Trump Tells Walmart to ‘Eat the Tariffs’ After Retailer Warns It May Have to Raise Prices

15 May 2025, 14:12 by Rebecca Schneid · TIME

President Donald Trump has called out Walmart after the retailer warned consumers that they may soon have to start raising prices as the U.S. tariffs are “still too high.”

Taking to Truth Social on Saturday, May 17, Trump said: "Walmart should stop trying to blame tariffs as the reason for raising prices throughout the chain. Walmart made BILLIONS OF DOLLARS last year, far more than expected. Between Walmart and China they should, as is said, 'EAT THE TARIFFS,' and not charge valued customers ANYTHING. I’ll be watching, and so will your customers!"

In a statement released to press after Trump's social media post, a Walmart spokesperson said: “We have always worked to keep our prices as low as possible and we won’t stop. We’ll keep prices as low as we can for as long as we can given the reality of small retail margins.”

Trump's post appeared to be in response to comments made by Walmart's chief financial officer John David Rainey during an interview with CNBC on Thursday.

“We’re wired for everyday low prices, but the magnitude of these increases is more than any retailer can absorb,” Rainey said. “It’s more than any supplier can absorb. And so I’m concerned that [consumers are] going to start seeing higher prices. You’ll begin to see that, likely towards the tail end of this month, and then certainly much more in June.”

The warning echoed remarks that Doug McMillon, Walmart’s chief executive officer, made during a company earnings call on Thursday.

During an appearance on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that Walmart will "eat some of the tariffs" and claimed that the retailer's warning about raising prices was a case of them giving the "worst case scenario" during their earnings call.

Trump’s tariffs rocked the stock market upon their announcement in April. In a sign of easing tensions in the trade war, on Monday, Trump announced a broad trade agreement with China, lowering U.S. import taxes on goods coming from China from 145% down to 30% for an initial 90-day period.

Despite this shift, Walmart is still feeling the pinch. However, the retailer’s net sales are set to increase 3.5% to 4.5% for the second quarter of the fiscal year.

Per CNBC, Walmart "declined to provide guidance for earnings per share or operating income growth because of fluctuating U.S. tariff policy."

While the stock market reacted positively to Trump’s deal with China over the tariffs, the continuous reversals from the White House have confused consumers and businesses, leaving them little stability.

“[T]his is a little bit unprecedented in terms of the speed and magnitude in which the price increases are coming,” Rainey said.

Meanwhile, the potential price hikes from Walmart come as U.S. consumers contend with concerns over how Trump’s tariffs could hurt their wallets across multiple sectors—from groceries, to electronics, to automobiles.

Grocery prices have specifically been a concern for U.S. shoppers, after egg prices continued to rise in March, brought about in part by a severe bird flu outbreak. Though April saw a dip in the price of eggs, the effects of the formerly record-high prices are likely still being felt, marked by a significant drop in U.S. consumer sentiment.