Trump in Hot Water as MAGA Erupts Over New Tariff Fees

Summary

IHIP News Episode Summary

Title: Trump in Hot Water as MAGA Erupts Over New Tariff Fees
Hosts: Jennifer Welch & Angie “Pumps” Sullivan
Release Date: April 29, 2025

In this episode of IHIP News, hosts Jennifer Welch and Angie “Pumps” Sullivan delve into the escalating tensions surrounding newly imposed tariff fees under the Trump administration. The discussion highlights the backlash from Amazon and other corporations, the misconceptions held by MAGA supporters, and the broader economic implications of these policies.

---

Amazon's New Tariff Surcharge Initiative

The episode kicks off with a discussion on Amazon's controversial decision to display import fees alongside product prices. This move has sparked widespread debate about the true burden of tariffs on American consumers.

Notable Quote:

"Karen, Imagine that's her name. Caps lock. Mind blown and pissed off, my granddaughter found the perfect dress for her uncle's wedding on Temu. It was marked down to $19. I went ahead and ordered it, and after I hit the purchase now button, I got a receipt for $54."
— Host/Commentator [02:16]

Jennifer criticizes Amazon for what she perceives as a passive response to Trump's tariff policies, arguing that the company should take a more active stance against what she terms "fascism and authoritarianism."

Notable Quote:

"I always wondered my whole life studying World War II, wasn't everybody just mortified about this? Surely people stood up and I couldn't understand the appeasement."
— Host/Commentator [03:00]

---

Criticism of Jeff Bezos and Amazon's Stance

The hosts condemn Jeff Bezos and Amazon for not leveraging their substantial influence to oppose the administration's tariff policies more forcefully. They argue that Bezos, as one of the world's richest individuals and a prominent business leader, has the capacity to rally other corporations against the economic damage being inflicted.

Notable Quote:

"What a coward. JEFF Bezos, Amazon what a coward. They have all the power in the world... He is absolutely so weak."
— Caroline Levitt [04:30]

Jennifer echoes this sentiment, expressing disappointment in Bezos's lack of action and highlighting the potential long-term harm to both the economy and American brands.

Notable Quote:

"It's not just going to be for you personally, the consumer that sees the empty shelves, all of the jobs that got that item to your house, that delivery trucks, this is so damaging."
— Host/Commentator [03:30]

---

MAGA Supporters’ Misconceptions and Misinformation

The conversation shifts to the reaction of MAGA loyalists, particularly their misunderstanding of the tariff implications. The hosts illustrate how some supporters are misinformed, believing that tariffs are protecting American jobs and consumers from foreign exploitation, while ignoring statements from officials like Kamala Harris that tariffs ultimately burden American consumers.

Notable Quote:

"If you just start bashing my my president, I will remove you from my friends list."
— Brandon Penton [06:45]

Jennifer criticizes this mindset as intellectually lazy and compares it to living in a "psychopathic misinformation silo," emphasizing the damaging effects of such beliefs on national unity and economic stability.

Notable Quote:

"But these people are so intellectually lazy and such abject dipshits as a cult, as a personality cult."
— Host/Commentator [06:30]

---

The Teemu Example: Another Corporate Response

To further illustrate the widespread impact of tariff policies, the hosts discuss another company, Teemu, which has also implemented import fees. They highlight customer frustration through a tweet shared by Karen, a Teemu user, who experienced unexpected tariff surcharges on her purchase.

Notable Quote:

"I'm sorry, Timu. It's Donald Trump's fault because he has a horrible economic plan. He's tanking the economy, and we're paying for it, and she's mad at temu."
— Caroline Levitt [10:37]

Jennifer uses the Teemu case to demonstrate that the issue extends beyond Amazon, affecting numerous businesses and consumers across the nation.

---

Economic Implications and the Call for Unified Opposition

The hosts elaborate on the broader economic repercussions of the tariff policies, including disrupted supply chains, empty store shelves, and reduced consumer purchasing power. They argue that these policies are steering the U.S. toward an autocratic economic model, undermining the middle class and deterring investment.

Notable Quote:

"Because we're paying for it, dipshits."
— Host/Commentator [01:18]

Jennifer emphasizes the urgency for the private sector to unify and oppose these policies to prevent long-term economic damage.

Notable Quote:

"They need to organize and they need to get together or this is a self inflicted wound that will be very difficult to recover from."
— Host/Commentator [09:00]

---

Conclusion and Future Outlook

In wrapping up the episode, Jennifer and Caroline reiterate the critical need for corporate leaders to take a stand against the tariff policies and for the public to stay informed and engaged. They caution that without collective action, the economic landscape could suffer irreversible harm, impacting everything from consumer goods availability to national brand integrity.

Notable Quote:

"You have all been trying to organize. You've seen AOC and Bernie and a lot of other Democratic leaders going into red states and holding town halls to listen to Americans."
— Host/Commentator [09:00]

The episode closes with a call to action, urging listeners to subscribe and stay involved in the ongoing political and economic discourse.

---

This summary encapsulates the key discussions and viewpoints presented by Jennifer Welch and Angie Sullivan in the episode, providing listeners with a comprehensive overview of the economic tensions stemming from new tariff fees and their broader implications.

Transcript

[Host or Commentator]

Foreigns are about to face empty shelves because there are no cargo ships arriving at American ports. Amazon thought, you know what, maybe we should show the American consumer how much these import fees are going to cost. Because in fact, Kamala Harris told the truth. The American consumer pays for it. So here is a journalist in the White House press room asking psychopath Caroline Levitt and demon queen Scott Besant about Amazon's new idea to show consumers what These charges are.

[White House Press Secretary]

Mr. Secretary. So it was reported this morning that Amazon will soon display a little number next to the price of each product that shows how much the Trump tariffs are adding to the cost of each product. So isn't that a perfect, crystal clear demonstration that it's the American consumer and not China who is going to have to pay for these policies?

[Scott Besant]

I will take this since I just got off the phone with the President about Amazon's announcement. This is a hostile and political act by Amazon. Why didn't Amazon do this when the Biden administration hiked inflation to the highest level?

[Host or Commentator]

Okay, it's always, why didn't Biden do this? Why didn't this happen? And it's a hostile act by Amazon. Poor Trump. These people want to play in the big leagues and they can't do it because all the do is whine and complain and deflect to Joe Biden, who was a million times more successful, half asleep per them. They called him sleepy Joe Biden. The economy was through the roof. We were stable. Our, we had allies. Our economy was the envy of the world. And here they sit there and call an American company hostile. And it's a hostile act. And I'm old enough to remember that. We learned about laissez faire economics. And for those of you that don't know what that means, it means hands off in French. And American Republicans always like to talk about laissez faire economic policy, trickle down economics. And look at how they start treating somebody who's trying to show the American public, you pay it, China doesn't pay it, you pay it, dipshits.

[Caroline Levitt]

It's so interesting to me that her vitriol that that is what happens. The American consumer pays the price of the tariff. It is unbelievable that she would get. Well, I lie, of course it's believable. They immediately attack Amazon. They immediately call them hostile. It's so vindictive and vile. I cannot stand her. I can't stand this.

[Host or Commentator]

So what did Jeff Bezos do? One of the richest men in the world, builds rocket ships, claims to be a champion of women, sends all these women up into space. Surely he's going to tell the Trump administration to go pound sand. He is the large world's largest retailer. He's not going to let these dipshits, these morons, tell him how to run his business. Izzy, put this up. Oh, surprise, surprise. Amazon statement. The team that runs our ultra lowcost Amazon haul store has considered listing import charges on certain products. This was never a consideration for the main Amazon site and nothing has been implemented on any Amazon properties. I don't think there's anything more off putting than people who do not have conviction against fascism and authoritarianism. I always wondered my whole life studying world World War II, wasn't everybody just mortified about this? Surely people stood up and I couldn't understand the appeasement. Now we're living in a historical moment and Jeff Bezos could easily pick up the phone and call many of other CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, of S&P, 500 companies. And they could band together to stop this damage to our country, this damage to our economy and the cascading effects of these boats arriving with nothing in them. It's not just going to be for you personally, the consumer that sees the empty shelves, all of the jobs that got that item to your house, that delivery trucks, this is so damaging. Not to mention at the same time, the American brand is completely damaged.

[Caroline Levitt]

What a coward. JEFF bezos, Amazon what a coward. They have all the power in the world. Like you said, they're the largest retailer in the world. He is not standing up. He is a coward. It is appeasement. He is absolutely so weak. He has all the power and is doing nothing with it.

[Host or Commentator]

Nothing. And I just think this really defines who people are. When you see people that appease and go along with any sort of sucking up to Trump, it's just, it's the biggest turnoff. It is a red flag. It is a friendship ender. It is a deal breaker. This is about all of us that care about freedom and those that like this shit. And Jeff Bezos, I mean, think about this. Multi billionaire, multi billionaire. And he's so short sighted, he can't get through one news cycle, not one news cycle, and stand up to Trump and pick up the phone and call a bunch of other people in the private sector to go stand on the steps of the Capitol and demand that Republicans immediately impeach this man. Because I think he's probably done 500 impeachable things just in 100 days. All right, now we have MAGA loyalists learning that Kamala told them the truth the entire time about tariffs. Brandon Penton, big mag guy, says, got a quote for a purchase today and it had a $77 tariff surcharge. I am 100% Trump, exclamation point. But how do we get charged a tariff surcharge for purchasing a foreign made item? Someone with more knowledge explained this to me. And then he goes back in, edited. If you just start bashing my my president, I will remove you from my friends list. And this is just wild to me. And it shows you how there's a segment of the American public that literally lives in a complete psychopathic misinformation silo. That's all he hears. He thinks when Trump said, no, we're not paying it, we're getting ripped off. They believe that. There's no thought that maybe I should hear what Kamala Harris has to say about that. Oh, she's saying the consumers would pay for that. The American consumers. Well, I wonder who's right. I wonder if there's anything on the Internet that could show me, that could fact check this for me. I wonder if there's any way I could figure out if this is true or not. But these people are so intellectually lazy and such abject dipshits as a cult, as a personality cult. And we're literally ruining our entire country. And all the cool shit that we do, the music, the films, all of the great cities, all of the sporting events for this movement, this. This is the hill they're all dying on. I just will never understand it.

[Caroline Levitt]

What is so crazy about these people is that, like, he knows there's a charge, but he just can't understand why it is, why he has it. And it's like you said, give it a go. It's not that hard to figure out.

[Host or Commentator]

Okay, next up, we have a corporation I had not heard about, and it's called Teemu. And apparently 150 million Americans shop on this website. And they have done what Amazon tried to do this morning before Donald Trump slapped Jeff Bezos on the wrist. Put up this tweet, okay? Karen, Imagine that's her name. Caps lock. Mind blown and pissed off, my granddaughter found the perfect dress for her uncle's wedding on Temu. It was marked down to $19. I went ahead and ordered it, and after I hit the purchase now button, I got a receipt for $54. I couldn't figure out what I did wrong, so I went to my receipt and look what happened. I was charged $31.44 import fee. The dress was only $19. No more Temu for me. And as you look at the receipt at the bottom, it has the shipping, which is free, the sales tax, and then the tariff fee, import charge. American consumers are paying it. So I was curious. I thought, I'm going to get on Temu. I have 150 million Americans shop on Temu. What am I missing out on? So let me all through a few items that I found on Teemo on the landing page, right where you land on it. Put the first one up. Of course we have the Gulf of America hat. Of course. And it's the Gulf of America patriotic trucker hat, made in China. So they're going to get the 145% tariff. The next item that I saw is, oh, my God, the autism T shirt shows autism on fire and a skeleton with machine guns shooting up at it. And, you know, this just. I thought this would look good on RFK junior.

[Caroline Levitt]

Yeah, looks just like him.

[Host or Commentator]

Okay. And this, I thought would be a great gift for Caroline Levitt. It's the cross anklet. You know, she always. I think MAGA could. The Maga women. I don't know if it's enough just to wear your Charlotte and cross around your neck. I think it would be also be nice. Just go ahead and be dazzle up the ankle.

[Caroline Levitt]

Both ankles even.

[Host or Commentator]

I mean, so then the last one. And there's nothing more American than this. Of course, it is the Holy Bible soft pistol case. So it's cc. This is. This is where the scam is. Somebody looks in your car and they think it's a Bible. But in America, you can open up that and then you can hide your pistol in it. Because when I think of Jesus, I think about hiding guns. Absolutely. What I think, God and guns, they just go together.

[Caroline Levitt]

You know what amazes me about the Karen in this tweet? She blames Toomey. It's not Toomey's fault.

[Host or Commentator]

It is.

[Caroline Levitt]

I'm sorry, Timu. It's Donald Trump's fault because he has a horrible economic plan. He's tanking the economy, and we're paying for it, and she's mad at temu.

[Host or Commentator]

So, I mean, the thing about Donald Trump's tariff policy is, you know, you hear people in the right wing. He's playing 50D chef. Chastity is doing all this stuff. It is an impulsive, arbitrary thing. China is the one that's playing the chess because they've kept their tariffs in place, And American companies, I.e. american consumers, are now going to start paying them which is why the boats that I mentioned initially in this episode are not arriving at ports. Because Amazon, Teemu, all of these people know the American consumer is not going to want to pay these. And if we thought there was panic buying during the end of Trump 1.0 with the COVID stuff, just wait till all the shit that the Chinese make for us is not on the shelves. And I want to remind you, the people have a voice and we have all been trying to organize. You've seen AOC and Bernie and a lot of other Democratic leaders going into red states and holding town halls to listen to Americans. The private sector has been absent crickets. They need to organize and they need to get together or this is a self inflicted wound that will be very difficult to recover from. Because while he's tanking your businesses, he's also tanking your business's ability to survive after he dies. Because he's setting forth an American autocracy. And when you have a no. A public with no middle class, your companies aren't going to be worth jack and nobody's going to want to invest in America. Okay, you guys subscribe to our channel? We're trying to get to 1 million. We'll see you all later.