CPI Data Contradicts Trump Claims of Falling Grocery Prices

Consumer Price Index data released on October 24, 2025, contradicts repeated claims by Donald Trump that grocery prices have declined. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that average grocery prices rose 0.3 percent from August to September and 0.6 percent from July to August. As of September, food prices at home were approximately 2.7 percent higher than a year prior and 1.4 percent higher than in January, when Trump returned to office.

Significant price spikes occurred in beef and veal, which rose 14.7 percent year-over-year as the U.S. cattle herd hit a 64-year low, and roasted coffee, which has increased 46 percent since January 2020. While egg prices declined 2.8 percent in September, they remain 146 percent higher than mid-2020 levels due to avian flu. Dairy prices remained plateaued at high levels.

President Trump asserted on several occasions in October and at the United Nations on September 23 that prices were "way down." CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale refuted these claims, noting that while inflation is lower than the 2022 peak, it has not been vanquished. David Ortega of Michigan State University attributed the price increases to administration policies, specifically tariffs on imported goods and restrictions on undocumented farm workers.