Jeff Bezos praises journos, disses Donald Trump on Twitter

Amazon boss Jeff Bezos has taken a sideswipe at Donald Trump, after the US President attacked the e-commerce giant on Twitter.

In a tweet praising journalists at The Washington Post, which he bought in 2013, Bezos said: ‘Great reporting requires patience, grit and a willingness to follow a story wherever it leads, whether Alabama or Moscow. Proud of @washingtonpost #Pulitzer winners! And big congrats to the @nytimes, as well! #DemocracyDiesInDarkness’.

He was referring to the newspaper winning the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting for revelations about US Senate candidate Roy Moore and sharing the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for national reporting on Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.

Trump has previously hit out at The Washington Post, labelling it the Amazon Washington Post. Meanwhile, last month he tweeted: ‘I have stated my concerns with Amazon long before the Election. 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!’

This closely followed publication of an article on the Axios website. Citing five different sources, it claimed that, whilst Capitol Hill was gunning for Facebook, Trump’s thoughts were elsewhere. “He has talked about changing Amazon's tax treatment because he’s worried about mom-and-pop retailers being put out of business,” the report stated. “A source who’s spoken to POTUS says: ‘He’s wondered aloud if there may be any way to go after Amazon with antitrust or competition law’…Trump's wealthy friends tell him Amazon is destroying their businesses."