Americans are starting to wise up to the harsh reality that President-elect Donald Trump has no plan – and never did – to cut prices and bury inflation woes, according to a Washington Post columnist.
And that could result in an expensive four years for consumers – many of whom fearing high prices are already stocking up on goods, Catherine Rampell wrote in an opinion piece Thursday for the Post.
“A day late and a dollar short, Americans are realizing that President-elect Donald Trump plans to short them a few dollars. That’s right: Since the election, U.S. consumers have become more likely to say they expect prices to rise next year,” Rampell wrote.
While Trump ran his 2024 campaign on appealing promises to bring everyday prices that have skyrocketed for consumers in recent years down, he acknowledged in a Time magazine interview only after winning that election that he could do no such thing, Rampell reminded readers.
“I’d like to bring them down,” Trump told Time magazine. “It’s hard to bring things down once they’re up. You know, it’s very hard.”
The only thing surprising about the admission from Trump “is that he said it out loud,” Rampell wrote.
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“One thing Trump didn’t acknowledge, however, is how his economic agenda — tariffs, deportations, tax cuts, and kneecapping the Federal Reserve — could worsen the problem that voters hired him to solve,” according to the columnist. “But Americans seem to be catching on anyway.”
Rampell pointed to a University of Michigan nationwide survey that measures consumers about their views on the economy. It found a surge in participants since the election reporting “that now is a good time to purchase big-ticket items, because prices will probably rise.”
“We don’t know for sure what’s driving these shifts in consumer views,” Rampell added. “Most likely, Americans are absorbing news coverage of Trump’s proposed tariffs and their potential to raise prices on food, cars, apparel, appliances and other common household purchases.”
Trump’s threats of mass deportations could also drive up fruit, vegetable and dairy prices, she warned. And, Rampell concluded, Trump could easily worsen increased prices consumers are already facing in the face of other geopolitical and supply-chain issues.