The authoritarian impulse

President Trump's use of state power to punish Amazon and The Washington Post should trouble everyone

President Trump.
(Image credit: AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

This is the editor’s letter in the current issue of The Week magazine.

President Trump has a long enemies list, but Jeff Bezos has now shot up to number two, right behind Robert Mueller. Over the past week, the president unleashed a Twitter rant against Bezos and his company, Amazon, and threatened to use the federal government to punish him — thereby causing the company's stock to plunge 8 percent and lose $75 billion in market value. Trump, aides say, is "obsessed" with Amazon and Bezos — largely because Bezos also owns The Washington Post, which has covered this administration aggressively. "How can I f--- with him?" the president has asked aides, sources tell Vanity Fair. The options under discussion include an anti-trust action, raising postal rates, and the cancellation of Amazon's multibillion-dollar Pentagon contract. "It's war," White House sources warn.

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William Falk

William Falk is editor-in-chief of The Week, and has held that role since the magazine's first issue in 2001. He has previously been a reporter, columnist, and editor at the Gannett Westchester Newspapers and at Newsday, where he was part of two reporting teams that won Pulitzer Prizes.