As a man who believes he never makes mistakes, President Trump often shows a glaring inability to discuss bad news. This has been on display as he downplays rising food prices just as families are getting ready for Thanksgiving dinner.
The president said grocery prices are coming down, but various polls report that a majority of Americans disagree.
One story that’s sure to make plenty of news over the next few days is the price of turkeys, which are up significantly from last year, with estimated increases ranging from 11% to 40%.
There’s a reason for this, and it’s something beyond anyone’s control, even the president’s. The CNBC website reported Nov. 6 that the turkey flock in the United States has fallen to its lowest number in 40 years because of a “highly pathogenic” avian influenza, commonly known as bird flu.
This is very similar to the flu outbreak in 2022 that caused egg prices to skyrocket because many hens had to be killed. Once farmers rebuilt their flocks, egg prices came down in 2023, only to start rising again to a new peak of more than $6 per dozen this past March. Eggs are now down to the $3.50 range.
In recent years, large food suppliers have packaged turkeys with other holiday food in an effort to reduce the impact of price hikes. CNBC said Wal-Mart is charging $56 for a 16-pound turkey with side dishes to feed 10 people. Other price-conscious competitors like Aldi are charging $40 to feed 10 people, while Amazon has a Thanksgiving dinner deal for $25.
Trump even mentioned during one session with reporters that Wal-Mart was charging a lower price for this year’s holiday food package than it did in 2024. Unfortunately, that played right into the story that food prices have been rising since he took office in January.
CNN reported it’s true that this year’s Wal-Mart package is less expensive, but that’s because it contains only 15 products, while last year’s had 21. This year’s also includes a greater percentage of the company’s Great Value store brands compared to 2024.
The president also has said several times lately that beef is the only food that is more expensive this year, but a look at his administration’s information, specifically the Consumer Price Index, says otherwise.
In September, for example, the CPI said grocery prices were up 2.7% from 12 months prior. And they were up only 1.4% from January, when Trump took office.
Those are actually very creditable numbers, and the president and his staff can cite them as an example that they have inflation under better control than President Biden did.
However, a look at the itemized list in the September CPI shows why people are still grumbling about high prices. There are way-above-average price increases among foods that are staples of American kitchens: bakery products, lunch meats, frozen fish, apples, bananas, fresh vegetables, frozen juices, coffee (up a whopping 18% in a year, mostly due to huge tariffs against Brazil), sugar and candy.
It is a mistake for Trump to claim there’s nothing to see here, that all food prices but beef are down, and that his fellow Republicans simply aren’t talking enough about lower prices. His government’s statistics say that’s untrue.
Even worse, when he makes such indefensible claims, it is bound to make people wonder if he really understands the problem. It sounds a lot like the Biden team’s statements that “inflation’s not that bad,” and “the president is energetic and keeps a full schedule each day.”
Jack Ryan,
Enterprise-Journal
