Language Minefield for CEOs in US When Talking About Trump

Hedge your language. Don't be too specific. Don't say "Trump." For CEOs, speaking in public has become a tightrope walk.

- Jordyn Holman

Say the wrong word, and it might tick off the White House.

As companies start to feel the impact of President Donald Trump's tariffs, especially the 30 percent tax on Chinese goods, they have a responsibility to tell their investors how they will deal with the higher costs. For many companies, that means raising prices.

But Mr. Trump, who insists that other countries are paying the tariffs, doesn't want to hear that. So executives are speaking even more delicately than usual, including on the perfunctory quarterly earnings calls that are normally of interest only to Wall Street.

Since Mr. Trump's first term, corporate leaders have been wary of the president's habit of taking to social media and singling out companies and executives that he feels are working against his economic or political agenda.

Mr. Trump's second term has brought a new intensity to the situation, according to crisis communication experts and consultants who work closely with chief executives. Mattel, Ford, Amazon, and Apple CEO Tim Cook have faced his ire in recent weeks.

"Companies have got to reconcile with the fact that politics has penetrated nearly every element of their business and to bake those considerations in to prepare your CEOs," said Mr. Brett Bruen, president of consulting firm Global Situation Room, which is based in Washington.

And tariffs, a central pillar of Mr. Trump's economic policy, potentially hit squarely where it hurts companies the most: profits.

During a recent earnings call with Wall Street analysts, Mr. Doug McMillon, Walmart's CEO, thanked Mr. Trump for reducing tariffs on China to 30 percent from 145 percent, but added that the retailer probably would not be able to "absorb all the pressure." The company's chief financial officer said in an interview on CNBC that Walmart planned to raise some prices starting in May.