President Donald Trump said on Saturday that Walmart should “eat the tariffs” after the retail giant suggested it might have to raise prices amid the upheaval brought on by the president’s trade policies.
“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,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
“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!!!” he added.
Trump’s response came after Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said during an earnings call on Thursday that “higher tariffs will result in higher prices” even with the administration temporarily lowering the tariff rates for myriad countries over the past several weeks.
Also during the earnings call, Walmart CFO John David Rainey said that higher prices were likely in store for the company’s customers in the coming weeks.
“There are certain items, certain categories of merchandise, that we’re dependent upon to import from other countries, and prices of those things are likely going to go up, and that’s not good for consumers,” Rainey said.
In the first quarter of 2025, Walmart reported revenues of $165.6 billion, and its e-commerce sales rose by 21%.
Roughly one-third of the items that Walmart sells in the US come from other countries, particularly Canada, China, India, Mexico, and Vietnam.
Last month, Trump hiked tariffs on most Chinese goods to 145%, but earlier this week the rate was temporarily cut to a baseline of 30% as part of a 90-day pause on the higher tariffs. Trump has indicated that the tariffs might become “substantially higher” if the two countries don’t forge a trade agreement.
A spokesperson for Walmart told Business Insider in a statement on Saturday that the company has always sought to keep prices low and “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,” the spokesperson said.
