper to place an ad that would have encompassed both the front and back pages of Tuesday’s edition, as well as a full-page insert inside the paper.

The group said it planned to purchase the ad in collaboration with the Southern Poverty Law Center Action Fund. 

Copies of the paper with the wrap would then be sent to subscribers on Capitol Hill, at the Pentagon and at the White House, according to The Hill. 

The advertisement, which can still be viewed on the group’s website, shows a prominent picture of Musk laughing with his head thrown back, accompanied by an outline of the White House.

‘Who’s running this country: Donald Trump or Elon Musk?’ it asked.

Further down on the page, the advertisement features smaller text that reads: ‘Since day one, Elon has created chaos and confusion and put our livelihoods at risk. And he is accountable to no one but himself. 

‘The Constitution only allows for one president at a time,’ it says. ‘Call our senators and tell them it’s time Donald Trump fire Elon Musk.’ It also included the URL FireMusk.org.

The Jeff Bezos-owned Washington Post reportedly backed out of running a $115,000 front page advertisement targeting DOGE head Elon Musk

Common Cause President Virginia Kase Solomon questioned whether the decision was made in an effort not to offend President Donald Trump

Common Cause President Virginia Kase Solomon told The Hill the paper’s advertising sales representative was informed of the nature of the ad and seemed confident that running it over the paper wouldn’t be a problem.

But on Friday, Common Cause was informed the Post would not run the wrap around advertisement.

‘We submitted the artwork back on Tuesday of last week. I’m assuming it went through a legal department or other kind of review,’ she recounted.

‘They said, “You can have something inside the paper, but you can’t do the wrap.”

‘We said “thanks, no thanks” because we had a lot of questions.

‘Is it because we’re critical of what’s happening with Elon Musk? Is it only OK to run things in The Post now that won’t anger the president or won’t have him calling Jeff Bezos asking why this was allowed?’

The decision came after Bezos was featured prominently at the 47th president’s swearing-in ceremony, after he announced his plans too donate $1 million to the incoming president’s inaugural fund.

Bezos and his fiancee Lauren Sanchez had earlier traveled to Mar-a-Lago for dinner with the then president-elect.

Footage shared on X shows the couple holding hands and walking alongside Trump as they greet other guests.

The advertisements Common Cause had planned to run in the newspaper

The Post never provided an explanation for its decision not to run the wrap ad, she said, and the publication has a policy of not talking about its internal decisions related to specific ad campaigns.

According to the paper’s general guidelines for advertising, advertisers are responsible for complying with applicable law and regulation for political advertising, including using any required disclaimers.

It notes that The Post accepts advertising for all points of view, but reserves the right to require substantiation of factual claims.

The Post also requires advertisers to obtain ‘the requisite permissions’ when using the names or likeness of individuals.

Still, Solomon said the rejection was a ‘surprise’ because the sample art they received from The Post to get an idea of what is acceptable was a wrap ad funded by the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers group highlighting Trump’s promise to ‘end the electric vehicle mandate on Day One.’

It featured a large photo of Trump flashing a thumbs up, she said.

‘It just causes concern for us,’ she said of the paper’s rejection. 

‘Are they fearful of his rejection?’ she said of Trump. 

Solomon pointed out that the paper refused to run an endorsement of former Vice President Kamala Harris ahead of the presidential election and decided not to run a cartoon showing caricatures of Bezos, Mickey Mouse and others offering bags of money to Trump.

The decision comes amid Bezos’ budding friendship with the president 

Zuckerberg, Lauren Sanchez, Bezos, Sudar Pichai and Musk are all seen here inside the rotunda at Trump’s inauguration

She noted that the planned $115,000 ad was a ‘huge’ expenditure for her group, but because the Post decided not to run it, neither Common Cause nor the Southern Poverty Law Center have to pay.

In the meantime, Common Cause has organized thousands of calls to Congress and the White House raising concerns about Musk’s role in the federal government, slashing positions.

It has collected 60,000 signatures on a petition protesting Musk’s  position.

The group,  along with the Southern Poverty Law Center Action Fund and End Citizens United, launched the Fire Elon Musk campaign on February 3.