Walmart (WMT) CEO Doug McMillon met with President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday, people familiar with the matter told Yahoo Finance.
The one-on-one meeting at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago mansion comes less than two weeks until Trump’s second inauguration. McMillon is one of a number of senior officials to meet with Trump ahead of Inauguration Day. Others include Amazon (AMZN) founder Jeff Bezos, Meta (META) co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, Pfizer (PFE) CEO Albert Bourla, and TikTok CEO Shaw.・Includes Mr. Gee Chu.
“Doug enjoyed reuniting with President Trump on a variety of topics,” a Walmart spokesperson told Yahoo Finance, adding, “It was a great conversation.”
Mr. McMillon became the head of Walmart. 2014 He previously worked in the Trump first administration. he, advisory committee Before disbanding in August 2017, after that special task force In response to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in April 2020.
A Walmart spokesperson added: “We stand ready to help the country move forward.”
Walmart is America’s largest retailer with 1.6 million employees and often sets the tone for the industry. The company did not share the topics discussed, but McMillon previously said one of his biggest concerns was the impact of potential tariffs.
The president-elect has announced a variety of new tariffs in an effort to reduce the trade deficit, including imposing a 10% tariff on all imports and a 60% tariff on imports from China.
Potential tariffs could hurt the chain’s profits by raising costs. Retailers could pass that cost on to healthier but more price-sensitive consumers heading into 2025.
McMillon said his team successfully handled tariffs in 2017 under the first Trump administration.
“We’re in a position to manage that, but what I’m concerned about is that our customers are experiencing higher prices,” he told Yahoo Finance executive editor Brian Sozzi. “We’re going to do everything we can to keep prices low.”
He also said he would encourage the leaders he meets to “be strategic and be really thoughtful.” [tariffs] And help me understand how mathematics works. ”
When Eastern and Gulf ports were hit by port strikes last October, Strategic Resource Group’s Bart Flickinger told Yahoo Finance that 80% of non-food products sold at Walmart were from the Asia-Pacific region. and said it was from the international region.
The company’s stock price has risen significantly over the past year, rising more than 70%, outpacing the S&P 500 index’s (^GSPC) gain of about 24%, and Walmart was named Yahoo Finance’s Best Company of 2024.
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Brooke DiPalma is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @brooke di palma Or email bdipalma@yahoofinance.com.
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