Prices were a key issue in 2024, but Trump makes clear they’re not his top priority

Trump’s promises to bring down the cost of living were a big reason he was elected, but since taking office he has now twice said that’s not his top priority.

“They all said inflation was the No. 1 issue,” Trump said about the presidential campaign as he spoke to supporters at the Capitol following his inauguration address. “I said, ‘I disagree. I think people coming into our country from prisons and from mental institutions is a bigger issue for the people that I know.’ And I made it my No. 1. I talked about inflation, too, but you know how many times can you say that an apple has doubled in cost?”

(It’s been fact checked many times that migrants were not coming into the country from prisons and mental institutions, but Trump continues to say it.)

Again on Monday, Trump reiterated that immigration is the bigger issue.

“I always felt the border was first,” he said in a speech to congressional Republicans gathered at Trump National Doral Miami Golf Resort.

“I talked about that much more so than I did inflation,” Trump said. “I mean, inflation was terrible. I think it was the worst in the history of our country, but you can only talk about it so long. The price of apples doubled. The price of bacon has quadrupled. Everything is a disaster. And you say it, and then what do you do?”

Recent inflation peaked at 9.1% in June 2022. That was the highest since 1981, but it wasn’t the highest ever. The most recent inflation data shows it is down to 2.9%.

A top problem Trump said he would fix

Undoubtedly, though, higher than pre-pandemic prices and high interest rates intended to curb inflation put Americans in a bad mood — and is a big reason, if not the reason, Trump won in 2024.

He said so himself.

“I won on the border, and I won on groceries,” Trump said on NBC’s Meet the Press in his first interview after the election. “When you buy apples, when you buy bacon, when you buy eggs, they would double and triple the price over a short period of time, and I won an election based on that. We’re going to bring those prices way down.”

As president, Trump is seeking to extend his broad tax cuts, expand oil exploration and deregulate industry — things he believes will spur more growth and help bring down prices in what experts already consider a strong economy.

“My administration is acting with uecedented speed to fix the disasters we’ve inherited from a totally inept group of people and to solve every single crisis facing our country,” Trump told the World Economic Forum gathered in Davos, Switzerland last week. “This begins with confronting the economic chaos caused by the failed policies of the last administration.”

Trump has signed executive orders declaring an energy “crisis” and ordering the executive branch to find ways to cut prices. That included making efforts to deregulate efficiency standards on home appliances — everything from stoves to shower heads to light bulbs.

He also directed agencies to stop funding anything related to curbing climate change; he froze foreign aid; and he says he wants to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse through an effort headed up by Tesla and SpaceX chief Elon Musk, who is the richest person in the world.

Experts are dubious that those initiatives, however, will have an effect on grocery prices.

​​What’s more, Trump has said he will impose 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico and 10% more tariffs on China, starting this Saturday. Those efforts, experts also warn, could drive the prices of many things people buy — and gas prices — higher.

A different focus 

Trump’s top focus as president, though, has so far been on other issues — mass deportations, remaking the federal government and implementing a right-wing ideology that blames societal ills and government failures on diversity, equity and inclusion policies, or DEI.

That includes even the fatal plane crash near Reagan National Washington airport this week — even though he admitted the facts are not yet known about what actually happened.

“We do not know what led to this crash, but we have some very strong opinions and ideas,” Trump said at a White House press conference on Thursday, “and I think we’ll probably state those opinions now.”

And he did — in what was a politicized, clear departure from the staid responses of past presidents after similar disasters. When disaster struck during their terms in office, they made clear their intention was to sympathize with the families, pledge the support that’s needed from the federal government and to try and keep the country calm.

“I have a plan to visit, not the site. Because you tell me, what’s the site? The water? You want me to go swimming?”

For many voters, prices were the issue

Many of Trump’s early actions are probably not what the many people who crossed party affiliation to vote for him had in mind when they chose to put him back in office.

Another then-undecided voter, John from Miami, said he considered himself a “liberal union Democrat” also voted for Obama twice and volunteered on Bill Clinton’s campaigns. But he said he was considering Trump, because he wants a candidate to “stop the inflation.”

“I think Joe Biden did the best he could,” he said. “If he could have just grabbed the horns on inflation — things are through the roof. It’s gone freakin’ nuts.”

That was the kind of thing heard repeatedly during the presidential campaign.

The country is about to find out if his approach affects his political standing, or if voters think he is going too far.