Executives and investors are monitoring and preparing for a new macroeconomic uncertainty: Trump's meddling.

U.S. President Donald Trump sent a strong warning to Walmart (WMT) over the weekend, demanding that the retailer refrain from hiking product prices, leaving executives and investors in the lurch with a new kind of business uncertainty: his meddling.

"Walmart should STOP trying to blame Tariffs as the reason for raising prices throughout the chain," Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

"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!!!"

Last week, Walmart said in its earnings call that consumers should expect higher prices for everything from bananas to car seats, as it might not absorb all the costs from higher tariffs on its balance sheet.

On Stocktwits, Walmart's retail sentiment remained 'extremely bullish.' One frustrated user asked, "why don't trumpy bear cover the cost of tariffs out of his own pocket".

WMT sentiment and message volume as of May 18 | Source: Stocktwits

Under his second presidential term, Trump's incessant commentary on business and markets is shaping up to be the norm rather than an exception for investors. 

His track record includes publicly criticizing companies and CEOs who defy his agenda and making bold policy suggestions, such as firing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, only to retreat after market backlash.

During his visit to Saudi Arabia last week and meetings with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Trump singled out Apple CEO Tim Cook in front of the media for not coming to the summit.

"I had a little problem with Tim Cook yesterday," Trump said Thursday.

"I said ... ‘Tim, we treated you really good, we put up with all the plants that you built in China for years, now you got to build us. We’re not interested in you building in India. India can take care of themselves.”

Apple shares ended lower on Thursday and Friday, while the benchmark S&P 500 index (SPX) rose.

Trump's unexpected moves can hurt businesses, and executives are now beginning to manage them.

Nvidia, currently facing an embargo on exporting certain high-end chips to China, has treaded carefully around Trump in recent months. CEO Jensen Huang even attended a summit in Saudi Arabia.

Observers say such moves helped Nvidia secure a rollback of a new U.S. rule restricting the export of American-made AI chips without special approval from Washington.

Walmart stock is up 8.7% year to date, and Nvidia stock is up 0.8%. Apple shares down 15.6%

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