{"id":661784,"date":"2026-09-02T12:24:41","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T12:24:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=661784"},"modified":"2026-09-02T12:24:41","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T12:24:41","slug":"dojs-beef-price-probe-gets-much-bigger-walmart-costco-and-amazon-now-in-the-mix-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=661784","title":{"rendered":"DOJ\u2019s beef-price probe gets much bigger \u2014 Walmart, Costco and Amazon now in the mix"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/div>\n

The Department of Justice has expanded its antitrust probe of beef prices to the retail level, meaning beef retailers like Walmart and Costco.<\/p>\n

The probe started in May, with the DOJ\u2019s Antitrust Division initially focusing on the \u201cBig Four\u201d meatpackers: JBS, Cargill, Tyson Foods, and National Beef.<\/p>\n

The probe began six months after President Donald Trump published a post to Truth Social accusing \u201cmeat packing companies\u201d of \u201cdriving up the price of beef through illicit collusion, price fixing, and price manipulation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

BREAKING: President Trump just ORDERED the DoJ to investigate the issues behind beef pricing in America!<\/p>\n

\u201cMeat Packing Companies who are driving up the price of Beef through Illicit Collusion, Price Fixing, and Price Manipulation.\u201d<\/p>\n

EXPOSE THE CROOKS!!! pic.twitter.com\/93vi7MpJGO<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Gunther Eagleman\"\u2122\" (@GuntherEagleman) November 7, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

During a May press conference, Attorney General Todd Blanche confirmed that his office was reviewing more than 3 million documents.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe also urged whistleblowers to report possible price-fixing, bid-rigging, market allocation or procurement fraud with the prospect of receiving money in return,\u201d according to The Independent<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the information you provide helps us secure a criminal penalty in excess of $1 million, you can be entitled to recover and receive 15-30 percent of the money that we recover,\u201d he said at the press conference.<\/p>\n

Months later, the probe has now expanded to cover eight retailers: Kroger, Publix, Walmart, Albertsons, Aldi, Ahold Delhaize, Costco and Amazon.<\/p>\n

\n

\"\ud83d\udea8\"@JusticeATR<\/a> has expanded its investigation to include 8 of the largest grocers when it comes to beef affordability. @ASGWoodward<\/a> sent letters to the following regarding the recent increases in the retail price for beef:<\/p>\n

-Kroger
\n-Publix
\n-Walmart
\n-Albertsons
\n-Aldi
\n-Ahold\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2014 U.S. Department of Justice (@TheJusticeDept) September 2, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

It\u2019s not clear why Walmart is a target when it\u2019s already lowered beef prices.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis summer, we\u2019re making even more investments in price,\u202fwith thousands of Rollbacks across the products customers are shopping for most including beef<\/strong>, fresh produce and beverages, grills, pools, toys and summer fashion apparel,\u201d Walmart executive vice president and chief merchant Julie Barber announced in a July press release<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether they\u2019re stocking up for a backyard barbecue, heading out on vacation or simply shopping for the week ahead, we\u2019re helping everyone save more for every occasion,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Walmart has also experienced\u00a0extremely slow sales growth.<\/p>\n

\u201cWalmart shares sank 9% Thursday after the retailer reported its slowest sales growth in more than six years as cash-strapped customers cut back on spending amid higher gasoline prices,\u201d the New York Post<\/a> reported on Aug. 20.<\/p>\n

Critics nevertheless responded to the DOJ\u2019s announcement by harping on Walmart and other retailers over their alleged \u201cprice gouging\u201d:<\/p>\n

\n

Price gouging bastards<\/p>\n

\u2014 hardcastle (@Hardcas77497451) September 2, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

ALL of the retailers listed
\nare
\nPRICE GOUGING
\non ALL their products!!!<\/p>\n

\u2014 ~ Sweet CaTea (@sparkplug754) September 2, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Thank you.. they\u2019ve been gouging us for almost 2 damb years.. this year was horrible.. same thing with gas and electricity!!<\/p>\n

\u2014 Kimberly (@kimmy22dawn) September 2, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Literally every business is PRICE GOUGING everybody! McDonald\u2019s went up, others raise prices. Walmart goes up because they are receiving a vast majority of Snap benefits and programs. When Walmart goes up, other grocery stores follow. Never ending gouging!<\/p>\n

\u2014 FreedomRing2021 (@FRing2021) September 2, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Meanwhile, in reality, the demand for beef is souring while America\u2019s cattle herd has hit a 75-year low.<\/p>\n

\u201cAgricultural experts believe the prolonged decline in the size of America\u2019s cattle herd\u2014and few indications of any imminent recovery\u2014will continue to put upward pressure on the prices American households are paying for beef for the foreseeable future,\u201d Newsweek<\/a> reported last month.<\/p>\n

\u201cData from the Department of Agriculture (USDA) show that the country started the year with 86.2 million cattle, down more than 8 million compared to 2019 and marking the lowest level since the early 1950s,\u201d the report continued.<\/p>\n

Sylvain Charlebois, a professor of food distribution and policy at Dalhousie University in Canada, told the paper that the shortage \u201cwill likely keep beef prices elevated well into 2027.\u201d<\/p>\n

But many feel that neither the president nor the public cares about these facts. It appears they\u2019d rather continue to perpetrate a witch hunt against beef producers and retailers instead of looking at things logically.<\/p>\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Department of Justice has expanded its antitrust probe of beef prices to the retail level, meaning beef retailers like Walmart and Costco. The probe started in May, with the DOJ\u2019s Antitrust Division initially focusing on the \u201cBig Four\u201d meatpackers: JBS, Cargill, Tyson Foods, and National Beef. The probe began six months after President Donald… Continue reading DOJ\u2019s beef-price probe gets much bigger \u2014 Walmart, Costco and Amazon now in the mix<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":661759,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[20,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-661784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economic-empowerment","category-national-security","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661784","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=661784"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661784\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/661759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=661784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=661784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=661784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}