As President Donald Trump showcased Tesla electric vehicles on the South Lawn of the White House on Tuesday, he faced questions about the timing of what is being called a “car commercial.” With stock markets tumbling—taking retirement accounts with them—and some Americans grappling with job uncertainty, some wondered about his decision to highlight automobiles made by a company run by his top advisor and largest donor, Elon Musk.
But President Trump insisted everything was fine.
“Well I think they’re going to do great,” he said, insisting that prices are “all coming down” as he complained about the economy he “inherited.”
“We didn’t have these problems,” Trump told reporters, referring to his first term in office.
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“I had no inflation. I had a great economy. He gave you high prices,” Trump said, criticizing President Joe Biden.
“You couldn’t buy bacon, you couldn’t buy anything, and also, I inherited a situation with eggs,” Trump said. “The price of eggs was through the roof. Well, now the price of eggs has come down a lot.”
“It’s all coming down. It’s all a beautiful thing,” Trump proclaimed.
Wednesday morning, The Associated Press reported, “US egg prices increased by an average of 10.4% last month, Consumer Price Index shows.”
“Egg prices have soared nearly 59% compared with a year ago, and is by far the highest inflated price on the Consumer Price Index report,” Fox9, a Fox affiliate, added.
The Consumer Price Index released one month ago also showed egg prices had risen to a “record high.”
“Egg prices hit a record high as the U.S. contends with an ongoing bird flu outbreak, but consumers didn’t need government figures … to tell them eggs are terribly expensive and hard to find at times,” the Associated Press reported last month.
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On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins declared that the “average cost of a dozen eggs has now gone down $1.85 since we announced our plan about a week-and-a-half ago,” before appearing to also blame the high cost of eggs on “Easter season.”
Separately on Tuesday, Secretary Rollins wrote: “Wholesale egg prices dropped roughly ~$2.60/dozen from their peak this month — prices will likely fluctuate but relief is in sight as we fix what Biden broke!”
Secretary Rollins did not mention her source, but the weekly “Egg Markets Overview,” a publication of her USDA, on March 7 reported that a decline in demand was the cause for lower wholesale egg prices.
Last week, Secretary Rollins suggested Americans might want to consider raising chickens in their backyards to alleviate the high cost of eggs.