Donald Trump Versus Jeff Bezos

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.

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)."

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.”