Trump goes after a favorite target: Amazon

NEW YORK — President Donald Trump took another shot at Amazon.com Thursday, tweeting that the online retailer pays “little or no taxes” and that it uses the U.S. Post Service as a “Delivery Boy.”

Trump’s frustrations with Amazon are no surprise. He has accused the company of not paying enough taxes before, and in December tweeted that the U.S. post office should charge Amazon more for delivering packages. His latest missive comes a day after Axios reported that Trump has wondered aloud if there was a way to “go after” Amazon with antitrust or competition law.

“I have stated my concerns with Amazon long before the Election,” Trump tweeted Thursday. “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!”

Seattle-based Amazon has fought for years against collecting sales tax, but now collects taxes in states have a sales tax. And while the Postal Service has lost money for years, online shopping has led to growth in its package-delivery business. The post office also reached a deal with Amazon in 2014 to deliver packages on Sundays.

Amazon.com Inc. did not respond to a request for comment Thursday. A spokesman for the U.S. Postal Service declined to comment.

Trump targeted Amazon for other reasons, namely that its founder and CEO Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post. Trump has called the Post “fake news,” and a “guardian of Amazon,” after the newspaper posted unfavorable stories about him or his administration.

White House spokesman Raj Shah said in a TV interview Thursday that Trump’s tweets are not about Bezos, but that mom-and-pop shops and brick-and-mortar stores are having trouble competing with fast-growing Amazon.

“Tax policy, and other policy, has to catch up to that so that way those who are competing with Amazon are on a level playing field,” Shah said on Fox News show “Fox & Friends.” He added, “we’re not laying out specific policies.”