President Trump calls Bezos about Amazon's consideration of showing tariff costs to consumers

President Donald Trump called Amazon founder Jeff Bezos on Tuesday morning to complain about Amazon's plan to display tariff costs next to product prices, CNN reported. The article claims reporters learned about the call from two senior White House officials who spoke candidly under the condition of anonymity.

After the call, President Trump told reporters it was a "good call" and called Bezos "terrific," saying he "solved the problem very quickly." The White House took aggressive aim at Amazon when Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt called the move a "hostile and political act" during a briefing, according to CNN.

Amazon quickly denied the reports, stating that displaying tariff costs "was never a consideration for the main Amazon site." The company acknowledged it had considered listing import charges on Haul, its spinoff website selling items below $20, but said the change was never approved or implemented, as revealed in CNN's reporting.

From an economic perspective, the idea of displaying tariff costs separately might be sensible and consistent with how pricing typically works in America,  a Bloomberg report claims, highlighting that Amazon already lists state sales taxes separately at checkout.

The Trump administration's preference that consumers remain unaware of tariff costs contradicts the president's long-standing claim that foreign countries will bear these costs. Bloomberg notes that historically, tariffs are at least partially paid by consumers, making transparency about these costs beneficial for shoppers. Pricing transparency, while unpopular, provides consumers with more complete information about what they're paying for. As Bloomberg explains, the problem isn't the fees themselves but that they often come as a surprise to consumers. Ideally, all fees and taxes would be listed upfront before purchase.

The conflict between President Trump and Bezos that played out over just a few hours is particularly telling about their relationship, says the New York Times, which spoke with three people familiar with their phone exchange.

Bezos has made significant efforts to maintain good relations with the Trump administration. The New York Times reports that Amazon donated $1 million to the president’s inaugural fund, securing seats for Bezos at the inauguration. Before the election, Bezos also prevented The Washington Post, which he owns, from endorsing Kamala Harris, information that Times journalists uncovered while investigating the relationship.

President Trump had praised Bezos just days before this incident in an interview for The Atlantic, calling him "100 percent" and saying "he's been great." However, when Press Secretary Leavitt was asked if Bezos could still be considered a President Trump supporter after the tariff display report, she declined to comment on their relationship, according to the Times' White House reporter Shawn McCreesh.