Trump calls Amazon's Bezos over tariff display

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt slams Amazon's Jeff Bezos

(Image credit: Andrew Harnik / Getty Images)

What happened

The White House lashed out at Amazon Tuesday following a report that the online retail giant planned to list the added cost from President Donald Trump's tariffs alongside product prices on its website. Trump called Amazon founder Jeff Bezos personally to complain about the idea and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called it a "hostile and political act." Amazon later said the kerfuffle was a misunderstanding.

Who said what

Amazon's discount Haul site "has considered listing import charges on certain products," but this was "never a consideration for the main Amazon site," company spokesperson Tim Doyle said in a statement. "This was never approved and is not going to happen." Bezos "was very nice," Trump told reporters Tuesday afternoon. "He solved a problem very quickly and he did the right thing. He's a good guy."

Instead of "owning" its tariff policy, the White House "bullied Amazon to keep quiet about what it will cost," The Wall Street Journal said in an editorial. Amazon did not invent that idea, The Associated Press said. Hotels and ride-share services "have long itemized added costs" for consumers.

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What next?

The White House "clearly" wants to head off any scheme that gives consumers a "regular reminder of precisely how much Trump’s tariffs are costing them personally," Aaron Blake said at The Washington Post. "But when it comes to how much Trump owns the potential economic pain ahead, that ship has apparently sailed." Denying the "tariff pain" won't make it go away, the Journal editorial board said, "but repealing the tariffs would."

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.