Trump Trade: White House asks top U.S. grocers to lower beef prices

Catch up on the top industries and stocks that were impacted, or were predicted to be impacted, by the comments, actions and policies of President Donald Trump with this daily recap compiled by The Fly.

BEEF PRICES: 

Last week, Tate Bennett, chief of staff for USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins, spoke with grocers including Walmart (WMT), Kroger (KR), and Albertsons (ACI) asking about their prices for beef heading into the holiday weekend, Patrick Thomas and Sarah Nassauer of The Wall Street Journal report. During its call with Walmart, the company said it already had plans to reduce prices on several items for the summer, including beef, and implemented those plans on June 29, two sources told the Journal. The outreach effort shows the Trump administration has begun leaning on industries to lower costs for consumers.

CEASEFIRE OVER: 

During a joint press conference with NATO chief Mark Rutte at the military alliance’s summit in Ankara, Turkey, President Donald Trump was asked whether the U.S.’s ceasefire with Iran was over. “To me, I think it’s over,” he said. “I don’t want to deal with them anymore … as far as I’m concerned, it’s over.” He added that Washington’s delegation wanted to negotiate a peace deal, but that he saw it as “a waste of time dealing with” the Iranian side.

IRAN OIL SANCTIONS WAIVER: A notice posted to the site of the Department of the Treasury stated: “The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control is revoking Iran-related General License X and issuing Iran-related General License X1, for the ‘Revocation and Wind Down of June 21, 2026 Authorization for the Production, Delivery and Sale of Crude Oil, Petrochemical Products, and Petroleum Products of Iranian Origin.’ Effective July 7, 2026, General License X, dated June 21, 2026, is replaced and superseded in its entirety by this General License X1.”

AI FINANCIAL: 

A year ago, the Trump family’s crypto venture bought an AI Financial (AIFC) for $750M and, since then, the deal has been a money loser for most excluding the Trumps, Angus Berwick of The Wall Street Journal reports. AI Financial is now in discussions to sell its core business to Perpetuals.com (PDC), with the price being discussed as up to $15M, a person familiar with the transaction told the Journal. The potential sale would mark a reversal for the company, since World Liberty Financial had originally promoted it as key to its plans to turn into an industry contender.

SMR DEPLOYMENTS: 

On the margins of the NATO Summit in Ankara, Turkiye, the United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Japan Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu, and Republic of Korea Foreign Minister Cho Hyun signed a Memorandum of Cooperation to establish a framework for trilateral cooperation on accelerating small modular reactor deployments in other countries, with an initial focus on the Indo-Pacific. The MOC advances our mutual security interests and paves the way for partner countries to meet their energy security needs. The MOC outlines opportunities for our three countries, which have complementary advantages in the civil nuclear field, to encourage mutually beneficial cooperation among their respective nuclear industries. This framework aims to foster fleet deployment models that de-risk project development, achieve economies of scale, catalyze private investment, streamline licensing processes, and optimize supply chains. In support of this initiative, the United States is committing over $10M in new funding for the Department of State’s Foundational Infrastructure for Responsible Use of Small Modular Reactor Technology Program to provide technical support to countries in Indo-Pacific region for the deployment of safe, secure, and reliable nuclear energy. Funds will advance SMR project development activities and establish an SMR Regional Training Hub for workforce development. The United States also announced an industry initiative agreed upon among GE Vernova (GEV), Hitachi (HTHIY), Samsung C&T (SSNLF), and SGE to advance deployment of the BWRX-300 SMR across Europe. This initiative will help achieve the ambitions set forth in the memorandum signed today and deepen government-industry partnerships to strengthen global energy security.

RARE EARTH ELEMENTS: 

Peabody (BTU) announced that the U.S. Department of Energy has selected the company for funding to advance the production of rare earth elements and critical minerals. “The selection supports Peabody’s ongoing efforts to evaluate and advance the recovery of rare earth elements and critical minerals from its extensive resource base in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin,” the company stated. “Coupled with the Wyoming Energy Authority grant awarded earlier this year, this selection reflects the meaningful progress Peabody has made in advancing promising unconventional rare earth and critical mineral opportunities. I thank the Trump Administration, including the Department of Energy and Secretary Wright for supporting this project as we continue advancing the technical and economic viability of a domestic rare earth and critical mineral supply chain,” said Peabody President and Chief Executive Officer Jim Grech.

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Originally Posted July 8, 2026