President Donald Trump tweeted another attack on Amazon — his fifth in a week — this time focusing his criticism on The Washington Post, which is owned by the online retailer's CEO, Jeff Bezos.
"The Fake News Washington Post, Amazon's 'chief lobbyist,' has another (of many) phony headlines," the president tweeted, criticizing the newspaper's coverage of the U.S. trade standoff with China.
Trump's tweet was aimed at an article in the Thursday morning edition of the Post, which said that the president "showed no sign" of backing down during trade tensions with China.
Amazon stock was up 2 percent in early trading Thursday.
The president's tweet repeated his false claim that the Post acts as a "lobbyist" for Amazon. The newspaper's management has repeatedly denied that Bezos influences editorial strategy and coverage.
Trump has been teeing off on Amazon, claiming that it is taking advantage of its deal with the U.S. Postal Service to hurt brick-and-mortar retailers.
"You have retailers all over the United States that are going out of business," Trump said Tuesday. "If you look at the cost that we're subsidizing, we're giving a subsidy to Amazon."
Several observers, however, have argued that USPS partnership with Amazon has been positive for the delivery service, which loses money due in large part to mandated pension prepayments.