The White House on Tuesday called it “a hostile and political act by Amazon,” but it might just wind up being the biggest self-own since Bud Light decided to go all-in on Dylan Mulvaney.
Speaking with reporters today in the White House briefing room, Trump press secretary Karoline Leavitt said to reporters, “I will not speak to the president’s relationships with Jeff Bezos, but I will tell you that this is certainly a hostile and political act by Amazon.”
Leavitt accused Amazon of being a “China-aligned company,” in what I would call one of her rare missteps since taking on PressSec duties earlier this year.
The White House would have been better advised to follow Napoleon’s advice to his generals at the Battle of Austerlitz, when the opposing Austrian and Russian forces began falling into his trap: “Gentlemen, let us wait a little; when your enemy is executing a false movement, never interrupt him.”
Today would have been a good day for the White House to watch quietly — and say nothing.
And what is Amazon’s false movement? Amazon said today that the company plans to break out tariffs as part of the prices displayed on its website.
Call it truth in labeling for foreign-made goods, although neither the administration nor Amazon seems to see it that way. “Why didn’t Amazon do this when the Biden administration hiked inflation to the highest level in 40 years?” Leavitt asked. But we all know the answer to that one.
Or maybe the White House is playing Br’er Rabbit and begging Amazon to please not throw it into that tariff patch — who knows?
So instead of questions we don’t know the answers to, let’s look at the Streisand Effect Amazon is about to create.
Twenty years ago, Barbra Streisand — a talented singer and actress, but not terribly bright about the internet — sued a photographer who took an aerial photo of her Malibu mansion, and the website hosting it, for a whopping $50 million. She cited an invasion of her privacy.
Not only did she lose, but the little-seen photo became a global phenomenon. Before the lawsuit, the photo (that had been taken for an environmental study) had been downloaded six times. Two of those times by Streisand’s legal team. When the lawsuit became public, the pic was downloaded over 400,000 times almost immediately.
Streisand made famous the very thing she wanted hidden.
If Amazon thinks displaying tariffs will hurt Trump politically, NewsMax’s Rob Schmitt has a different idea:
This will backfire.
Amazon buys Chinese trash for $0.70 cents. Pays $0.50 tariff. Sells to you for $18 plus $0.50. Customer realizes they’re buying Chinese trash. https://t.co/cowWJ0T0x5
— Rob Schmitt (@SchmittNYC) April 29, 2025
Indeed.
Not only that, but displaying the import tax — that’s what a tariff is — will achieve something I’ve been demanding for years that Amazon would do: be upfront about where their goods come from.
Goods made in Communist China — possibly by slave labor — will show a 145% tariff, making them easy to identify. “Thank you, no.” Taiwan and a 10% tariff? “Maybe, maybe not.” U.S.-made and with zero tariff? “Man, I wish they’d bring back that One Click button!”
Let’s take things a bit further, shall we? I’d like to see everyone from Amazon to my corner sports bar break out all the taxes on everything from cheeseburgers to one-ton hydraulic lifts. How much money does the government at every level skim from the sale of everything we buy? They show us the state and local sales tax, soon maybe they’ll show us the tariff — why not show us all the tax costs imposed for our own good?
Let’s go just one step further. Maybe each receipt should include a “regulatory impact fee” broken out of the total price.
A small-government man can dream, can’t he?
Recommended: Trump’s Blue Suit and the Death Throes of Legacy Media
Editor’s Note: Do you enjoy PJ Media’s conservative reporting taking on the radical left and woke media? Support our work so that we can continue to bring you the truth. Join PJ Media VIP and use the promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your VIP membership!
