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President Donald Trump is feeling the impacts of his tariffs\u2014and lashing out at companies that say they will raise prices in response.<\/span>Pool\/Ukrainian Presidentia\/Planet Pix\/ZUMA<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n After President Donald Trump<\/span>\u00a0announced<\/a> last month that the United States would impose\u00a0a baseline 10-percent tariff on much of the world\u2014with\u00a0far higher rates<\/a> for a set of other countries\u2014economists warned<\/a> that consumers would feel the impacts<\/a> on a variety of products, including groceries, coffee, and cars.<\/p>\n But the Trump administration has tried a whole range of tactics to gaslight Americans into believing that would not happen\u2014including claiming<\/a> that the tariffs are, in the words of White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, \u201ca tax cut for the American people\u201d and that they will help improve domestic manufacturing<\/a>. After reports suggested<\/a> that Amazon planned to list the costs that tariffs were adding to products on its retail website, the White House called it a \u201chostile and political act\u201d\u2014and Amazon seemed to quickly reverse course. (Since Trump\u2019s initial rounds of tariffs were announced, the exact details of them have shifted<\/a> repeatedly\u2014and much of the increase has been paused. Last week, the US and China agreed to temporarily lower<\/a> the high tariffs both countries had placed on the other; on Friday, Trump said<\/a> the US would soon begin informing countries of their new tariff rates.)<\/p>\n On Thursday, Walmart became the latest company caught in Trump\u2019s crosshairs after its CEO, Doug McMillon, admitted<\/a> that the president\u2019s tariffs would cause the retail giant to raise prices. On an earnings call, McMillon said<\/a> \u201cthe higher tariffs will result in higher prices.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe will do our best to keep our prices as low as possible, but given the magnitude of the tariffs, even at the reduced levels announced this week, we aren\u2019t able to absorb all the pressure given the reality of narrow retail margins,\u201d McMillon said on the call.<\/p>\n Predictably, this triggered Trump. On Saturday morning, he took to his social media platform, Truth Social, to try to bully Walmart into reversing course. \u201cWalmart should STOP trying to blame Tariffs as the reason for raising prices throughout the chain,\u201d Trump wrote<\/a>. \u201cWalmart made BILLIONS OF DOLLARS last year, far more than expected. Between Walmart and China they should, as is said, \u2018EAT THE TARIFFS,\u2019 and not charge valued customers ANYTHING. I\u2019ll be watching, and so will your customers!!!\u201d<\/p>\n On CNN\u2019s State of the Union<\/em> on Sunday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told<\/a> Jake Tapper that he spoke to Walmart\u2019s CEO on Saturday, adding, \u201cWalmart will be absorbing some of the tariffs, some may get passed on to consumers.\u201d A source familiar with the situation told Mother Jones<\/em> that Bessent\u2019s call with McMillon was scheduled prior to Trump\u2019s comments on Truth Social. But beyond that, details of Walmart\u2019s plans remain unclear.<\/p>\n Treasury @SecScottBessent<\/a> says he spoke to Walmart\u2019s CEO after the company warned of price increases due to tariffs: \u201cWalmart will be absorbing some of the tariffs, some may get passed on to consumers.\u201d pic.twitter.com\/FGQ4154SNT<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) May 18, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Some Republicans have also been voicing dissent over Trump\u2019s tariffs. In an interview on NBC\u2019s Meet the Press<\/em> Sunday, former Vice President Mike Pence called<\/a> Trump\u2019s initial round of tariffs \u201cthe largest peacetime tax hike on the American people in the history of this country.\u201d Pence added that he was glad Trump had partially paused those tariffs. And Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said<\/a> on This Week<\/em> on ABC Sunday, in response to a question about Walmart: \u201cTariffs are taxes, and when you put a tax on a business, it\u2019s always passed through as a cost. So, there will be higher prices.\u201d Paul added<\/a>: \u201cMost tariffs in our history have been passed by Congress. We\u2019ve never had widespread tariffs that have been done by fiat by a president, and I object to that.\u201d<\/p>\n The takeaways from this latest debacle? Contrary to the Trump administration\u2019s claims, tariffs do<\/em> raise taxes on consumers. And unlike Jeff Bezos, Walmart\u2019s CEO is apparently willing to admit that. But in doing so, he unleashed Trump\u2019s wrath\u2014and made clear that, as my colleague Pema Levy previously wrote<\/a>, \u201cWith tariffs, Trump is poised to trade a strong economy for one run on loyalty and retribution.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n