Trump may intervene in Pentagon cloud-computing contract: report

President Trump has requested more information on the process by which the Pentagon developed its cloud-computing contract, set to be awarded to either Amazon or Microsoft, to determine whether he should intervene, according to Bloomberg.

The department will award the contract, whose value could be as much as $10 billion over 10 years, in August, with Amazon viewed as the front-runner.

{mosads}Trump has reportedly learned of letters from Republican members of Congress to the White House and military leaders that claim the contract excludes some companies, including Oracle. Trump has asked aides to show him the letters, expressing frustration he wasn’t informed of the concerns, according to Bloomberg, citing two people familiar with the matter.

Senate Homeland Security Committee Chair Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), one of the members who wrote the White House, said in an interview that he had discussed the issue with Trump aboard Air Force One, adding that the president “wanted to understand what the issues were, what our concerns were,” according to Bloomberg.

A spokesperson for Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said Rubio and Trump discussed a letter Rubio sent to national security adviser John Bolton asking him to delay the contract’s awarding.

“I respectfully request that you direct the delay of an award until all efforts are concluded in addition to evaluating all bids in a fair and open process in order to provide the competition necessary to obtain the best cost and best technology for its cloud computing needs,” Rubio wrote in the letter.

 A person familiar with the call said Trump sounded as though he was considering canceling the contract outright, according to Bloomberg.

Trump has previously pushed defense contractors to take cost-reduction measures, but has yet to intervene in the competition process for a contract. Bloomberg previously reported that Oracle CEO Safra Katz met with Trump at the White House in 2018 and complained the contract was rigged in Amazon’s favor.

White House officials raised these concerns with Pentagon leaders while they were developing the final requirements for the contract, which were released last July, according to Bloomberg, citing a person familiar with the matter.

The Hill has reached out to the White House and Pentagon for comment.