Amazon Denies Tariff Display Plan After White House Fury, Reported Trump Call to Bezos

In a rapid turn of events on Tuesday, Amazon forcefully denied reports that it planned to display the added cost of President Donald Trump’s tariffs on products listed on its main website. The denial came swiftly on the heels of a blistering public rebuke from the White House, which labeled the alleged plan “hostile and political,” and followed reports that President Trump personally called Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to complain.

The whirlwind began Tuesday morning when Punchbowl News, citing an unnamed source, reported that the e-commerce giant would soon begin showing consumers exactly how much tariffs contributed to the price of items, listed right next to the total cost. The story quickly gained traction, suggesting a significant move toward price transparency that could directly highlight the consumer impact of Trump’s aggressive trade war.

The reaction from the Trump administration was immediate and fierce. During the White House press briefing, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, stating she had just conferred with the President, condemned the reported plan. “This is a hostile and political act by Amazon,” Leavitt said, attempting to deflect by asking, “Why didn’t Amazon do this when the Biden administration hiked inflation to the highest level in 40 years?” She also tried to impugn the company’s motives by referencing a years-old (2021) report about Amazon allegedly partnering with a “Chinese propaganda arm,” adding it was “another reason why Americans should buy American.”

Adding another layer of pressure, multiple outlets, including Forbes and Punchbowl citing CNN, reported that President Trump placed a call directly to Amazon founder and executive chair Jeff Bezos Tuesday morning, reportedly “pissed” about the initial news report concerning the tariff display.

Following this public condemnation and reported presidential intervention, Amazon issued a strong denial refuting the core premise of the initial reports. An Amazon spokesperson clarified that while the idea of listing import charges had been briefly considered by the team running its separate, “ultra low cost Amazon Haul store” (launched to compete with budget platforms like Temu and Shein), the concept was “never approved” and, crucially, was “never a consideration for the main Amazon site.” The spokesperson emphasized that “nothing has been implemented on any Amazon properties.”

The day’s sequence – a report detailing potential corporate transparency on tariffs, followed by swift White House denunciation, a reported Presidential phone call, and a subsequent corporate denial and clarification – paints a stark picture of the intense political sensitivity surrounding the administration’s trade policies. While Amazon maintains that the tariff display for its main site was never planned, the appearance of a rapid walk-back under pressure is unavoidable and raises questions about the potential chilling effect on businesses considering similar transparency measures. The reported dip in Amazon’s stock price following the White House comments further highlighted the market’s sensitivity to this clash.

The underlying context remains critical: Trump’s tariffs, including rates as high as 145% on many goods from China, significantly impact the costs for businesses, particularly the third-party sellers who constitute roughly 60% of Amazon’s sales volume. Economic analyses project substantial costs for US households (potentially thousands of dollars per year on average, according to studies by groups like the Tax Foundation and Yale Budget Lab). Warnings from major retailers like Walmart, Target, and Home Depot about supply chain disruptions and price hikes have been ongoing.

While Amazon customers won’t be seeing tariff costs explicitly broken out on the main site, Tuesday’s rapid-fire developments reveal the high stakes involved when the real-world costs of the administration’s signature trade policies threaten to move from economic reports into the stark light of the consumer marketplace. The episode underscores the potent dynamics at play between the White House and corporate America in the face of controversial economic policies.