Murdoch’s Paper Skewers Trump for Bullying Amazon Into Dropping ‘Brilliant Idea’
The president called up Jeff Bezos to encourage him to drop purported plans to display the price of tariffs alongside Amazon products.
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Rupert Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal has criticized President Donald Trump for “bullying” Amazon into ditching its “brilliant idea” to display the cost of the president’s tariffs on its site.
The saga began when Punchbowl News reported Tuesday morning that Amazon would soon “display how much of an item’s cost is derived from tariffs—right next to the product’s total listed price.”
The comparison would have shown consumers how the price was affected by Trump’s 145 percent tariff on China and the 10 percent he is levying on most other countries.
After learning about the report, Trump picked up the phone and gave the company’s founder, Jeff Bezos, an earful. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also hit back aggressively at Amazon, calling the purported move a “hostile and political act.”
Bezos soon dropped the reported plans and by Tuesday afternoon Trump was calling him a “nice guy,” hailing him for solving “the problem very quickly.”
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Now, the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board has fired off on Trump nixing the plan—which Amazon denied—to “let Americans see what they’re paying,” calling it a “shame.”
“The public could have used Amazon’s price transparency. Tariffs are taxes, and it’s helpful to know how policy choices affect final prices,” the piece, published Tuesday evening, reads.
“Some shoppers might say the additional cost is worth it to support Mr. Trump’s policy. But there’s no denying that they’re paying, and everyone is better off knowing how much.”
The article carried the example of a $140 vacuum cleaner, whose “Tariff Cost” would be $55.
The WSJ then appeared to call for Trump to “repeal” his tariffs.
Jeff Bezos backed down from Trump.
Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images
“Consumers are already feeling the tariff pain, whether or not retailers quantify it on their websites. White House denials won’t change that, but repealing the tariffs would,” the piece said.
The Wall Street Journal is owned by Dow Jones & Company, which is a division of News Corp. News Corp is ultimately controlled by the Murdoch family.
Bezos bought the Washington Post in 2013 and has made it more Trump-friendly, notably pulling the paper’s expected endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris before the 2024 election.
Bezos has also bent the knee to Trump at Mar-a-Lago.
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