President Donald Trump took to Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) early Wednesday morning to voice his disdain for online retail king Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) . But this wasn’t the first time the president used the social media platform to attack Amazon. In fact, he has ripped the company on Twitter almost a dozen times.
Less than a day after using Twitter to attack chief executives who left his manufacturing council, President Trump criticized Amazon on the platform Wednesday (also read: A Complete List of CEOs Who've Left Trump's Manufacturing Council, So Far).
Amazon is doing great damage to tax paying retailers. Towns, cities and states throughout the U.S. are being hurt - many jobs being lost!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 16, 2017
Shares of Amazon dipped premarket after President Trump’s 3 a.m. Twitter criticism. Amazon stock fell by around 0.85% in early morning trading, but it has climbed its way back since then and hovers roughly 0.10% lower than yesterday’s close right now.
President Trump’s attacks on Amazon aren’t new, but calling out the online retail company for destroying American jobs is a fresh wrinkle—on Twitter at least.
President Trump has criticized Amazon and its CEO Jeff Bezos in the past. According to the website Trump Twitter Archive, the president has mentioned Amazon by name 20 times on Twitter, but his early posts simply promoted his book which was being sold on Amazon.
However, after Trump announced he would run for president on June 16, 2015, his Twitter mentions of Amazon changed into attacks on the company and its chief executive.
Trump’s first three Tweets were fired off in succession in December 2015, and all attacked Amazon and Bezos about taxes and the Washington Post, which Bezos owns.
The @washingtonpost, which loses a fortune, is owned by @JeffBezos for purposes of keeping taxes down at his no profit company, @amazon.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 7, 2015
The @washingtonpost loses money (a deduction) and gives owner @JeffBezos power to screw public on low taxation of @Amazon! Big tax shelter
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 7, 2015
If @amazon ever had to pay fair taxes, its stock would crash and it would crumble like a paper bag. The @washingtonpost scam is saving it!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 7, 2015
The @washingtonpost, which is the lobbyist (power) for not imposing taxes on #Amazon, today did a nasty cartoon attacking @tedcruz kids. Bad
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 23, 2015
Trump attacked the company four times in December 2015, but then he did not mention Amazon by name until June 2017.
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
President Trump began to continually harass Amazon and the Washington Post as one entity under the Bezos umbrella and often mentioned fake news in the same breath.
A new INTELLIGENCE LEAK from the Amazon Washington Post,this time against A.G. Jeff Sessions.These illegal leaks, like Comey's, must stop!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 22, 2017
It's hard to read the Failing New York Times or the Amazon Washington Post because every story/opinion, even if should be positive, is bad!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 23, 2017
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
So many stories about me in the @washingtonpost are Fake News. They are as bad as ratings challenged @CNN. Lobbyist for Amazon and taxes?
— 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
Then, finally, before Wednesday’s most recent diatribe, President Trump took to Twitter for the following.
E-mails show that the AmazonWashingtonPost and the FailingNewYorkTimes were reluctant to cover the Clinton/Lynch secret meeting in plane.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 8, 2017
President Trump began his negative Twitter attacks against Amazon in December 2015 when the company’s stock price sat at roughly $675 a share. Today’s attack was followed by a small decline in share price. But even with Wednesday’s dip, shares of Amazon rest at around $980 a share.
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