Nobody should ever look at Walmart is a good citizen. It’s a pretty scummy, rapacious company with a track record far too long to even entertain listing here in this space. Little if anything they do is altruistic. Yet in taking high road relative to Amazon and Apple‘s apparent submission to convicted felon President Trump’s rage at corporate giants for publicizing the inflationary effects of his stupid trade war they still manage to look better in comparison. CNBC reports that sources within the company tell them the decision to defy the Orange God Emperor’s commands “was motivated by a sense of obligation to explain to customers and investors why prices would increase.”

That “obligation” can ultimately be traced back to profit motive, as retail analyst Steve Shemesh says Walmart “may have decided to be transparent with its shoppers about the financial realities of tariffs for its business, especially since its customer base tends to be price sensitive,” which is a nicer way of saying “poor” or “not actually poor but fucking cheapskates who dress like they’re poor.” Still, according to other analyst egghead Mike Baker, in taking a stand “they’re trying to signal the idea that prices will go up and brace the consumer and the US population for that idea, and also, in a way, send a message to policymakers that it’s impractical to think that the entirety of the tariffs will be absorbed by the retailer or the manufacturer… It’s never good to be on the opposite side of an issue with the US government and particularly with the bully pulpit that Trump tends to use.”

Lobbyist/consultant/whatever Joanna Piacenza said speaking out was ballsy and will probably work out in the end. “Tariffs are really the only topic that has broken through a really silent stretch of corporate engagement. It is an issue that corporations, that CEOs feel comfortable speaking out on because they’re tying it to a business issue. That can’t necessarily be said about other polarizing issues that are dominating the zeitgeist right now,” adding that moving first and early will ultimately point the blame away and at Trump. “It comes back to this question: When it comes to the court of public opinion, will consumers point to the White House or corporations for the higher prices?”