President Donald Trump has spent the past several weeks patting himself on the back for saving the American economy, but CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale said that the new economic numbers fly in the face of those Trump claims.
"Trump last week: 'We fixed inflation, prices are way down,'" Dale quoted the president saying on X. "Trump Wednesday: 'Prices are way down in our country.' Friday: CPI shows prices up 0.3% from Aug. to Sept. and just over 3% since last Sept., the highest year-over-year figure since May 2024."
Writing Friday, Dale explained, "Newly released inflation figures show that President Donald Trump was wrong when he repeatedly claimed this month that grocery prices are 'down' or 'way down.'"
"But prices will come down. And, you just watch, they'll come down and they'll come down fast. Not only with insurance, but with everything," Trump said in Aug. 2024.
Consumer Price Index figures, which were released Friday, showed that prices increased 0.3% in the Aug. to Sept. numbers, but that comes after the July to Aug. numbers increased 0.6%. Dale noted it "was the biggest month-to-month jump in three years."
Trump spent most of the 2024 election talking about the economy and promising that, as president, he would lower costs.
Since taking office, however, the U.S. has seen nothing but increases. Compared to prices in Sept. 2024, prices in Sept. 2025 were about 2.7% higher, Dale cited. Prices have gone up about 1.4% since January 2025, when Trump was sworn in.
In his interview with TIME Magazine for the "person of the year," Trump admitted getting the price of groceries down is "hard."
"Look, they got them up. I'd like to bring them down. It's hard to bring things down once they're up. You know, it's very hard. But I think that they will. I think that energy has going to bring them down. I think a better supply chain is going to bring them down," said Trump.
In four of the six major categories of groceries, prices went up from Aug. to Sept. Costs for cereals and bakery items increased by 0.7%. Meats, fish and eggs are up 0.3%. The miscellaneous category "other food at home" shows an increase of 0.5%. While costs for dairy, fruits and vegetables are down over the past month, looking at the costs for the last year, all six categories have increased in 2025 under Trump.
