On Tuesday morning, President Trump continued his attack on Amazon, a move that has been ongoing since last week, chipping away at stock shares.
I am right about Amazon costing the United States Post Office massive amounts of money for being their Delivery Boy. Amazon should pay these costs (plus) and not have them bourne by the American Taxpayer. Many billions of dollars. P.O. leaders don’t have a clue (or do they?)!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 3, 2018
You’re not right. You’re absolutely wrong, actually.
On Monday, the capitalism-hating liberal Trump (Yeah, since his views line up with Bernie Sanders on this, let’s just be honest about who he is) entered this bit of stupid:
Only fools, or worse, are saying that our money losing Post Office makes money with Amazon. 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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 2, 2018
He’s right about the post office losing money, overall, but right now, the contract for package delivery with Amazon is about the only area where USPS isn’t losing money.
Still, following Trump’s Monday attack, Amazon saw their sharpest decline to date, closing the day down 5 percent. On Thursday of last week, they closed at around 3 percent down.
It can’t be stressed strongly enough the danger of an American president, no matter what letter is beside his name, attempting to manipulate the stock market or attacking private businesses by name.
No whataboutism here, folks. Trump is an enemy of the free market.
Trump is obsessed with Amazon, and in particular, with seeing Amazon fail.
It is an innovative business that began small and grew to something amazing, making its founder/CEO Jeff Bezos the richest man in the world.
That envy may be what’s driving President Trump to frothing distraction.
Or it may be revenge.
This Fortune.com story from October 2017 explains how Amazon, inadvertently, contributed to the slide in Trump’s own, personal wealth.
According to Forbes research, the president is worth $3.1 billion, down from $3.7 billion a year ago. The loss has him moving from 156th on the list down to 248th. In accounting for the president’s $600 million write-down, the magazine cited the presidential campaign, which eroded his personal wealth, an expensive lawsuit, a dip in New York City’s real estate market that has hit retail particularly hard. “Values of several Manhattan properties, particularly those on or near Fifth Avenue, have dropped, shaving nearly $400 million off his fortune,” the magazine says.
Appearing on CNN Tuesday, Forbes assistant managing editor Kerry Dolan leveled blame for Trump’s real estate losses on e-commerce’s domination over retail, mentioning Amazon. Specifically citing the lease of the Niketown store and the Trump Tower property, Dolan said that retailers are suffering—even on the high end. It would appear that Amazon’s strategy of e-commerce over brick and mortar retail is winning, and that is having an effect on real estate values, she added.
Bezos’ worth is at over $81 billion. Trump knows nothing he’ll do in his lifetime is going to raise him to the level of wealth Bezos enjoys. He can’t touch him. In Bezos’ world. Trump would be the butler, at best.
He can’t catch up, but maybe he can knock Bezos down, and anybody who is even remotely familiar with the multitude of stories regarding Trump’s petty, vindictive nature knows this isn’t a far reach.
The man cut his dead brother’s children out of his father’s will, then cut off health insurance for his nephew’s sick baby, in retaliation, after they attempted to sue. I’m pretty sure using his position as president to damage the wealth of someone he sees as a rival isn’t out of the question, for him.
Trump’s vendetta and jealousy will ultimately cost American consumers. If Amazon is today, who does he attempt to take down, tomorrow?
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