Trump Warned by Walmart, Target, and Home Depot CEOs That Disastrous Tariff Policy Will Lead to 'Empty Shelves'

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: MEDIAite

Apr 23rd, 2025, 9:13 am


President Donald Trump “got a scare” from CEOs of the nation’s largest big box retailers that their shelves could soon be empty as a result of his draconian tariff policy announced on April 2, according to a report from Axios. As a result, the White House appears to be pivoting to a much softer position on trade.

Markets rallied on Tuesday as investors learned that the Trump administration was pivoting to a softer position on the controversial tariff policy, which cratered 401ks and led to talk of an inevitable recession. At the root of this news were comments made by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in a private speech to JP Morgan, during which he admitted an ongoing trade war with China was not sustainable.

“I do say China is going to be a slog in terms of the negotiations,” Bessent said, according to a transcript obtained by The Associated Press. “Neither side thinks the status quo is sustainable.”

But CEOs of Walmart, Target, and Home Depot privately warned Trump in an Oval Office meeting that supply changes will be disrupted, prices will increase, and shelves of their stores will be empty, according to sources reported by Axios.

Read more: https://www.mediaite.com/news/trump-warned-by-walmart-target-and-home-depot-ceos-that-disastrous-tariff-policy-will-lead-to-empty-shelves/

[CrispyQ]

1. Christmas in April shopping?

I know a couple of very silent Trump supporters (they like to call themselves old time conservatives ), who dissed my support for Biden & then Harris, amazingly over the economy, claiming it was weak & Trump would make it better.

[Coolgoober]

2. He's a Moron

He doesn't have a thought of his own. (Well, except when he's at a rally. Boat, Shark, They're eating the pets, bla, bla bla. ) and even those aren't his. Anyway, the point I wanted to make is how long will this new (new to him) last. He is definitely a moron, but his pea brain just doesn't stop.

[kimbutgar]

3. All three stores I never shop at because they support him and the repukes

Oh well I won’t be shredding any tears for them. They FAFO when they supported that POS!

[wolfie001]

5. I couldn't delete my Target account fast enough

Sickening display of cowardice. It'd be like shopping at a 'Proud Boys' outlet now. No thanks. And WakMart has always treated their hard-working employees like shit. It just saves them tons of money because they don't GAF.

[wyn borkins]

6. Most Worthy of Repetition

On 'Target'

"Sickening display of cowardice.

It'd be like shopping at a 'Proud Boys' outlet."

[wolfie001]

7. Here here!

[wolfie001]

4. Funny. I don't recall these obsequious, spineless bootlickers ever drafting a letter like that to Real President Joe

Cowards in the face of christo-fascism. Remember, Kohls and Costco haven't taken the knee for that bloated, fraud turd. It's gonna be a long haul. Fight! Fight! Fight!

[mdbl]

8. Walmart should know more than any other retailer

Walmart is one of the main reasons we don't manufacture in America anymore.

[paleotn]

13. We do manufacture a wide range of things in the US.

Not as much as decades ago, granted, but that’s due to cost. Particularly for labor intensive items. Add Donny’s tariffs and you begin to get a feel for prices IF all that was produced here. Americans flip the fuck out if the price of eggs goes up a buck. Yet want all that production reshorrd at livable wages. Sorry. You can’t have both. And don’t blame it all on greedy corporations. The US consumer bears much of the blame.

[mdbl]

17. Small kitchen appliances, kitchen utensils, toys, electronics, textiles..

Last edited Thu Apr 24, 2025, 08:31 AM - Edit history (1)

are just some of what walmart forced overseas. Once their stores saturated most markets they began to call the shots to these companies forcing them into a price point that made using decently paid labor unacceptable and getting them to move their manufacturing to China. It used to be manufacturers would market themselves to retailers. Walmart reversed that and began dictating to them. And don't say they didn't have to listen to walmart when walmart had 80-100% of the retail space in many areas. Just blaming the consumer is misplaced. Unbridled capitalism will do anything to increase the profits for a few at the expense of everyone else. It has no regard for the very society that fed it's profits to the point that it will destroy it at the same time.

[Deminpenn]

9. Went to the local mall a couple

weeks ago. Driving past the Target located there, I noticed at least half their expensive parking lot full of the 53' shipping containers. I figured they were full of inventory to beat the tariffs.

[reACTIONary]

10. Here is the original reporting from Axios....

https://www.axios.com/2025/04/23/trump-economy-tariffs-china-powell

[Mr.Bee]

11. Any Doubt As To Who's Really Running The Country??

[Justice matters.]

12. Well, DUH...

I predicted "empty shelves" as soon as stupid tariffs were imposed "on foreign countries" (stupid monornic idiots in the WH)...

Empty shelves Failing USSR style, I said, but none of these morons could figure that one out?

[Linda ladeewolf]

14. Hungry people get angry.

[hlthe2b]

15. There are already spotty empty shelves in some Walmarts where I go for Earth Balance spread

(grocery stores mark it up so much that it has me going to Walmart for some relief) but guess what? The entire section of the refrigerated case where butter/margarine resides was at least 70% empty. I asked the woman stocking other aisles what had happened and she said a lot of venders were having "issues."

So, take that for what you will, but I have a hunch that similar to the impacts of COVID on supply chains, tariffs are going to do as much harm or worse.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

18. Maddow Blog-By trying to bully Walmart, Trump gives away the game on his tariffs agenda

If Trump were right about foreign countries paying tariffs, why is he demanding that Walmart simply “eat the tariffs”? Because he’s wrong about the basics.

By trying to bully Walmart, Trump gives away the game on his tariffs agenda - MSNBC

apple.news/ABKcQqIWIS7y...

— (@oc88.bsky.social) 2025-05-19T13:52:23.601Z

Link to tweet

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trying-bully-walmart-trump-gives-away-game-tariffs-agenda-rcna207634

Last week, Walmart became the latest high-profile national retailer to announce that Donald Trump’s trade tariffs were poised to push consumer prices higher. In fact, the price hikes are poised to reach the public very soon: David Rainey, the behemoth’s chief financial officer, told CNBC on Thursday that Walmart would likely start rolling out tariff-related price hikes “towards the tail end of this month, and I certainly expect more in June.”

As The Washington Post reported, the president did not take the news well.

President Donald Trump over the weekend admonished Walmart for warning that his tariffs could force a price increase, urging the world’s biggest retailer to simply absorb the consequences of his trade war. ... The president responded Saturday, posting on his social media platform, Truth Social, that Walmart should ‘EAT THE TARIFFS’ and ‘not charge valued customers ANYTHING.’

......When it comes to the president’s approach to the issue, he has repeatedly pushed a simple claim: Foreign counties pay the tariffs. That’s never made any sense, and everyone who’s ever taken an Economics 101 course has tried to explain how absurd this belief is, but Trump — whose capacity for confusion about the basics of trade policy is endless — has nevertheless clung to the assertion, telling the public that tariffs on China, for example, lead Beijing to put money in American coffers. That’s long been absurd, but the Republican has long been impervious to the policy details.

Trump’s latest online statement, however, gives away the game: He apparently now realizes, at least on some level, that his tariffs are responsible for pushing Walmart’s costs higher, and the retailer now intends to push its prices higher as a result.

The president wants Walmart to simply “eat the tariffs” — meaning, Trump wants the company to profit less in order to accommodate the tariff-related costs. Time will tell whether Walmart follows the White House’s lead......

But again, the dust-up itself served as a reminder to Trump that it’s American businesses and American consumers that feel the pinch from his tariffs.

It was against this backdrop that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer spoke on the Senate floor in late April, calling on companies to do what Amazon was prepared to do. “To the large businesses that sell to consumers, I say: Show your customers how much tariffs are hurting in their pocketbooks,” the New York Democrat said. “People deserve to know the impact tariffs have on their finances. ... And it’s also small businesses: They don’t want to get blamed for hiking prices when Donald Trump’s tariffs have put them in a terrible position — in a position that says, raise your prices of close your doors. They hate doing either.”

A week later, congressional Democrats introduced legislation to codify this idea into law, unveiling a bill that would require retailers to display costs that reflect Trump-imposed increases. Although the legislation will never be seriously considered in a Republican-led Congress, the effort itself should be part of an educational campaign for the president, which seems to be working, slowly but surely.