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Donald Trump Versus Jeff Bezos
Swarajya Staff
Jul 25, 2017, 10:49 AM | Updated 10:49 AM IST
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US President Donald Trump unleashed a Twitter tirade against billionaire tech entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, who owns both Amazon and The Washington Post.
A report in The Washington Post last week had claimed that Trump had ordered shutting down a CIA-run programme to arm Syrian rebels. It also claimed that shuttering this programme was a victory for Russia, which has called for the move for years. This report seemed to have earned the President's ire.
The Amazon Washington Post fabricated the facts on my ending massive, dangerous, and wasteful payments to Syrian rebels fighting Assad.....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 25, 2017
Is Fake News Washington Post being used as a lobbyist weapon against Congress to keep Politicians from looking into Amazon no-tax monopoly?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 25, 2017
Trump has been relentless in his attack on the influential Washington-based publication.
Only last month, Trump had tweeted out that Amazon wasn't "paying internet taxes (which they should)."
The #AmazonWashingtonPost, sometimes referred to as the guardian of Amazon not paying internet taxes (which they should) is FAKE NEWS!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 28, 2017
During the presidential campaign, Trump was blisteringly critical of Amazon suggesting that the e-commerce behemoth was a monopolistic player that enjoyed an unfair tax shelter. He also accused Bezos of buying the newspaper to exercise political influence. Trump even issued a warning to the retailer, “If I become president, oh [does Amazon] have problems. They're going to have such problems.”
On another occasion, Trump had said that, “Amazon, which through its ownership controls the Washington Post, should be paying massive taxes but it’s not paying. It’s a very unfair playing field, and you see what that’s doing to department stores all over the country.”
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