Trump: Amazon has “huge” antitrust problem

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is no fan of Amazon, its founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, and The Washington Post, which Bezos also owns.



Trump told Fox News personality Sean Hannity that "Amazon is getting away with murder, tax-wise. He's using The Washington Post for power so that the politicians in Washington don't tax Amazon like they should be taxed.”



Trump also said Bezos is worried about me because "he thinks I would go after him for antitrust because he's got a huge antitrust problem. Amazon is controlling so much of what they're doing ... What he's got is a monopoly and he wants to make sure I don't get in."



Trump’s accusations came the day after veteran journalist Robert Woodward, an associate editor of the Post, in an address at the National Association of Realtors convention, said that that the newspaper plans to publish a book about the candidate. Woodward, best known for helping to uncover the Watergate break-in story, also said he has started investigating Trump's real estate deals in New York, which he called "more complex than the CIA."



Trump said that Bezos is using the Post "for political purposes to save Amazon in terms of taxes and in terms of antitrust.”



In a statement reported by the Associated Press, Post executive editor Martin Barron said that he has "received no instructions from Jeff Bezos" regarding campaign coverage, and the decision to write a book came from the newsroom."



This isn't the first time that Trump and Bezos have been at odds. In 2015, Trump tweeted that the Post was owned by Bezos for “purposes of keeping taxes down at his no profit company.” Bezos responded by offering to shoot Trump up into space in a rocket owned by his (Bezos) company: "Finally trashed by @realDonaldTrump. Will still reserve him a seat on the Blue Origin rocket. #sendDonaldtospace http://bit.ly/1OpyW5N"