President Donald Trump tried Tuesday to concoct another actuality with reference to “affordability” – piling lie on prime of misinform attempt to persuade Americans that the problem has vanished.
“You know, inflation we’ve solved; it’s done,” Trump mentioned in an interview with Fox News throughout a visit to Iowa. “We have it good where prices are coming way down. They were just saying, in Iowa the fuel is $1.95. Did you hear that? Somebody said $1.85. But it was $3.50, $4.50 just a year ago, a year and a half ago. You look at eggs, you look at groceries, it’s all down. Everything’s come down. Do you notice they don’t mention affordability anymore?”
It is true that egg prices have fallen significantly beneath Trump. The remainder of his narrative was completely inaccurate.
Inflation is not over; costs proceed to rise. Overall costs have gone up, not down. Overall grocery costs have gone up, not down. Iowa’s common fuel value is a lot increased than $1.95. And Democrats have definitely not stopped mentioning affordability; actually, it stays a key focus of their public remarks.
Let’s take a look at these 5 claims one after the other.
Inflation continues: Inflation isn’t “done.” Price will increase proceed. In December 2025, general costs had been up 0.3% from November 2025 and up 2.7% from December 2024, Consumer Price Index figures present. Trump is free to explain this as reasonable inflation, nevertheless it’s merely fallacious to say inflation is over.
Overall costs are up, not down: It’s not true that “everything’s come down.” Overall shopper costs have increased during this presidential term; in December 2025, seasonally adjusted general costs had been 2.2% increased than they had been in January 2025, and, once more, 2.7% increased than they had been in December 2024. Trump may precisely say that some particular person merchandise have gotten cheaper, however way more merchandise have gotten dearer.
Grocery costs are up, not down: It’s not true that “you look at groceries, it’s all down.” In truth, the 0.7% increase in the Consumer Price Index for groceries between November 2025 and December 2025 was the most important month-to-month soar reported in additional than three years. That quantity may need been affected by knowledge assortment points associated to the autumn authorities shutdown, however regardless, CPI knowledge clearly reveals general grocery costs are dearer than they had been when Trump took workplace – up 1.9% on a seasonally adjusted foundation since January 2025, the month of his second inauguration. And whereas there have been declines within the value of eggs and a smattering of different grocery gadgets, there have been increases in many more.
Iowa fuel costs are typically a lot increased than Trump mentioned: Trump claimed fuel is “$1.95” in Iowa. But the state common fuel value on Tuesday was $2.57 per gallon, in accordance with knowledge printed by AAA – down from $2.94 per gallon a yr previous to Tuesday, not “$3.50, $4.50.” There had been some Iowa fuel stations promoting for round $1.95 per gallon on Tuesday, however they had been few and much between. Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum evaluation for GasBuddy, instructed NCS that GasBuddy discovered simply 4 stations within the state promoting for $1.97 per gallon (except for particular reductions) out of two,036 complete stations the agency tracks, so 0.19% of the full.
In an uncommon second, Trump was fact-checked on this topic by an attendee at his Iowa speech on Tuesday. When he spoke of fuel in Iowa being $1.95 or $1.85 per gallon, somebody within the crowd shouted, “No, $2.63,” in accordance with NCS’s Steve Contorno, who was on scene. Contorno noticed that the fuel station proper exterior the venue the place Trump spoke was promoting for $2.69 per gallon.
Though immigration has been a spotlight of nationwide information and commentary in latest weeks amid Trump’s enforcement blitz in Minneapolis, it’s merely not true that Democrats have stopped mentioning affordability.
The Democratic National Committee has emphasised affordability in a number of press releases. Democratic leaders within the House and Senate have made affordability the main target of assorted latest public remarks. And Democratic midterm candidates and elected officers have continued to prioritize the problem.
Here are a couple of of the various examples.
After promising in her inaugural tackle in mid-January to “work relentlessly to make life more affordable for our fellow Virginians,” Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger instantly signed a series of executive orders on affordability. New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill denounced an “affordability crisis” in her inaugural tackle final week, saying “I’m going to spend every minute trying to make New Jersey more affordable,” and signed govt orders on the topic through the speech itself. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani promised in his January 1 inaugural tackle to “make it possible for every New Yorker to afford a life they love once again,” and he went on to repeat coverage pledges geared toward the price of little one care, hire and public transit; he too has signed affordability-related orders in his first month in workplace.
In mid-January, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer unveiled a slate of coverage proposals targeted on housing affordability. Schumer promised to launch affordability proposals in different areas like groceries and power, and he said: “Every day, every week, every month this year, Democrats will put costs front and center on our agenda.”