Tale of the tape: Trump vs. Amazon
Trey Stewart, Staff Writer
Graphic courtesy of Corley Wood.
It’s no secret that President Donald Trump consistently makes headlines, and most of these headlines typically stem from his use of his Twitter account. From his Twitter conflicts with celebrities such as Rosie O’ Donnell all the way to tweets saying “I’ve never seen a thin person drinking Diet Coke,” Trump’s account has something for almost everyone.
However, more recently and perhaps more importantly, Trump recently sent out a series of tweets signaling his disapproval of online-retail giant Amazon, Inc. The tweets read:
“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!”
“While we are on the subject, it is reported that the U.S. Post Office will lose $1.50 on average for each package it delivers for Amazon. That amounts to Billions of Dollars. The Failing N.Y. Times reports that ‘the size of the company’s lobbying staff has ‘ballooned’… Amazon must pay real costs (and taxes) now!”
While Trump uses compelling arguments as to why he believes the success of Amazon isn’t the best for the greater good of the United States, many are accusing the President of having unreasonable bias towards Amazon, based on the fact that its CEO is Jeff Bezos, who also owns The Washington Post, a news source that is a frequent and often ruthless adversary to Trump.
Since Trump sent out the first tweets regarding his displeasure with Amazon and the way the company has been conducting business, Amazon’s stocks have taken a significant tumble. The value of the company has dropped by an estimated $60 billion, and Bezos’ net worth has fallen by about $5 Billion.
Is Trump justified in his claims against the retail giant? Does he have ulterior motives for going against the company with such ferocity and determination? No matter what the reason is, what many people may not realize is exactly how much effect Trump’s words and actions have against corporations such as Amazon.
Of course, it is highly unlikely that anything drastically destructive happens to Amazon anytime soon, and likely, once this turmoil passes, Amazon will make a sharp rise again and it will be back running as normal. However, for now, Trump is having his way with Bezos and his company, all from the comfort of the Oval Office, sitting with his personal device in the palm of his hand.
