President Donald Trump is ‘obsessed’ with Amazon owner Jeff Bezos and is plotting ways to ‘f***’ with his company, sources in the White House have claimed.
The claims come after Trump’s repeated Twitter attacks against the internet giant contributed to a 5.9 per cent collapse in its share price, wiping about $45 billion from its market value yesterday.
The president has said the firm is costing the US Postal Service a ‘fortune’ and accused it of failing to pay its fair share in tax.
President Donald Trump (left at the White House last year) is ‘obsessed’ with Amazon owner Jeff Bezos (right) and is plotting ways to ‘f***’ with his company, sources in the White House have claimed
The claims come after Trump’s repeated Twitter attacks on the internet giant contributed to a 5.9 per cent collapse in its share price, wiping about $45 billion from its market value
Trump reportedly wants to increase delivery costs for Amazon, a move he previously wished to make before being dissuaded by outgoing economic adviser Gary Cohn
President Donald Trump hit out at Amazon on Thursday morning before normal trading hours
According to one source who spoke to Vanity Fair, Trump is ‘off the hook on this one,’ adding: ‘It’s war.’
Another explained: ‘He gets obsessed with something, and now he’s obsessed with Bezos. Trump is like, how can I f*** with him?’
Trump wants to increase delivery costs for Amazon, a move he previously wished to make before being dissuaded by outgoing economic adviser Gary Cohn.
A Republican close to the president said: ‘He really wants the Post Office deal renegotiated. He thinks Amazon’s getting a huge f****** deal on shipping.’
Another plan of attack the president could put into action is the cancellation of a computing contract Amazon has with the Pentagon.
He might also push prosecutors in Republican states to investigate Amazon’s business practices.
Dow Jones second-quarter start is worst since GREAT DEPRESSION
The US stock market had its worst April start since the Great Depression, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling more than 600 points on Monday.
The S&P 500, considered to be the best indicator of how the US stock market is doing, fell 2.2 per cent.
This has only been exceeded once in history, when the index fell 2.5 per cent in 1929 – the same year Black Tuesday would kick-off the 12-year Great Depression.
The US stock market had its worst April start since the Great Depression, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling more than 600 points on Monday
Black Tuesday, which occurred on October 29, 1929, was the most devastating stock market crash in the country’s history.
On Monday equities also dropped more than any other quarterly first day since October 2011, when stocks fell 2.8 per cent.
It is believed that China’s raised import duties as well as Donald Trump’s attacks on Amazon have helped lead to the drop, according to Bloomberg.
Shares of Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) fell 5.9 per cent yesterday after Trump again attacked the online retailer over the pricing of its deliveries through the United States Postal Service and promised unspecified changes.
‘Only fools, or worse, are saying that our money losing Post Office makes money with Amazon,’ Trump tweeted.
‘They lose a fortune, and this will be changed. Also, our fully tax paying retailers are closing stores all over the country…not a level playing field!’
Shares of the company fell to $1,362.48.
According to one source who spoke to Vanity Fair , Trump is ‘off the hook on this one,’ adding: ‘It’s war’
Trump has been vocal about his opposition to Amazon’s use of the postal service and Monday’s tweet adds to investor worries that the company could see more regulation.
Amazon did not immediately respond to requests for a comment.
On Saturday, Trump tweeted that if the post office ‘increased its parcel rates, Amazon’s shipping costs would rise by $2.6 billion.’
The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) in November reported a decline in annual revenue, hurt by a drop in first-class and marketing mail, offset partly by an increase in package delivery.
The postal service has also been posting losses mainly because of payments, more than $5 billion a year as mandated by Congress to prefund the service’s future retirees’ healthcare.
The passage of postal reform legislation could alleviate USPS’s pension obligations, give it more pricing power and allow the agency to be more competitive, analysts said.
‘We believe the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has gained share from Amazon which is helping the USPS stay afloat,’ Morgan Stanley analysts wrote.
Trump has been vocal about his opposition to Amazon’s use of the postal service and Monday’s tweet adds to investor worries that the company could see more regulation
Bezos is also the owner of The Washington Post, which Trump has labeled ‘fake news’ because of the stories it has done on him that he says are false representations
Details of Amazon’s payments to the USPS are not publicly known, but some Wall Street analysts have estimated it pays the postal service roughly half what it would to United Parcel Service Inc (UPS.N) or FedEx Corp (FDX.N) to deliver a package.
‘President Trump’s comments are consistent with industry sources we have spoken to in the shipping industry, who often label Amazon’s deal with the USPS as a sweetheart deal,’ DA Davidson analyst Tom Forte wrote in a note.
‘An argument, however, could be made that the USPS was losing billions before it expanded its service offerings for Amazon and would, still, likely lose billions if Amazon discontinued its use of the USPS tomorrow,’ Forte said.
Trump last Thursday accused Amazon of not paying enough tax, making the postal system lose money and putting small retailers out of business.