Walmart responds to Trump’s ‘eat the tariffs’ warning
“We have always worked to keep our prices as low as possible and we won’t stop,” a Walmart spokesperson said May 17.
BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Walmart is responding to comments made by President Donald Trump on Saturday accusing the company of blaming tariffs for potential upcoming price hikes.
The Bentonville-headquartered company announced on May 15 that numerous items sold by the chain, from bananas to car seats, would be going up in cost due in part to the Trump administration’s tariffs.
While many of the tariffs have been put on pause or lowered, Walmart executives said higher prices were first seen in April and are likely to increase this summer.
In a post to Truth Social on May 17 Trump took aim at the company, saying it should “eat the tariffs.”
“Walmart should STOP trying to blame tariffs as the reason for raising prices throughout the chain,” Trump said. “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!!!”
5NEWS reached out to Walmart for a response to the president’s comments and received the following statement:
“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.”
The message echoed a similar sentiment from Walmart CFO John David Rainey’s comments days prior.
“We’re wired to keep prices low, but there’s a limit to what we can bear, or any retailer for that matter,” Rainey told the Associated Press.
When 5NEWS asked Walmart if the company would consider heeding Trump’s warning and “eat the tariffs” we received no immediate response.