While Walmart will absorb some of the costs from President Donald Trump’s tariffs, “some may get passed on to consumers,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday, May 18, on CNN. During his interview on “State of the Union,” Bessent said he talked to Walmart CEO Doug McMillon on Saturday, May 17.
In another appearance on NBC News, Bessent added that Walmart, which earlier said prices are expected to increase at the end of May because of tariffs, was giving its “worst-case scenario” in an earnings call to avoid being sued.
Walmart CFO John David Rainey had previously said on CNBC that the tariffs are “more than any supplier can absorb.”
“I’m concerned that the consumer is going to start seeing higher prices,” Rainey said. “You’ll begin to see that, likely towards the tail end of this month, and then certainly much more in June.”
Walmart’s revenue was $165.6 billion during the first quarter of fiscal year 2026. That’s down from company expectations of $165.8 billion, making this Walmart’s first quarterly revenue miss since 2020. Still, year-to-year revenue remained up by 2.5%.
Trump responded to Walmart’s remarks on Saturday by going after the retailer on Truth Social.
“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!!!”
While speaking to NBC on Sunday, Bessent denied applying any pressure on McMillon during their call. “Doug and I have a very good relationship so I just wanted to hear it from him rather than second, third-hand from the press,” Bessent said.
He maintained, on both CNN and NBC, that “the singular most important thing” to consumers is decreasing gas prices. Gasoline prices have gone down since Trump took office, though experts who spoke to USA Today noted that various factors have led to the decrease, besides who is in office.
Bessent addresses reciprocal tariffs
Trump initially announced a number of reciprocal tariffs on April 2, a day he dubbed “Liberation Day.” While these were paused for 90 days, making the baseline 10% for most countries, reciprocal tariffs will come back if countries they were imposed on don’t reach trade agreements with the U.S., Bessent said on CNN.
“President Trump has put them on notice that if you do not negotiate in good faith, you will ratchet back up to your April 2 level,” Bessent told CNN’s Jake Tapper. He added that there are 18 “important” trading partners the administration is zeroing in on.
Speaking in Abu Dhabi on Friday, Trump said that there are 150 countries that want to make a deal.
“So at a certain point, over the next two to three weeks, I think [Bessent] and [Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick] will be sending letters out, essentially telling people — we’ll be very fair — but we’ll be telling people what they’ll be paying to do business in the United States,” Trump said, according to CNN.
