U.S. President Donald Trump is continuing his grudge against Amazon, telling reporters that he would “take a very serious look” at addressing what he says are the unfair business advantages of the online retailer.
Last week, Trump tweeted, “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!”
According to Reuters, Trump reiterated his complaints about Amazon while speaking to reporters on Air Force One.
When asked if he would make policy changes related to the eCommerce giant, the president said, “We’re going to take a very serious look at that.”
Earlier in the day, Trump went on the attack against The Washington Post, calling it the “chief lobbyist” for Amazon. The paper is privately owned by Amazon CEO and founder Jeff Bezos.
“The Fake News Washington Post, Amazon’s ‘chief lobbyist,’ has another (of many) phony headlines,” Trump said on Twitter.
He also called The Washington Post a lobbyist for Amazon in a tweet last week, an accusation rejected by Martin Baron, the paper’s executive editor.
“There isn’t anybody here who is paid by Amazon,” Baron told The New York Times. “Not one penny.”
Trump’s Twitter rants about Amazon follow an Axios report that said the president is apparently “obsessed” with the company and has wondered if the government could go after the company from an antitrust or competition standpoint. Last week, however, White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters denied that Trump was discussing new actions against Amazon.
Amazon shares closed up 2.9 percent on Thursday, but dipped slightly after the market close following Trump’s latest comments.
The company does have at least one supporter: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which criticized government officials for their attacks against American companies.
“It’s inappropriate for government officials to use their position to attack an American company,” said Neil Bradley, executive vice president and chief policy officer for the Chamber of Commerce. “The U.S. economy is the world’s most powerful because it embraces the free enterprise system and the rule of law, whereby policy matters are handled through recognized policymaking processes. The record is clear: Deviating from those processes undermines economic growth and job creation.”
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