COMMERCE/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Trump escalated his attack on Amazon on Thursday [2-29-18], saying that the online behemoth does not pay enough taxes — and strongly suggesting that he may try to rein in the e-commerce business. The president’s commentary was made in a Twitter post in which he accused Amazon of putting thousands of local retailers out of business and of using the United States Postal Service as ‘their Delivery Boy.’Amazon and the company’s founder, Jeff Bezos, are among Mr. Trump’s regular Twitter targets. In December, Mr. Trump questioned whether the United States Post Office charges Amazon enough for package deliveries. And in August, Mr. Trump said Amazon hurts taxpaying businesses. Amazon, however, does pay taxes — $412 million in 2016, for instance, according to the company’s report to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Mr. Trump has attacked Amazon on Twitter more than a dozen times since late 2015, months after he had launched his presidential campaign.”
–Eileen Sullivan and Nick Wingfield, “Trump Attacks Amazon, Saying It Does Not Pay Enough Taxes,” The New York Times online, Mar. 29, 2018