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.