'Shelves will be empty': How CEOs of US’ 3 largest retailers convinced Trump to reverse economic policy

23 April

President Donald Trump in the White House on April 7, 2025 (Noamgalai/Shutterstock.com)

Critics of President Donald Trump's steep new tariffs have been warning that a variety of bad things could occur if he doesn't reconsider, from inflation to a deep recession to a weakening of the U.S. dollar to burning bridges with longtime U.S. allies all over the world. But on Monday, April 21, another troubling possibility was raised: "empty shelves" at major retail chains.

According to Axios reporters Marc Caputo and Ben Berkowitz, the CEOs of three major retail chains — Target, Walmart and Home Depot — "privately warned" Trump "that his tariff and trade policy could disrupt supply chains, raise prices and empty shelves, according to sources familiar with the meeting."

A Trump Administration official, interviewed on condition of anonymity, told Axios, "The big-box CEOs flat-out told him (Trump) the prices aren't going up — they're steady right now — but they will go up. And this wasn't about food. But he was told that shelves will be empty."

In an article published on April 23, Caputo and Berkowitz explain, "Another official briefed on the meeting said the CEOs told Trump disruptions could become noticeable in two weeks. While that was happening, financial markets were slumping — stocks, bonds, the dollar — as investors panicked about Trump's latest threats to oust Fed Chair Jerome Powell and step on the central bank's independence."

The Axios reporters continue, "Then on Tuesday, (April 22), he turned the dial down. His Treasury secretary, and then his press secretary — and then Trump himself — all indicated that trade talks with China were imminent, starting on a good foot, and would result in a deal with much lower tariffs than the current 145 percent. Trump then told reporters in the Oval Office that he had 'no intention' of firing Powell, even though his top economic adviser said last week the White House was studying the details of doing exactly that."

Caputo and Berkowitz note that Trump's "shift in tone comes at the same time as a shift in Trump's orbit."

"Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has been exerting more influence in recent weeks, reportedly getting in Trump's ear — to the point of rushing the Oval Office when other advisers aren't around — to get him to ease off for the sake of markets," the Axios reporters observe. "The big picture: For the first time since he entered political life, polls show most voters disapprove of Trump's handling of the economy…. Around the world, the 'sell America' trade is taking hold, as investors start to realize decades of orthodoxy about U.S. assets as safe havens may no longer be the case."

Read the full Axios article at this link.

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