President Trump made it very clear on Twitter that he is not a fan of Amazon. In a tweet on Thursday, Trump attacked the company, saying it is hurting brick and mortar stores and is not paying enough in taxes, The New York Times reports.
“I have stated my concerns with Amazon long before the Election. Unlike others, they pay little or no taxes to state & local governments, use our Postal System as their Delivery Boy (causing tremendous loss to the U.S.), and are putting many thousands of retailers out of business!” Trump wrote on Twitter.
I have stated my concerns with Amazon long before the Election. Unlike others, they pay little or no taxes to state & local governments, use our Postal System as their Delivery Boy (causing tremendous loss to the U.S.), and are putting many thousands of retailers out of business!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 29, 2018
The president’s tweet comes a day after Axios reported that Trump does not like Amazon and has been having private conversations about how to change the way that Amazon pays taxes. According to The Times, Trump’s alleged comments in the Axios article have already had negative effects on Amazon’s stock, and stocks continued to fall on Thursday after Trump posted on Twitter.
“We have no announcements and no specific policies or actions that we’re currently pushing forward or considering taking,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters after being asked about the Axios article during the press briefing on Wednesday. When asked whether Trump was having conversations behind closed doors about new regulations for Amazon, Sanders said, “Look, the president has said many times before he’s always looking to create a level playing field for all businesses, and this is no different. And he’s going to always look at different ways, but there aren’t any specific policies on the table at this time.”
Kevin Hassett, the chair of the president’s Council on Economic Advisers, told Fox Business on Thursday, “The general principle that I know deeply concerns the president is that we need to live in a world where the government sets a level playing field between internet vendors and mom and pop stores.”
A source, who chose to remain anonymous, told The Times that the president had pondered Amazon and its payment of taxes multiple times in the past six months. Trump has reportedly made remarks that Amazon costs the U.S. Postal Service, even though this isn’t necessarily the case, The Times reports. The president has also allegedly claimed that Amazon unfairly benefits from tax laws.
According to ABC News, this is not the first time that Trump has gone after the company and its CEO. Just this past summer, Trump tweeted, “Amazon is doing great damage to tax paying retailers. Towns, cities and states throughout the U.S. are being hurt – many jobs being lost!”
Amazon is doing great damage to tax paying retailers. Towns, cities and states throughout the U.S. are being hurt – many jobs being lost!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 16, 2017
In December, Trump took to Twitter, writing, “Why is the United States Post Office, which is losing many billions of dollars a year, while charging Amazon and others so little to deliver their packages, making Amazon richer and the Post Office dumber and poorer? Should be charging MUCH MORE!”
Why is the United States Post Office, which is losing many billions of dollars a year, while charging Amazon and others so little to deliver their packages, making Amazon richer and the Post Office dumber and poorer? Should be charging MUCH MORE!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 29, 2017
Trump has also expressed his disdain with Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos and the newspaper he owns: The Washington Post. The president has slammed the newspaper on multiple occasions and claimed that it has been extremely critical of his administration, ABC News reports.