On Tuesday, a single-source report from Punchbowl News claimed that Amazon would soon add a “tariff” line item to its listings because “Amazon doesn’t want to shoulder the blame for the cost of President Donald Trump’s trade war.”
Amazon quickly denied most of the report—but not before White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt channeled her boss, President Donald Trump, with abject fury at the mere notion of price transparency for consumers.
“Why didn’t Amazon do this when the Biden administration hiked inflation to the highest level in 40 years?” Leavitt said. “And I would also add that it’s not a surprise because, as Reuters recently wrote, Amazon has recently partnered with a Chinese propaganda arm, so this is another reason why Americans should buy American.”
Amazon does list taxes on its checkout page, so yes, Amazon absolutely does inform consumers of government-imposed fees on sales, even when Biden was president. But this fury is bizarre, given that Trump is so deeply infatuated with tariffs.
On April 2, in the White House’s Rose Garden, President Donald Trump proudly announced new tariffs that he would walk back just days later, after the tariffs caused global economic chaos.
During an interview at the Economic Club of Chicago on Oct. 15, 2024, he said, “To me the most beautiful word in the dictionary is ‘tariff.’” He added that the word had such negative connotations that “[i]t needs a public relations firm.”
Over and over on last year’s campaign trail, he hit his pro-tariff message.
Here he was a few days later, this time in Michigan, saying, "It's the most beautiful word in the dictionary. You have a lot of words that are damn nice like ‘love.’ But I think it's more beautiful than love. The word ‘tariff.’”
He kept the theme going at his inauguration.
“I always say ‘tariffs’ is the most beautiful word to me in the dictionary. Then I was reprimanded by the fake news. They said, ‘What about love, religion, and God?’ I said I agree. Let's put God No. 1. Let's put religion No. 2,” he said at his post-inaugural rally at Capitol One Area on Jan. 20. “‘Love,’ I don't know, we got to put that No. 3, I guess, right? And then it's ‘tariff’ because tariffs are going to make us rich as hell. It's going to bring our country's businesses back that left us.”
Despite his backtracking, it’s clear: Trump loves tariffs.
So why is he suddenly so angry at Amazon for wanting to put the word “tariffs” on its product listings? He should be happy! He should want the most beautiful word in the world in as many places as possible.
The reasons are obvious. Tariffs are trashing the economy. They caused the economy to contract in the first quarter of 2025. A recession is often defined as two consecutive quarters of economic contraction, and we’re halfway there. No serious person believes that even higher tariffs will make things better.
Trump may want to screech on Truth Social that “[t]ariffs will soon start kicking in, and companies are starting to move into the USA in record numbers.” But even if that were the case (and it won’t be), that would still mean higher prices for consumers. And given that Trump won the election largely on his promise to lower prices “on Day 1,” he cannot afford to admit that he fucked this one up royally.
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