Walmart vows to keep prices low as possible, as long as possible, amid tariffs, Trump's 'eat' barb

Walmart this past weekend was the latest to comment in the retail-discount store's feud with President Trump over his tariffs.

“We have always worked to keep our prices as low as possible and we won’t stop,” Walmart said in a statement Saturday to CNBC. “We’ll keep prices as low as we can for as long as we can given the reality of small retail margins.”

Trump's higher tariffs on foreign goods are expected to increase the retail price of them in the U.S. 

Walmart made the statement in response to Trump telling the retailer that it should "eat the tariffs," rather than pass on the cost to consumers by raising prices – in response to Walmart warning about higher prices in late-May and June. 

Trump's full response to Walmart CFO John Rainey's warning was: "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. 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!!!"

Walmart's decision to raise prices differs from Home Depot's choice to keep their prices steady.

“Because of our scale, the great partnerships we have with our suppliers and productivity that we continue to drive in our business, we intend to generally maintain our current pricing levels across our portfolio,” Home Depot Chief Financial Officer Richard McPhail told CNBC on Tuesday.