Fresh off a Middle East tour, President Donald Trump turned his attention to domestic economic concerns on Saturday, targeting Walmart after the retail giant announced upcoming price increases linked to tariffs on imported goods.
Walmart, the largest retailer in the United States, recently informed customers that prices for many products will rise starting this month. The company’s chief financial officer, John David Rainey, explained that tariffs remain “too high,” despite a recent agreement to reduce duties on imports from China to 30 percent for a 90-day period.
For months, Trump has maintained that tariffs are a tax on foreign countries, not on American consumers. However, tariffs are applied at the border on imports and ultimately raise costs for importers, which are then passed down to shoppers.
On Saturday morning, Trump acknowledged this reality in a message on Truth Social, urging Walmart to absorb the tariffs rather than increase prices for customers.
He wrote, “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.”
“Eat the tariffs,” Trump tells Walmart. pic.twitter.com/TfJwSRx1rg
— Josh Wingrove (@josh_wingrove) May 17, 2025
Rainey told CNBC that the scale of these tariff-driven cost increases is beyond what retailers or suppliers can handle.
“We’re wired for everyday low prices, but the magnitude of these increases is more than any retailer can absorb,” he said. “It’s more than any supplier can absorb. And so I’m concerned that consumer is 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.”
Walmart’s first-quarter profit took a hit as the company reported it was not immune to the impact of tariffs. While Walmart expects sales to rise between 3.5 and 4.5 percent in the second quarter, it withheld issuing a profit forecast, citing the unpredictability of Trump’s tariff policies.
As one of the first major U.S. retailers to report first-quarter earnings, Walmart’s results offer insight into American shoppers’ mood. Tariffs imposed by the Trump administration have increased costs on a range of products, including toys, strollers, and appliances, after the president imposed a baseline 10 percent duty on goods from most countries.
Walmart’s CEO, Doug McMillon, said the company will “do our best” to keep prices low but acknowledged the challenge.
“Given the magnitude of the tariffs, even at the reduced levels announced this week, we aren’t able to absorb all the pressure given the reality of narrow retail margins,” McMillon said.
Americans have grown cautious about spending amid ongoing economic uncertainty and persistent inflation. U.S. retail sales rose just 0.1 percent in April compared to March, a notable slowdown from a 1.7 percent increase the previous month.
The Department of Labor reported consumer prices rose 2.3 percent in April compared with the same month last year.
Trump’s stated goal for his tariff policies is to encourage U.S. consumers to buy American-made goods, boost domestic manufacturing, and create jobs. For decades, low-cost imported goods have dominated shelves at big-box stores like Walmart. Retailers have warned that Trump’s trade policies threaten to change that dynamic.
Online, shoppers have noticed price increases firsthand. A photo posted on Reddit shows a USB-C phone charging cable from Target’s in-house brand, Heyday, rising from $9.99 to $17.99, according to the poster, who was identified as a Target employee by The Daily Mail.
It’s happening
byu/Kurzz_slivr inTarget
During a recent Cabinet meeting, Trump even warned that Americans, especially children, should prepare for fewer and more expensive products.
“Maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls,” Trump said. “And those two dolls could cost a couple of bucks more than they would normally.”
When Mattel, the maker of Barbie, Hot Wheels, Uno, and American Girl toys, announced plans to diversify manufacturing outside the U.S. but not move production back home, Trump threatened retaliation.
Mattel’s chairman and CEO, Ynon Kreiz, told CNBC in early May that the cost of producing affordable toys in the U.S. remains too high, even without tariffs.
While design, development, product engineering, and brand management largely occur in the U.S., Kreiz said manufacturing overseas is necessary to keep products both high-quality and affordable.
Trump responded, “That’s okay. Let him go, and we’ll put a 100 percent tariff on his toy, and he won’t sell one toy in the United States, and that’s their biggest market.”
The conflict between Trump’s trade policies and retailer concerns underscores the ongoing tension between protecting domestic industries and managing consumer prices in the American economy.
