After riding a wave of criticism of Democrats for suppressing freedom of speech, President Trump has just put the quietus on Amazon, which had the audacity to contemplate including the price of Trump’s tariffs in its shopping carts.
Upon hearing of Amazon’s plan, Trump went ballistic, calling Amazon’s plan a “hostile and political act.” According to an article in Aljazeera, Trump telephoned Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to express his displeasure. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt even pulled the Red card, pointing out that “Reuters recently wrote [that] Amazon partnered with a Chinese propaganda arm.”
Alas, following the lead of major law firms and universities that have incurred Trump’s wrath, Amazon quickly capitulated, announcing that it would not share the tariff information with its buyers.
Trump was ecstatic, announcing “Jeff Bezos was very nice. He was terrific. He solved a problem very quickly and he did the right thing.”
The episode reminded me of what Lyndon Johnson did soon after being elevated to the presidency after the JFK assassination. According to Robert Caro’s biography of Johnson, there were two newspapers in Texas that were investigating Johnson’s official corruption. While he was vice-president, Johnson could do nothing about it. But as president, things were different. He picked up the phone, talked to the editor or publisher of both newspapers, and informed them in no uncertain terms that he wanted the investigations terminated. Johnson mentioned the possibility of IRS audits and the federal government’s regulatory powers.
Both newspapers knew that the president of the United States wielded the power to do very bad things to them. Both investigations were immediately shut down and never pursued again. Johnson, no doubt, was as ecstatic as Trump.
Of course, Trump wouldn’t have to mention the IRS or some federal regulatory agency or the possibility of some new congressional Internet law to Bezos. By now, everyone is fully aware of the power of any U.S. president to do very bad things to people through the overwhelming regulatory and tax powers of the U.S. government.
What was wrong with what Amazon was contemplating? Nothing. Nothing at all. Amazon was simply going to inform Amazon buyers of the truth about what Trump’s tariffs were costing them. If that isn’t an exercise of freedom of speech, I don’t know what is.
But Trump obviously does not want American buyers of goods and services to see how much money his tariffs are costing them. He obviously just wants them to see how much money his tariff tax is bringing into the federal government, as if that is something good.
Convinced that Amazon’s plan to disclose the truth about the cost of his tariffs to American consumers was a “hostile” act, Trump and his minions immediately went on the attack and quickly won their war against Amazon. In the process, by striking a harsh and effective blow against the fundamental, God-given right of freedom of speech, Trump was guilty of what he criticized Democrats for doing.
Reprinted with permission from Future of Freedom Foundation.
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