Walmart recently announced it would be lowering some of its prices to help consumers during the summer months. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump asserted that he was responsible for this change. Things got awkward for him, however, when a spokesperson for the retail giant told The Bulwark that Walmart actually reduced its prices before Trump made the announcement and tried to take credit for it. Yikes.
After Trump got caught in the apparent lie, Trump administration officials doubled down on his claim and lashed out at journalists for reporting on what the Walmart spokesperson said.
Originally, Trump claimed that Walmart would be lowering its prices “at my Administration’s request.”
His Truth Social post about it was very true to character. In it, he even blamed Former President Joe Biden for high grocery prices, even though Biden hasn’t been president in a year and a half at this point.
“Great news!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “I have just been informed that one of the biggest, best, and smartest Retailers in America, Walmart, will be lowering prices, by a lot, at my Administration’s request to celebrate our great Country’s 250th birthday.”
Although he praised Walmart in his post and called it “a truly patriotic Company who loves the U.S.A.” (because apparently corporations are people?), he largely focused on how he is supposedly doing what he promised to do.
“My Administration is lowering prices that Joe Biden incompetently raised with the worst inflation crisis in history, a total disaster along with the Southern Border, the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan, and many other failures,” he claimed. “Just as I promised, Oil Prices are plummeting FAST, and Gas Prices at the pump are dropping too, just like egg and Prescription Drug prices which I am bringing down by historic levels.”
But it kind of sounds like Walmart made this decision on its own.
President Trump promised to lower costs for working families, and he’s delivering. Walmart’s historic summer-long sale on beef and other essentials is the result of this Admin cutting red tape, slashing taxes, and ramping up domestic food production.
— Kush Desai (@KushDesai47) July 9, 2026
The Trump Admin stays in… https://t.co/8Eyzn2wI9h
In the company’s actual announcement about lower prices, Trump was not mentioned at all. “From backyard barbecues and family vacations to pool days and neighborhood gatherings, the savings are designed to help customers and members make the most of the season while spending less on the products they need, want and love most,” the announcement read in part.
Customers can expect to find lower prices on products like beef, cherries, ice cream, and potato chips, among various other items.
According to the report from The Bulwark, Walmart had actually begun offering discounts the week before Trump made the announcement saying that the retail giant would be reducing its prices in the future. Additionally, The Wall Street Journal reported that a USDA official really did speak to Walmart about lowering prices, but the official was told that Walmart “already had plans to reduce prices on many items for the summer, including beef.”
Trump administration officials did not take these reports well.
White House Senior Deputy Press Secretary Kush Desai acted like people just didn’t want to give Trump credit for anything.
The President and Walmart’s announcement was that the sale is extending all summer long.
— Kush Desai (@KushDesai47) July 10, 2026
This is a big win for Americans. The media’s obsessive need to try to undermine any good news when it affects President Trump is pathological. https://t.co/K0CPTgfBLM
When journalist Sam Stein, who serves as managing editor of The Bulwark, posted about Walmart lowering its prices before Trump announced the change and took credit for it, Desai acted outraged.
In response to Stein’s post about the topic, he wrote, “The President and Walmart’s announcement was that the sale is extending all summer long. This is a big win for Americans. The media’s obsessive need to try to undermine any good news when it affects President Trump is pathological.”
What Desai sees as “pathological” behavior is really just journalists doing their jobs, according to some Trump critics on Reddit. “It’s the journalists’ obsession with the truth,” one Redditor wrote in response. “Trump lies and the media reports it. Trump gets mad.”
Someone else thought of an easy strategy Trump could use to avoid this: “Stop telling lies and you will suddenly stop being debunked.”
To some critics, this particular announcement wasn’t much different from the other “announcements” Trump has made on social media in the past. “This is what Trump does,” another critic wrote. “He says something on camera or on social media and it seems like that is what is happening but it’s only what he hopes will happen.”
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