It’s the busiest shopping season of the year – and a time when many are trying to figure out where to ethically spend their money.
Over the first year of Trump’s second term, companies and institutions have fallen in line with the administration’s anti-DEI and anti-immigration policies. As a result, people are supporting economic boycotts to show their discontent with the businesses capitulating to the president.
Over the Black Friday weekend, the groups behind the No Kings protests – the largest days of mass protest in recent memory – put their weight behind a campaign called We Ain’t Buying It, calling on people to not shop at Target, Home Depot and Amazon during the marquee week of holiday deals.
More than 220 organizations joined We Ain’t Buying It, the coalition said. The campaign reached millions of Americans, driving more than 40,000 to take a pledge to be a conscious consumer. Signs also point to people spending their money at smaller companies instead. Little Blue Cart, a directory of progressive small businesses, saw record-breaking traffic during the campaign period, the coalition said.
Several prominent boycotts are still under way, and some new ones have launched, including one focused on Spotify for running ICE recruitment ads. These boycotts, especially targeted ones with specific demands, can get companies to relent: Disney, for example, reversed its decision to take Jimmy Kimmel’s show off the air after extensive, focused backlash from its supporters.
Ultimately, organizers say the best practices for ethical spending and financially supporting your community are to shop small, shop local, reuse or thrift when you can, and consume less. During this period of crackdowns on immigrant communities throughout the US – where businesses have had to close up or shorten their hours due to fears of ICE – spending at or buying gift cards for immigrant-owned businesses also helps, organizers say.
Some shoppers are choosing to support the businesses – including big retailer Costco – that have sued the Trump administration over tariffs they argue were illegally enacted. Others are donating or buying merch from colleges that haven’t acquiesced to the administration’s demands.
For reference, here are a few of the ongoing boycotts and why shoppers are choosing to spend their money elsewhere.
Target
A boycott of Target began earlier this year, led by Black activists, after the company rolled back its diversity efforts, which it had previously touted and which included programs that boosted Black-owned businesses. (Target has been boycotted by conservatives in the past over its support for the LGBTQ+ community.) The company has acknowledged the boycott is affecting the retailer.
Home Depot
As ICE raids and arrests continue across the country, some have protested against the home improvement store because agents have targeted day laborers who look for work in their parking lots, saying the company is complicit in allowing these arrests to happen on their property. The company has said it doesn’t coordinate with federal agencies or know when these enforcement activities will happen.
Amazon
Some on the left have stayed away from Amazon for years, for a host of reasons – treatment of workers, decimation of mom-and-pop businesses, cheap products and its billionaire ownership. In the second Trump era, Amazon donated $1m, and a host of in-kind services, to Trump’s inaugural committee. Jeff Bezos, the company’s owner, also attended the inauguration alongside other tech billionaires.
Spotify
The music streaming service is running recruitment ads for ICE, as are other streaming platforms. Boycotts call for people to cancel their Spotify subscriptions, stop streaming content on the platform, not post their Spotify Wrapped and protest outside the company until Spotify relents. (The company has defended running the ads.)
Tesla
When Elon Musk dismantled federal agencies, instituted mass firings and canceled aid and research programs earlier this year, activists turned toward his electric car company, organizing boycotts of the cars and protests at showrooms. The boycott has dinged company sales.
Starbucks
This one is not specifically related to the Trump administration, but the coffee giant’s workers are striking over stalled negotiations on their union contract.
