On the campaign trail, then-candidate Donald Trump repeatedly promised to “end inflation on Day One” of his presidency.
“Starting on Day One of my new administration, we will end inflation, and we will make America affordable again,” the president said in at an October campaign rally in Saginaw, Michigan, per RollCall.
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How well has the president kept that promise?
Inflation Since January
Over the eight months from January through August, the annual Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation rate averaged 2.65%, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That remains higher than the Federal Reserve’s target of 2%, but not egregiously so.
The problem for Trump — and all Americans — is the change in trend direction, not the average.
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Inflation had been trending downward when Trump entered the White House in January. It dropped from 3.0% in January to 2.3% in April, and Trump has claimed many times that he has in fact defeated inflation. As recently as Sept. 8, he told WABC, “We have no inflation. Prices are down on just about everything.”
But inflation has been rebounding since April, rising from 2.3% to 2.9% in August. What changed?
Tariffs Trickling Down to Consumers
Through June, companies only passed on 22% of the heightened cost of imported goods to consumers, according to a Goldman Sachs analysis shared with Bloomberg.
Yet the bank warned that if the current tariff policies continue, that number will rise to 67%.
Sure enough, the latest CPI report found that grocery prices jumped 0.6% in August, the largest leap in three years. Apparel and audiovisual prices rose 0.5%, while car parts increased 0.6%. Coffee costs 20% more than it did a year ago.
Overall prices rose 0.4% in August, the largest monthly gain since December.
Ironically, President Trump may have actually been able to deliver on his campaign promise to curb inflation quickly, if it weren’t for sweeping tariffs. All Americans can do today is speculate on that point however, as inflation reaccelerates.
Editor’s note on political coverage: GOBankingRates is nonpartisan and strives to cover all aspects of the economy objectively and present balanced reports on politically focused finance stories. You can find more coverage of this topic on GOBankingRates.com.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Trump Said He Would End Inflation on Day 1 of His Presidency — See Where We Stand Now
