Amazon has moved to fight back against US President Donald Trump following a tirade of attacks on Twitter as it ramps up its lobbying team.
The online retail giant has assembled a 28-person in-house lobbying team to provide it with firepower against Trump’s threats to “go after” the retailer.
According to data from the Financial Times, this puts Amazon way ahead of Google and Facebook who have less lobbyists than Amazon put together, having doubled the number of lobbyists since Trump got into power.
This expansion is linked to Amazon’s ongoing forays into emerging sectors.
Its lobbyists are understood to working on drones, autonomous vehicles, cyber security, data protection and intellectual property infringement.
Its expanded firepower comes amid increasing tension between policy makers and tech companies.
Not only has the US president expressed his concerns about Amazon’s growing power in the country, but recent revelations of Facebook’s massive data leak and its potential ramifications on the UK’s Brexit vote have put these companies under the microscope.
Sources suggest that Amazon’s presence in Washington DC has now surpassed the biggest Wall Street players.
Earlier this week, Trump took to Twitter to attack the tech giant, citing its deal with the American Post Office as a “scam” and calling for it to “pay real costs (and taxes) now!”.
He also attacked the “fake” Washington Post which is owned by Amazon’s boss Jeff Bezos, alleging that it was itself a lobbyist and should “so register”.
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