President-elect Donald Trump campaigned relentlessly on food prices in the 2024 race, vowing to rapidly lower costs for American families if he spends four more years in the White House.
But in one Conversation with time along with being named the magazine’s “Person of the Year”, Trump now says it will be “very hard” to do so.
Trump was asked if his presidency would be considered a “failure” if he didn’t follow through on his promise to lower Americans’ grocery bills.
“I don’t think so. Look, they lifted them,” referring to the Biden-Harris administration. “I’d like to get it down. It’s hard to get things down once they’re up. You know, it’s very hard,” Trump said.
The president-elect added that he believed lower prices were possible by boosting energy production and solving supply chain problems.
“But I think they will. I think energy will go down. I think a better supply chain will go down. You know, the supply chain is still broken. It’s broken,” Trump said.
Last week, Trump he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” that he won the election because of immigration and the economy.
“I won on the border, and I won on groceries,” he told NBC’s Kristen Welker. “A very simple word, groceries. Almost — you know, who uses the word? I started using the word — groceries. When you buy apples, when you buy bacon, when you buy eggs, they double and triple the price in a short period of time, and based on that We will lower those prices that won the election.”
Former President Donald Trump holds a news conference outside the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster on August 15, 2024 in Bedminster, New Jersey.
Adam Gray/Getty Images, FILE
Exit polls have been shown deep disagreement with the economy was a big factor in swinging voters to Trump.
Inflation rose to more than 9% during the Biden-Harris administration, the highest in 40 years. Negative views of the economy hit President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, with the share of people saying they have gotten worse with the current administration even surpassing Great Recession levels, according to an analysis of exit polls.
Since then, inflation has fallen to 2.7% since November. The latest CPI report shows some food items such as rice, flour and bacon have fallen over the past year. But the cost of eggs soared due to an outbreak of bird flu.
Trump has said he will lower prices by increasing America’s energy production, even though oil production reached record levels under the Biden administration, even through tariffs.
This latest proposal has alarmed many economists, who have warned that consumers will ultimately face the slapping effects of taxes on imported goods.
Trump has proposed heavy tariffs on China, Mexico and Canada. Mexico and Canada are the first and third largest suppliers of agricultural products to the United States, according to Agricultural Output.
Asked by NBC’s Welker if he would guarantee that Americans would not pay more because of the tariffs, Trump said no.
“I can’t guarantee anything. I can’t guarantee tomorrow,” he said before claiming he had the “biggest economy in the history of our country” before the coronavirus pandemic.
