On Saturday, President Donald Trump wrote a Truth Social post demanding that Walmart Inc. "EAT THE TARIFFS" rather than raise prices to reflect the increased costs caused by his trade wars. Walmart isn’t the only company Trump has gone after recently; Mattel Inc., the Boeing Co. and Apple Inc. have all been targets of the president’s threats.

For CEOs, these attacks make three things clear. One, economic realities will make it obvious that the tariffs were sold to the public on false pretenses. Two, the political blowback from this will lead Trump to make impossible demands of them. And three: No one can stand alone against the president. If business leaders want to protect themselves from his commands, they will have to keep in mind Benjamin Franklin’s advice: "We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall hang separately."

Let’s unpack these lessons one by one. First, Trump’s message to Walmart admits what anyone with even a basic understanding of economics already knew: that his claims that foreign countries would pay the tariffs were false — i.e., if Walmart needs to absorb the cost, it’s not being paid by someone else. Selling a policy on false pretenses creates untenable expectations (Democrats may ruefully recall President Barack Obama’s broken promise, "If you like your health care plan, you’ll be able to keep your health care plan") and disappointment when these expectations are not met. And when a politician faces the disappointment of his electorate, he’s likely to look for someone to blame.

That brings us to the president’s impossible demands of business leaders. In Walmart’s case, 60% of its imports are sourced from China and in Q1 of 2025 it had a net profit margin of 2.71%. Unless CEO Doug McMillon intends to turn Walmart into a nonprofit, it cannot absorb even the 10% tariff Trump has put on all imports, much less the 30% rate on China. Trump has also insisted that Apple stop expanding iPhone production in India and instead move it to the US. Although CEO Tim Cook has not yet replied, it’s unlikely that the company could comply, as estimates suggest that iPhones manufactured domestically would cost $3,500, an "Apple Tax" that even the most devoted fans seem unlikely to accept.

This puts companies in an extraordinarily tough position. As shown by his executive orders targeting law firms, Trump is using the powers of the presidency in ways unseen in decades, if ever. By stripping firms of federal contracts and even forbidding lawyers they employed from entering federal courthouses, he showed that he was willing to destroy his targets, even when the legality of his actions is dubious at best.

This problem is compounded when it comes to the tariffs, where the president has vast discretion and legal challenges are less likely to succeed in an economically meaningful timeframe. An Apple CEO who chose to challenge Trump too openly could easily find tariffs on electronics imported from China reimposed — or worse, impose the duties specifically on Apple products, as the president threatened to do to Mattel if it raised prices. Any CEO who makes the mistake of trying to act alone will stand naked against the full power of the White House. What one person can’t do, however, a group can. Business leaders acting together are perhaps the most powerful force in American politics. Ross School of Business Professor Mark Mizruchi’s brilliant book The Fracturing of the American Corporate Elite describes how, from World War II to the 1970s, American business leaders worked together to push the US government to fulfill national goals ranging from the interstate highway system, to civil rights, to supporting the poor and elderly.

Americans are broadly supportive of business — so much so, that in a 2021 Harris Poll, the only institution Americans viewed more favorably than Amazon was the military. So when company leaders act in unison, their voice is likely to be heard. Just as important, the financial resources of American business are critical to the president’s party allies. A credible threat to withhold them, or even to donate to the opposition, if the president continues to try to bully US companies, could have an enormous impact. Such steps, however, work only if CEOs take them together.

Business leaders have institutions that could help them coordinate. My Yale colleague Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, for example, has noted that the Business Roundtable has been strangely silent — even though it was created to help CEOs organize to influence public policy. The Chamber of Commerce could provide a similar convening authority. Or they could simply follow the example of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and start a group chat on Signal.

Whatever they choose to do, corporate leaders should act now — bear in mind that every time one of them is picked off or surrenders, their collective power is weakened. They will never be stronger than they are today. Elsewhere in Bloomberg Opinion:

This column reflects the personal views of the author and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Gautam Mukunda writes about corporate management and innovation. He teaches leadership at the Yale School of Management and is the author of "Indispensable: When Leaders Really Matter."