Donald Trump’s latest feud isn’t with China or Congress, it’s with arithmetic. After bragging about a 25% cheaper Thanksgiving meal, a single question from NBC turned his victory dinner into a mess of fake news rage.
At a White House press conference with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Trump boasted about Walmart’s new Thanksgiving meal. He used the example as proof that his economy is bringing prices down. “Thanksgiving this year coming up will cost 25% less than sleepy Joe Biden’s. Now, to me, that’s
better than anything there is,” he said, bragging about his policies. But his self-boasting couldn’t last long.
An NBC reporter pointed out that the meal isn’t actually cheaper; it’s just smaller. Walmart quietly removed several fresh ingredients and swapped name brands for store-brand “Great Value” substitutes. The produce, pies, and pumpkin mixes from the 2024 bundle are gone. They’ve been replaced with instant pudding and canned sides. But when the reporter pressed the president on this fact, Trump simply said, “I haven’t heard that.”
Right after, he attacked the reporter, asking, “Who are you with?” She respectfully answered, “I’m with NBC,” and Trump’s first response was: “Fake news.” Translation: “Everything he doesn’t like or doesn’t want to answer is fake news,” as one X user put it. Walmart’s price drop is a marketing tactic, not an economic turnaround. It’s the same trick Trump has perfected in politics. Shrink the product, inflate the headline, and sell it as success.
“We had the highest inflation in the history of our country under Biden. We had high gasoline prices at four and a half $5 a gallon. They’re going to be hitting $2 a gallon with me. They’re getting close to $2 a gallon. And when gasoline goes down and energy goes down, everything else follows.”
While lost in singing his own praises, Trump conveniently left out the fact that overall grocery prices have increased 2.5% year over year. And that’s U.S. Bureau of Labor data. National gas prices still hover around $3.08 a gallon, and economists agree that inflation has eased since 2023, but not because of any “miracle policy” (via AAA). But when facts collide with his fiction, he simply attacks the messenger.
It’s an old pattern of the Trump administration. They did it to scientists during COVID, economists during inflation, and now journalists during Thanksgiving. For Trump, truth is just another partisan opinion to disregard. But Americans aren’t living in a third-world setup. People were quick to do their own research on his claims and didn’t fall for his “cheap” trap.
One user summarized the farce perfectly. “Of course it’s cheaper. Trump and Walmart think you deserve less and that you’re too stupid to notice,” they commented. Another called the new meal a “budget airline” version of Thanksgiving and exposed the truth:
“Last year (2024), you paid ~$55–$56 for 8 people — loaded with sweet potatoes, pecan pie, Hawaiian rolls, and all the fixings. This year? $39–$40 feeds 10 people — that’s under $4 a head. To achieve that Walmart slashed the extras (no more sweet potatoes, no pecan pie, no marshmallows, no Ocean Spray, no celery/onions for stuffing), and swapped name brands for Great Value, and gave you fresh cranberries instead of canned sauce.”
People flooded the post with full lists of everything that has been cut down from the Thanksgiving meal this year. And the verdict was simple. What Trump is doing is simply a “con job.” The MAGA gang is selling a downgraded dinner as a feast, while they enjoy Michelin-coded food at Mar-a-Lago. Once again, Trump proved that when reality confronts him, he only cooks up new narratives, never solutions.
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