Amazon just said the Trump administration has fallen for fake news, so let’s take a step back and unwind this mess.
Punchbowl News reported on Tuesday that the tech giant would “soon show how much Trump’s tariffs are adding to the price of each product” by displaying “how much of an item’s cost is derived from tariffs.”
Soon after, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt ripped Amazon during a press briefing, saying it was engaging in a “hostile and political act” by doing so. Leavitt said she talked to the president about the news, and added it was “not a surprise,” considering “Amazon is partnered with a Chinese propaganda arm,” without naming that partner specifically.
But soon after that, Amazon told ABC News that Punchbowl’s report was bogus.
“The team that runs our ultra low cost Amazon Haul store has considered the idea of listing import charges on certain products,” an Amazon spokesperson told ABC News. “Teams discuss ideas all the time. This was never a consideration for the main Amazon site and nothing has been implemented on any Amazon properties.”
Punchbowl did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment on the matter.
The messy morning comes nearly a month after President Trump announced his “Liberation Day” tariff plan on April 2. The U.S. has since raised its tariff on Chinese imports to 145%, as the Trump administration has said it is unwise to have an adversarial foreign country producing so many products used in America. Amazon — which sells a myriad of Chinese-made products — has seen its share price drop about 5% since then.
Leavitt’s bashing of Amazon also stood out, considering founder Jeff Bezos has seemed to be cozying up to the president in recent months. He and fiancée Lauren Sánchez were seated alongside several tech executives at President Trump’s inauguration in January, and Leavitt recently praised Bezos for changes he’s made at The Washington Post, which he owns.
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