America’s highest-profile retail chains are walking a difficult tightrope — trying to blunt the financial hit from tariffs by raising prices for consumers without angering them or President Donald Trump.

U.S. companies are also still cautioning about how tariffs could affect their businesses. On Walmart 's ( WMT -1.35%) earnings call last week, CEO Doug McMillon warned about potential repercussions. President Trump responded on social media that Walmart makes billions of dollars in sales, and that it should "eat the tariffs." But can it?

Walmart, considered a proxy for U.S. consumer health, said last week that it would have to raise prices to deal with tariffs even as it maintained its full-year forecast. Trump castigated the company,