10 new york | december 23, 2019–january 5, 2020
its journalism. In 2017, according to The New Yorker’s
Jane Mayer, Trump ordered his chief economic adviser
at the time, Gary Cohn, to block a merger between AT&T
and Time Warner, which owned CNN, another favorite
Trump target. (The Justice Department tried to block
the merger but lost in court.) Trump settled for ineffec-
tual calls on the public to boycott AT&T. “I believe that if
people stoped [sic] using or subscribing to @ATT, they
would be forced to make big changes at @CNN, which
is dying in the ratings anyway,” he tweeted.
Amazon filed suit this month, charging that the
Defense Department had arbitrarily and improperly
changed its criteria in order to deny it the contract.
“These errors, however, were not merely the result of
arbitrary and capricious decision-making,” a redacted
version of the suit reads. “Under escalating and overt
pressure from President Trump, DoD departed from the
rules of procurement and complied—consciously or sub-
consciously—with its Commander in Chief ’s expressed
desire to reject AWS’s superior bid.” The lawsuit cites
Trump’s tweets and declarations to argue that the presi-
dent “launched repeated public and behind-the-scenes
attacks to steer the jedi Contract away from AWS to
harm his perceived political enemy.”
Whether or not the Pentagon has created a legitimate
paper trail to justify the change, Amazon and other busi-
ness owners clearly believe the company lost that contract
because of Trump’s vendetta against it. The credibility of his
threat has been established; Trump could plead in public
that he had nothing to do with the change and nobody
would believe him. The notion that publishers of indepen-
dent media have to account for the risk that the president
could single them out for economic retaliation is no longer
hypothetical but a fait accompli.
Jeff Bezos will be fine either way. The danger Trump
poses is not to the livelihood of Amazon’s owner or any
other member of the CEO class but to something much
broader. Trump is wielding government power to keep the
economic elite in line, to dissuade them from any political
activity that threatens his power. Since serious political
journalism often relies on philanthropic subsidy, leaning on
media owners is an especially inviting point of leverage for
his threats. But the larger theme of his corruption is a bid
to bribe or coerce the entire Establishment into serving as
his willing or unwilling accomplices.
The leaders Trump most admires—Hungary’s Viktor
Orbán, Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and, of course, Rus-
sia’s Vladimir Putin—preside over quasi-democracies with
quasi–market economies. The business leaders in those
countries understand that their wealth requires maintain-
ing good relations with the ruling party. Trump came into
office with no experience in and barely any knowledge of
the workings of the federal government. His initial lurches
into fashioning his own oligarchic state often floundered.
But as his first term draws to a close, Trump is learning
through trial and error how to staff his administration
with functionaries who will carry out his orders rather
than ignore them, how to effectively damage the laws and
norms that stand in the way of his vision, and how to
evade accountability. Now that we have watched the entire
Republican Party approve of his Ukraine shakedown, the
idea that any Republicans will take action to stop him
from punishing Bezos or weaponizing the state against his
critics now seems delusional. ■Trump influenced, and probably ordered, his Defense
Department to deny Amazon a $10 billion Joint Enterprise
Defense Infrastructure (jedi) cloud- computing contract to
punish the company’s owner, Jeff Bezos, for publishing the
Washington Post. In the wake of Trump’s election, critics
who predicted Trump might turn the government into a
weapon to threaten and punish newspapers would have
been dismissed as hysterical. But the fact pattern—which
would have been an impeachment-worthy scandal in
another presidency but has been treated like a C-plot in our
frenzied political moment—leaves virtually no doubt.
Trump’s obsession with Bezos began during the cam-
paign, when he lashed out at the Post for its critical cov-
erage and threatened to harm Amazon. “If I become
president—oh, do they have problems. They’re going to
have such problems,” he said. Trump kept up his attacks
on Amazon and the Post—which, despite their common
owner, are independent of each other—frequently treat-
ing the two as interchangeable and calling the newspa-
per the “Amazon Washington Post.”
Trump has tried out various pretexts to punish Bezos. He
has claimed that Amazon evades “internet taxes” (which
don’t exist) and has accused it of benefiting from low postal
ra tes (based on a faulty calculation, as my colleague Josh
Barro has shown) and of “getting away with murder” on its
corporate tax rate (an ironic charge given both Trump’s own
long history of tax fraud and his agenda of reducing corpo-
rate tax rates). Trump has simultaneously claimed that
Amazon makes no money and that it is evading taxes on its
nonexistent corporate profits—“The @washingtonpost,
which loses a fortune, is owned by @JeffBezos for purposes
of keeping taxes down at his no profit company, @amazon,”
he tweeted. Trump’s frequent Twitter attacks have regularly
triggered brief stock drops for Amazon, and the tweets alone
would constitute a major scandal in any normal administra-
tion. (Imagine if Barack Obama or any other president had
singled out a company for repeated abuse.)
In 20 18, Trump settled on the Pentagon as his weapon of
choice. That spring, Gabriel Sherman in Vanity Fair
reported that the president was “obsessed” with hurting
Amazon and that advisers were encouraging him to cancel
its pending contract to provide cloud-computing services
to the Defense Department. That summer, according to a
former speechwriter for Defense Secretary James Mattis,
Trump ordered Mattis to “screw Amazon” by withholding
the lucrative cloud contract. Mattis reportedly pushed back,
and by the end of the year, he resigned.
On July 18 of this year, Trump told reporters that
“great companies” had been complaining about the Pen-
tagon’s criteria for awarding its cloud-computing con-
tract, which appeared likely to go to Amazon. (The com-
pany had previously built a cloud system for the CIA.) “I
will be asking them to look at it very closely to see what’s
going on,” Trump told reporters—pledging to intervene
in the Pentagon’s contract process.
The next week, Mark Esper took over as Defense sec-
retary and announced a few days later that he would
revisit the contract. “I’ve heard from folks in the admin-
istration, so I owe, as the new guy coming in, a fresh look
at it, study it, make sure I understand all the different
factors,” he said. In October, Defense shocked analysts by
awarding the contract to Microsoft.
This is not the only instance when Trump sought to
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($29.97)TRANSMITTED________ COPY ___ DD ___ AD ___ PD ___ EIC2619INT_Column1_lay [Print]_36410655.indd 10 12/18/19 1:25 PM10 newyork| december23,2019–january5, 2020
its journalism. In 2017, according to The New Yorker’s
Jane Mayer, Trump ordered his chief economic adviser
at the time, Gary Cohn, to block a merger between AT&T
and Time Warner, which owned CNN, another favorite
Trump target. (The Justice Department tried to block
the merger but lost in court.) Trump settled for ineffec-
tual calls on the public to boycott AT&T. “I believe that if
people stoped [sic] using or subscribing to @ATT, they
would be forced to make big changes at @CNN, which
is dying in the ratings anyway,” he tweeted.
Amazon filed suit this month, charging that the
Defense Department had arbitrarily and improperly
changed its criteria in order to deny it the contract.
“Theseerrors,however,werenotmerelytheresult of
arbitrary and capricious decision-making,” a redacted
version of the suit reads. “Under escalating and overt
pressure from President Trump, DoD departed from the
rules of procurement and complied—consciously or sub-
consciously—with its Commander in Chief ’s expressed
desire to reject AWS’s superior bid.” The lawsuit cites
Trump’s tweets and declarations to argue that the presi-
dent “launched repeated public and behind-the-scenes
attacks to steer the jedi Contract away from AWS to
harm his perceived political enemy.”
Whether or not the Pentagon has created a legitimate
paper trail to justify the change, Amazon and other busi-
ness owners clearly believe the company lost that contract
because of Trump’s vendetta against it. The credibility of his
threat has been established; Trump could plead in public
that he had nothing to do with the change and nobody
would believe him. The notion that publishers of indepen-
dent media have to account for the risk that the president
could single them out for economic retaliation is no longer
hypothetical but a fait accompli.
Jeff Bezos will be fine either way. The danger Trump
poses is not to the livelihood of Amazon’s owner or any
other member of the CEO class but to something much
broader. Trump is wielding government power to keep the
economic elite in line, to dissuade them from any political
activity that threatens his power. Since serious political
journalism often relies on philanthropic subsidy, leaning on
media owners is an especially inviting point of leverage for
his threats. But the larger theme of his corruption is a bid
to bribe or coerce the entire Establishment into serving as
his willing or unwilling accomplices.
The leaders Trump most admires—Hungary’s Viktor
Orbán, Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and, of course, Rus-
sia’s Vladimir Putin—preside over quasi-democracies with
quasi–market economies. The business leaders in those
countries understand that their wealth requires maintain-
ing good relations with the ruling party. Trump came into
office with no experience in and barely any knowledge of
the workings of the federal government. His initial lurches
into fashioning his own oligarchic state often floundered.
But as his first term draws to a close, Trump is learning
through trial and error how to staff his administration
with functionaries who will carry out his orders rather
than ignore them, how to effectively damage the laws and
norms that stand in the way of his vision, and how to
evade accountability. Now that we have watched the entire
Republican Party approve of his Ukraine shakedown, the
idea that any Republicans will take action to stop him
from punishing Bezos or weaponizing the state against his
critics now seems delusional. ■Trump influenced, and probably ordered, his Defense
Department to deny Amazon a $10 billion Joint Enterprise
Defense Infrastructure (jedi) cloud- computing contract to
punish the company’s owner, Jeff Bezos, for publishing the
Washington Post. In the wake of Trump’s election, critics
who predicted Trump might turn the government into a
weapon to threaten and punish newspapers would have
been dismissed as hysterical. But the fact pattern—which
would have been an impeachment-worthy scandal in
another presidency but has been treated like a C-plot in our
frenzied political moment—leaves virtually no doubt.
Trump’s obsession with Bezos began during the cam-
paign, when he lashed out at the Post for its critical cov-
erageandthreatenedtoharmAmazon.“IfI become
president—oh,dotheyhaveproblems.They’regoingto
havesuchproblems,” hesaid.Trumpkeptuphisattacks
onAmazonandthePost—which,despitetheircommon
owner,areindependentofeachother—frequentlytreat-
ingthetwoasinterchangeableandcallingthenewspa-
perthe“AmazonWashingtonPost.”
TrumphastriedoutvariouspretextstopunishBezos.He
hasclaimedthatAmazonevades“internet taxes”(which
don’t exist)andhasaccusedit ofbenefitingfromlowpostal
ra tes(basedona faulty calculation,asmy colleagueJosh
Barrohasshown)andof“gettingawaywithmurder” onits
corporate taxrate(anironiccharge givenbothTrump’sown
longhistory oftaxfraudandhisagendaofreducingcorpo-
ratetaxrates).Trumphassimultaneouslyclaimedthat
Amazonmakesnomoney andthat it is evadingtaxesonits
nonexistentcorporateprofits—“The@washingtonpost,
whichlosesa fortune,is ownedby@JeffBezosforpurposes
of keepingtaxesdownat hisnoprofit company, @amazon,”
hetweeted.Trump’sfrequentTwitterattackshaveregularly
triggeredbrief stockdropsforAmazon,andthetweetsalone
wouldconstitutea majorscandalinany normaladministra-
tion.(Imagineif BarackObamaorany otherpresidenthad
singledouta companyforrepeatedabuse.)
In 20 18,TrumpsettledonthePentagonashisweaponof
choice.That spring,GabrielShermaninVanityFair
reportedthat thepresidentwas“obsessed” withhurting
Amazonandthatadviserswereencouraginghimtocancel
itspendingcontract toprovidecloud-computingservices
totheDefenseDepartment.Thatsummer, accordingtoa
formerspeechwriterforDefenseSecretaryJamesMattis,
TrumporderedMattisto“screw Amazon” bywithholding
thelucrativecloudcontract.Mattisreportedlypushedback,
andbytheendoftheyear,heresigned.
OnJuly 18 ofthisyear, Trumptoldreportersthat
“greatcompanies”hadbeencomplainingaboutthePen-
tagon’scriteriaforawardingitscloud-computingcon-
tract,whichappearedlikelytogo toAmazon.(Thecom-
pany hadpreviouslybuilta cloudsystemfortheCIA.) “I
willbeaskingthemtolookatit very closelytoseewhat’s
goingon,” Trumptoldreporters—pledgingtointervene
inthePentagon’scontractprocess.
Thenextweek,MarkEspertookoverasDefensesec-
retaryandannounceda fewdayslaterthat hewould
revisitthecontract.“I’veheardfromfolksintheadmin-
istration,soI owe,asthenew guycomingin,a freshlook
atit,studyit,make sureI understandallthedifferent
factors,” hesaid.In October,Defenseshockedanalysts by
awardingthecontracttoMicrosoft.
ThisisnottheonlyinstancewhenTrumpsoughtto
usegovernmentpowertopunisha mediacompany for
intelligencer
Make One-
Day Shipping
Great AgainTrump may
be at war
with Amazon,
but MAGA
merch
continues to be
popular.
Top-rated
items include:Talking
Donald
Trump action
figure ($17.95)Six-foot-tall
“No More
Bull—Trump
2020”
yard banner
($13.99)“Make Christ-
mas Great
Again” novelty
holiday
sweater ($32)Poster of
Trump as
Captain
America at
the U.S.-
Mexico border
($19.95)Trump-on-a-
gold-toilet
bobblehead
($29.97)