Jeff Bezos has long said he purchased the paper because he thought he might be able to save an important journalistic institution. | AP Photo Trump accuses Bezos of using the Washington Post to avoid taxes

Donald Trump is done with Jeff Bezos.

In an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Thursday night, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee alleged that the Amazon founder uses the Washington Post to secure tax benefits for his company.


“Every hour we’re getting calls from reporters from The Washington Post asking ridiculous questions and I will tell you, this is owned as a toy by Jeff Bezos, who controls Amazon,” Trump said in response to Hannity's question about how the paper has assigned some 20 reporters to dig deep into his life.

Amazon is “getting away with murder, tax-wise,” said Trump. “He’s using the Washington Post for power so that the politicians in Washington don’t tax Amazon like they should be taxed."

Bezos, who purchased the Post in 2013 for $250 million, has a broader “antitrust” problem, Trump alleged.

“Amazon is controlling so much of what they’re doing,” he said. “And what they’ve done is he bought this paper for practically nothing and he’s using that as a tool for political power against me and against people and I’ll tell you what, we can’t let him get away with it.”

Trump went on to criticize the Post's reporters, who he claimed have reported inaccurately on his life.

“I just heard, they’re taking these really bad stories, I mean they’re wrong, I wouldn’t even say bad, they’re wrong and in many cases they have no proper information," he said.

“He’s using The Washington Post, which is peanuts, he’s using that for political purposes to save Amazon in terms of taxes and in terms of antitrust,” Trump reiterated.

Bezos has long said he purchased the paper because he thought he might be able to save an important journalistic institution.

“I didn’t know anything about the newspaper business, but I did know something about the Internet,” Bezos said at a conference in 2014. “That, combined with the financial runway that I can provide, is the reason why I bought The Post.”

Earlier in the week, the Washington Examiner reported on comments the Post’s Bob Woodward made at a realtor trade association conference in the city.

"There's a lot we don't know," he said, according to the Examiner. "We have 20 people working on Trump, we're going to do a book, we're doing articles about every phase of his life.”

Woodward also said the Bezos had urged the paper to report thoroughly on the presidential candidates, according to the Examiner.

"He said, 'Look the job at the Washington Post has to be tell us everything about who the eventual nominee will be in both parties, 15-part, 16-part series, 20-part series. We want to look at every part of their lives and we're never going get the whole story of course but we can get the best attainable,” Woodward said.

Earlier in the day, the Post's Executive Editor Martin Baron denied that Bezos was influencing its coverage.

“As the individual who oversees The Washington Post’s news staff, I can say categorically that I have received no instructions from Jeff Bezos regarding our coverage of the presidential campaign — or, for that matter, any other subject. The Post has a long tradition of publishing thorough examinations of the major party nominees for president. The decision to write a book on Donald Trump came entirely from the newsroom.”

Hadas Gold contributed.