Ground beef down 12%; cherries halved; 24-pack of Coke falls to $9.97
Walmart, the largest U.S. grocer, said Monday it is reducing prices on thousands of items to help customers with affordability after years of inflation. The company is lowering ground beef by 12%, halving the price of cherries, and reducing the price of a 24-pack of Coca-Cola by one-third to $9.97. The cuts also span household products, toys, apparel, and other merchandise.
The announcement drew a social-media post from President Trump, who on Truth Social called the move “a huge deal.” “Walmart is stepping up in a big and bold way, and other Retailers should follow the lead of these absolute Patriots,” Trump wrote minutes before the retailer issued a news release.
Walmart has long centered low prices in its marketing strategy. In recent months, affordability has become a focus of political attention. According to a person familiar with the situation, Walmart has told federal officials that policies helping the company control costs — such as lower tariffs and gasoline prices — would improve affordability for American shoppers because of Walmart’s scale.
The White House has pursued multiple strategies aimed at lowering food costs. Trump has directed advisers including Peter Navarro and Stephen Miller to find ways to lower prices more broadly. The Justice Department launched a probe into the four largest U.S. meatpackers after Trump requested one in a social-media post. Last week, the Trump administration pledged up to $500 million to small and midsize meatpacking companies to keep their cattle-slaughter volumes at certain levels, as processing cattle has become unprofitable for meatpackers due to high livestock prices.
Ground-beef prices, described by the Wall Street Journal as “the poster child of food inflation,” were up 12% in May compared with a year earlier, according to the Labor Department. In May, the Trump administration delayed a plan to address high beef prices by suspending tariffs on imported beef after the Wall Street Journal reported the plan, drawing outcry from some congressional Republicans and cattle ranchers.