Eat the tariffs: Trump warns Walmart after retail giant cautions steep price raises

President Donald Trump on Saturday ripped into Walmart, saying on social media that the retail giant should eat the additional costs created by his tariffs.As Trump has jacked up import taxes, he has tried to assure a skeptical public that foreign producers would pay for those taxes and that retailers and automakers would absorb the additional expenses.Most economic analyses are deeply skeptical of those claims and have warned that the trade penalties would worsen inflation. Walmart warned on Thursday that everything from bananas to children’s car seats could increase in price.Trump, in his Truth Social post, lashed out at the retailer, which employs 1.6 million people in the United States.

He said the company, based in Bentonville, Arkansas, should sacrifice its profits for the sake of his economic agenda that he says will eventually lead to more domestic jobs in manufacturing.“Walmart should STOP trying to blame Tariffs as the reason for raising prices throughout the chain,” Trump posted.“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!!!”The posting by the Republican president reflected the increasingly awkward series of choices that many major American companies face as a result of his tariffs, from deteriorating sales to the possibility of incurring Trump’s wrath.

Trump has similarly warned domestic automakers not to raise their prices, even though outside analyses say his tariffs would raise production costs.So far, those tariffs have darkened the mood of an otherwise resilient U.S.economy.

The preliminary reading of the University of Michigan survey of consumer sentiment on Friday slipped to its second-lowest measure on record, with roughly 75% of respondents “spontaneously” mentioning tariffs as they largely expected inflation to accelerate.In April, Wa...