What Is Going On With Trump's 'Amazon Washington Post' Tweet?
On Wednesday morning, President Donald Trump tweeted an apparent criticism of both Amazon and the Washington Post, which he referred to as "#AmazonWashingtonPost":
Why is Trump mad at the Washington Post? And what is he talking about with regard to "Amazon not paying internet taxes"? As always, no one will ever fully understand what's going on inside his brain, but here's what we know for sure.
Yesterday, The Washington Post Reported That A Fake Time Magazine Cover Hangs In Trump's Golf Clubs
[T]he president's Wednesday labeling of the Post as "fake news" comes one day after the newspaper reported that at least four of the president's golf properties have on display a fake cover of Time magazine featuring Trump on the cover and fawning headlines about his former reality TV show, "The Apprentice."
[Politico]
From the Post's story (which has been updated to not that the cover actually hangs in at least five of Trump's clubs):
The framed copy of Time magazine was hung up in at least five of President Trump's clubs, from South Florida to Scotland. Filling the entire cover was a photo of Donald Trump.
"Donald Trump: The 'Apprentice' is a television smash!" the big headline said. Above the Time nameplate, there was another headline in all caps: "TRUMP IS HITTING ON ALL FRONTS . . . EVEN TV!"
This cover — dated March 1, 2009 — looks like an impressive memento from Trump's pre-presidential career. To club members eating lunch, or golfers waiting for a pro-shop purchase, it seemed to be a signal that Trump had always been a man who mattered. Even when he was just a reality TV star, Trump was the kind of star who got a cover story in Time.
But that wasn't true.
The Time cover is a fake.
Today Time's creative director weighed in on the visual giveaways that the cover hanging in Trump's clubs is a fake:
In the case of the fake Trump cover, the logo is slightly larger vertically than it would have been in 2009 and it's also placed too high inside the border, which wouldn't leave enough room for the three-line "rooflines" referring to other stories in the magazine, which was also used during that period…
Most fake covers do include the red border — although in the case of the Trump cover it appears in the frame to have a thinner border… Most knockoffs also don't include the thin white border that separates the red from the image.
[Time]
The Post Also Recently Reported On Trump's Troubles Convincing Senate Republicans To Pass The Health Care Bill
It's possible that Trump is mad not about the fake Time cover story but about something else — perhaps the Post's reporting on the Senate Republicans' ailing health care bill.
It also ran a piece headlined "Who's afraid of Trump? Not enough Republicans — at least for now." It details the president's strained efforts to get wavering GOP senators behind the Senate plan to repeal and replace ObamaCare.
[The Hill]
Whatever Trump's reasons for being angry at the Post, his tweet about its relationship to Amazon is misleading at best and inaccurate at worst. Here's how:
Amazon Does Not Own The Washington Post — Jeff Bezos Does
Jeff Bezos is the founder and CEO of Amazon. He also owns the Washington Post, having bought it for $250 million in 2013. Although Bezos' ownership of the Post is officially separate from role running Amazon, the two companies have created some partnerships, like an offer that gives Amazon Prime members a six-month digital subscription to the Post.
Amazon Collects State Sales Taxes On All Purchases
As of April 1, Amazon collects sales taxes on purchases from each of the 45 states that have a sales tax.
While it's unclear exactly what tax issue Trump was referring to in his criticism of Amazon, the e-commerce giant has been collecting sales taxes in all states that have a sales tax since April 1. States are generally barred from requiring remote sellers to collect sales taxes unless they have a physical presence in the state under a 1992 Supreme Court ruling.
[Politico]
For years Amazon was one of the leaders in the fight to keep online purchases tax free. But as it has moved to offer faster and faster deliveries, it has expanded its network of distribution centers and started collecting sales taxes in more and more states.
[CNN]
Many Republicans Don't Want Amazon To Be Required To Collect Sales Tax, But Amazon Does
Ironically, Amazon has supported legislation to require online sellers to collect sales taxes, while members of Trump's own party have opposed it.
Congress has long debated measures to require states to collect sales taxes on sales over the Internet by retailers located in other states. Those proposals have divided Republicans, with many conservatives opposing them…
Amazon has supported the leading legislation, the Marketplace Fairness Act, to require sellers to collect sales taxes on online purchases from out-of-state stores.
For what it's worth, the Washington Post's editorial board (which operates independently from its newsroom) also endorsed the Marketplace Fairness Act back in 2012 and 2013, before Bezos was its owner.