Clueless Trump Illegally Threatens Amazon With Internet Sales Tax They Already Collect

In what was almost certainly an abuse of presidential power, Donald Trump threatened Amazon with an Internet sales tax, when the company already collects sales tax for all 50 states.

Trump tweeted:

Trump is now advocating for an Internet sales tax, which he campaigned against, and he apparently only believes that Amazon should be paying Internet sales tax. The problem is that Amazon collects sales tax for all 50 states on purchases. Trump just abused his presidential power to threaten Amazon with a sales tax that they already collect.

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Amazon isn’t dodging sales tax. If the President wants to put a federal Internet sales tax in place, he would be violating a position that he held during the campaign. If the President believes that only Amazon should pay a federal sales tax, that is illegal taxation.

There are numerous levels of potential illegality in Trump’s tweet, as the ill-informed president appears to be completely clueless about what is happening in the country that he is supposed to be governing.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association