The White House has launched a scathing attack on Amazon, accusing the company of a “hostile and political act” over Trump’s controversial tariffs.
During a news conference on Tuesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked about reports that Amazon will start displaying how much Trump’s tariffs are adding to the cost of each product on its website.
Responding, Leavitt said she had just got off the phone with the president, who was talking about this.
Leavitt said any such move by Amazon would be “a hostile and political act.”
Holding up a print out of a news article featuring a large picture of Amazon owner Jeff Bezos, she claimed it proved Amazon is a partnered with a “Chinese propaganda arm.”
Amazon has responded to the reports it would be listing the impact of tariffs on prices, claiming that this was never something they were going to introduce on the main Amazon site.
In a comment to the Washington Post – a publication owned by Bezos – Amazon says: “The team that runs our ultra low cost Amazon Haul store has considered listing import charges on certain products.
“This was never a consideration for the main Amazon site and nothing has been implemented on any Amazon properties.”
Billionaire Bezos was one of those who was stood behind the president on inauguration day earlier this year, alongside Meta owner Mark Zuckerberg and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
However, the fiery comments from the Trump administration seem to be the latest example of the government upsetting its billionaire tech bro allies with the tariffs.
In recent weeks, Musk has openly criticised the tariffs policy, which included a universal 10% rate on all imports to the US along with higher rates for around 60 countries who the president described as the “worst offenders.”
A 90-day pause was later announced on the tariffs – except for China – but only after causing chaos in the global stock markets.
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