'Outright falsehood': Economist befuddled by Trump's 'break with reality' during interview

A high-profile economist was befuddled by a series of claims President Donald Trump made on Tuesday during an interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham.

Trump joined Ingraham on "The Ingraham Angle" on Tuesday, where the two discussed topics ranging from his future successors in the Trump family, the White House ballroom renovation project, and the impact of Trump's tariffs on the U.S. economy. At one point, Trump claimed that beef prices are elevated because "farmers are doing well." He also claimed that coffee prices would soon come down because "we're going to be removing some tariffs."

Justin Wolfers, economics professor at the University of Michigan, reacted to Trump's interview on CNN's "The Source" with host Kaitlan Collins.

"Look, every word the presidentjust said is a lie, and worsethan that, it's such a lie thatI worry that there's literally abreak with reality inside theman's mind," Wolfers said. "I can tell you thatbecause I'm a statistics nerd, and you can go to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. They've gotpeople in supermarkets allacross the country, andalmost every category of goodsor services sees the pricesrising."

"There's a reasonableargument to be had: Is inflationtoo high? Is inflation too low?But we have inflation. It'spositive," he continued. "And it's not just thenerds at the BLS who see it whencompanies are giving theirearnings reports; they'retelling us they're raisingtheir prices in every singleviewer on the other side of thistelevision set knows exactlywhat's happening, which is that prices are rising."

"I don'tunderstand the logic of lookingus in the eye and telling us anoutright falsehood," he added.