Trump twice asked billionaire investor if Amazon is considered a monopoly

CEO of the Omega Advisors hedge fund Leon Cooperman said Donald Trump once asked him multiple times if he thought Amazon could be considered a monopoly.

Cooperman told CNBC that in July, Trump asked about the company, which the president has been sharply critical of.

"President Trump asked me twice if I thought Amazon was a monopoly,” Cooperman told CNBC. “And I said, 'No, Mr. President,' "I think they've out-executed people. I think they've done a very good job."

Trump has previously railed against Amazon and its chief executive officer Jeff Bezos, who owns the Washington Post (which Trump has also been sharply critical of).

The president took to Twitter that same month to ask his supporters is he should “tax monopoly,” ostensibly referring to Amazon.

“Is Fake News Washington Post being used as a lobbyist weapon against Congress to keep Politicians from looking into Amazon no-tax monopoly?” Trump tweeted.

In August, he likewise accused Amazon of hurting Americans.

His feud with Amazon as president extended from a similar gripe he expressed throughout the 2016 presidential campaign. In May 2016, Trump said Bezos “is getting away with murder tax-wise.”

“He’s using the Washington Post for power so that the politicians in Washington don’t tax Amazon like they should be taxed,” then-candidate Trump alleged.

It's unclear what drives Trump's apparent disdain for Bezos, but in October, the Amazon chief executive officer became the richest man in the world after his company's stock surged.