Trump targets Amazon and demands The Washington Post register as a lobbyist

pulse

March 31, 2018 3:01 PM

President Donald Trump slammed Amazon on Twitter Saturday, calling on the company to pay more taxes.

President Donald Trump slammed Amazon on Twitter Saturday, calling on the company to pay more taxes.
He also called out The Washington Post and demanded that the newspaper, which is owned by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, register as a lobbyist.
Trump has repeatedly attacked Amazon this week as his feud with the more than $700 billion online retailer escalates.

President Donald Trump attacked Amazon again on Saturday, doubling down on his claim that the online retail company is hurting the US Post Office and that it must pay more taxes.

"It is reported that the U.S. Post Office will lose $1.50 on average for each package it delivers for Amazon," Trump said on Twitter. "That amounts to Billions of Dollars."

Trump continued: "The Failing N.Y. Times reports that 'the size of the company’s lobbying staff has ballooned,' and that does not include the Fake Washington Post, which is used as a "lobbyist" and should so REGISTER. If the P.O. 'increased its parcel rates, Amazon’s shipping costs would rise by $2.6 Billion.' This Post Office scam must stop. Amazon must pay real costs (and taxes) now!"

This isn't the first time the president has taken aim at Amazon, one of the most powerful — and valuable — companies in the US.

On Wednesday, Axios reported that Trump has been "obsessed" with Amazon and wants to find a way to change the company's tax treatment or go after it on antitrust grounds. The president has long criticized the company's CEO, Jeff Bezos, who also owns The Washington Post.

The next day, Trump tweeted about the company, accusing it of paying "little or no taxes to state & local governments" and using "our Postal System as their Delivery Boy (causing tremendous loss to the U.S.)..."

Trump's attacks come as the Department of Defense gears up to submit a request to Congress for proposals on what could be a $10 billion, 10-year contract to provide the military with cloud services, as the Pentagon is moving to migrate its data onto a cloud.

Amazon is expected to be one of the front-runners for the contract, but Trump could theoretically intervene to influence his administration to decide against hiring the company.

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