Trump v. Google, Facebook, and Amazon

Kim Hart, Sara Fischer at Axios:

President Trump told "Axios on HBO" his administration is looking seriously at antitrust investigations of Google, Facebook and Amazon. In the next breath, he argued they are great companies that he wants to help.

Why it matters: Trump's inconsistent approach toward Silicon Valley has had the world's most powerful technology companies on edge — and that's exactly where he wants them. But his wavering stance makes it difficult to set national priorities around serious tech issues, such as consumer privacy, data security and competition.

What he's saying: The following excerpts from the interview with "Axios on HBO" illustrate Trump's cognitive dissonance on this topic.

Monopoly power of Google, Facebook and Amazon:

"I leave it to others, but I do have a lot of people talking about monopoly when they mention those three in particular."

We are looking at [antitrust] very seriously ... Look, that doesn't mean we're doing it, but we're certainly looking and I think most people surmise that, I would imagine."

Rest of article, and video here