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Fox touted Trump's campaign promise to quickly lower prices. Now both Fox and Trump are backtracking as prices increase.

Written by Zachary Pleat

Research contributions from Casey Wexler & Pete Tsipis

Published

Donald Trump’s supporters in right-wing media, particularly at Fox News, repeatedly hyped his oft-repeated campaign promise to quickly bring down consumer prices, and especially the cost of groceries, if he was reelected. 

These promises included immediate price decreases, with Trump saying during the campaign, “When I win, I will immediately bring prices down, starting on day one,” and, “Prices will come down. … They’ll come down fast.”

But after Trump took office, prices not only didn’t come down, they continued rising for many people and businesses. News organizations swiftly contrasted Trump’s lofty promises of immediate relief with the reality that he hasn’t been keeping those promises. The Trump administration’s illegal impoundment of congressionally authorized spending and his announcements of universal tariffs, nation-specific tariffs, and product-specific tariffs are already leading to higher costs and price hikes for Americans and are reportedly leading consumers to expect further price increases. 

And as Trump’s inflationary policies begin to take effect, both the Trump administration and Fox figures have begun providing excuses for why Trump failed in his promise to “immediately bring prices down.” 

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  • Fox repeatedly promoted Trump’s promise of lower prices if he was reelected

    • During a phone interview, Fox & Friends co-host Lawrence Jones gushed over Trump’s focus on lowering prices. During a March 5, 2024, phone interview with Trump, Fox & Friends co-host Lawrence Jones said: “Mr. President, a lot of people believe that you’re at your best when you’re fighting for the American people. And we just heard in the diners, we heard immigration, but the other top issue is the economy. What are you going to do to give us some relief when it comes to this inflation?” Trump responded by talking about oil production and saying “energy’s going to bring it all down.” [Media Matters, 3/5/24]
    • Fox host Sandra Smith: Trump “had me at let’s address this inflation nightmare.” This followed a clip of Trump’s Republican National Convention speech where he said, “I make this pledge to the great people of America: I will end the devastating inflation crisis immediately." [Fox News, The Five, 7/19/24]
    • Fox News host Sean Hannity: Voting for Trump will result in “next to zero inflation, lower gas prices and energy prices.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 8/22/24]
    • Fox host Laura Ingraham: “The debate is over. Trump wins on the issues that matter most: inflation, economy, and border security. Don't let the regime media fool you!” [Twitter/X, 9/24/24]
    • Hannity: Because of Trump’s victory, “we're gonna pay lower prices in the grocery store, pay a lot less for gasoline.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 11/7/24]
    • Fox Business host Taylor Riggs said Scott Bessent’s nomination as treasury secretary would lead to “lower prices, maybe immediately.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends First, 11/26/24]
    • Then-Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt on Fox & Friends said Trump “is going to get to work to day one ... to bring down the cost of living and energy in the country” and will “deliver on that promise.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 1/6/25]
    • Fox guest Ari Fleischer on Trump promising to lower prices: “The real answer is he’s going to accomplish it first off because of one phone call, his first phone call to the crown prince of Saudi Arabia. Just watch, Laura — they’re going to increase oil production.” Fleischer added: “The price of energy is going to come down.” (OPEC+ announced it would not increase oil production more than it already planned to after Trump called on the group to lower oil prices.) [Fox News, The Ingraham Angle, 1/27/25; Oilprice.com, 2/12/25]

  • Fox is now providing excuses for Trump not meeting his pledge to immediately lower prices

    • A guest on Fox Business said that the “data is going to come out more depressed now that the Trump administration is in” and answered affirmatively when anchor Maria Martiromo asked if that’s because the Biden administration was “cooking the books.” The panel cited routine revisions to jobs estimates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which led to conspiracy theorizing from right-wing media. [Fox Business, Mornings with Maria Bartiromo, 1/30/25; Media Matters, 8/21/24]
    • Fox guest Stephen Moore preemptively blamed Biden for an expected increase in prices. On America Reports, Moore said: “The problem for Trump is that, in the last few months that Biden was president, we saw inflation rising again, Sandra. I think this next report we get out later this week is going to show a pretty significant bump in prices. And obviously Trump wasn't even in office when that happened, so it will take, I think, about, you know, three to six months to start seeing the effect of Trump's policies on inflation.” [Fox News, America Reports, 2/10/25]
    • Fox anchor Dana Perino on prices continuing to rise: “People realize that Joe Biden caused the inflation and then ignored it.” Perino continued: “So I think that people look at that and say come on, sit down, and give President Trump a little bit of time. It's been three weeks.” [Fox News, The Five, 2/10/25]
    • Fox Business host Jackie DeAngelis complained that expecting immediate price decreases (like Trump promised) “isn’t necessarily possible or rational.” [Fox Business, The Big Money Show, 2/12/25]
    • Fox host Laura Ingraham complained that Democrats are calling out Trump for not immediately lowering prices like he promised. Ingraham said: “President Trump hasn't been in basically a month or so and yet the Democrats are making it seem like there should be monumental change on the economy right away, immediately.” [Fox News, The Ingraham Angle, 2/12/25]
    • Fox Business anchor David Asman: “What Donald Trump has inherited is much worse than the numbers that we were looking at before. It makes a lot of people wonder whether those numbers were cooked.” [Fox Business, Varney & Co., 2/13/25]
    • Fox Business guest Jacob Sonenshine of Barron’s said an additional percentage point of inflation from Trump’s tariffs “doesn’t really matter” because “the market’s going to power right through it.” [Fox Business, Mornings with Maria Bartiromo, 2/13/25]
    • The Five co-host Jeanine Pirro: “Don't you think it's rather ridiculous for the Democrats to be complaining, ‘It's just four weeks, and the economy isn't better.’” She added: “It's just four weeks and eggs haven't come down. How ridiculous is that?” Co-host Kayleigh McEnany responded: “Totally ridiculous.” [Fox News, The Five, 2/21/25]

  • News organizations report that Trump has abandoned his pledge to lower prices and pushed policies that would likely increase them

    • CNN: “Trump pledged to bring down food prices on Day One. Instead, eggs are getting more expensive.” CNN reported that egg prices continued to rise during the first week of the Trump administration as “Day One has turned into Day Seven,” and that Democratic lawmakers have complained that “despite a flurry of executive actions, Trump’s price-related promises have gone unfulfilled.” CNN additionally reported that “Trump’s frequent price-dropping pledges have long been countered by economists who have noted that broad-based price declines not only would be outright dangerous for an economy by creating a deflationary ‘doom loop,’ but, also, that they’d be improbable to achieve.” [CNN.com, 1/28/25]
    • AP reported that the Department of Agriculture predicts egg prices will “soar another 20% this year.” [The Associated Press, 2/18/25]
    • Politico: “Trump’s pledge to lower prices is already facing a reality test.” Politico noted that Trump’s various promises to lower prices face “practical limitations,” citing the soaring price of eggs, the problem with his pledge to increase oil production to a degree which oil companies aren’t likely to desire, and his “sweeping tariffs that could be placed on products from every U.S. trading partner, risking another uptick in costs.” [Politico, 1/29/25]
    • Reuters: “Trump tariffs to stoke US food inflation despite pledge to lower costs.” Reuters reported that economists said “U.S. consumers grappling with soaring prices for beef and eggs will face even higher costs for meat, vegetables and fruit if President Donald Trump imposes tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports,” even though Trump “pledged to bring down costs for ordinary Americans.” [Reuters, 1/31/25]
    • NPR: “Prices were a key issue in 2024, but Trump makes clear they're not his top priority.” NPR reported that in the beginning of the Trump administration, “one particular thing has been conspicuously absent: a focus on lowering prices. 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.” [NPR, 2/1/25]
    • The Guardian: “Inflation picks up speed after Trump promised to ‘rapidly’ bring down prices.” The Guardian noted that “since his election victory last November, however, Trump has appeared to soften his pledge,” citing a December Time interview where he said that “it’s hard to bring things down once they’re up.” The Guardian additionally explained that “many economists have warned that Trump’s tariff strategy risks exacerbating inflation.” [The Guardian, 2/12/15]
    • NY Times: “With High Prices Persisting, Trump Tempers Tone on Slaying Inflation.” The New York Times reported that despite Trump’s pledge to lower prices on “Day 1,” his administration has “become more measured in how they discuss their efforts to tame inflation,” “downplaying the likelihood that consumer costs like groceries will decline anytime soon, reflecting the limited power that presidents have to control prices.” [The New York Times, 2/12/25]

  • Trump and his administration began walking back his pledge to immediately reduce prices even before taking office

    • In a December Time interview, Trump said of his pledge to bring down prices: “I'd like to bring them down. It's hard to bring things down once they're up. You know, it's very hard.” Trump said this in response to the question, “If the prices of groceries don't come down, will your presidency be a failure?” [Time, 12/12/24]
    • Trump said twice that he prioritizes immigration over inflation. NPR reported that on the day of Trump’s inauguration, he told supporters: “They all said inflation was the No. 1 issue. 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.” Days later, Trump reiterated that lowering prices was not his main concern, saying during a Republican congressional retreat: “I always felt the border was first. I talked about that much more so than I did inflation. 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.” [NPR, 2/1/25]
    • Vice President JD Vance also recently backtracked on Trump’s pledge to immediately lower prices, saying in an interview: “Prices are going to come down, but it’s going to take a little bit of time.” [CBS News, Face the Nation, 1/26/25]
    • Trump press secretary Karoline Leavitt said when pressed on when prices would come down, “I don’t have a timeline.” [The New York Times, 2/12/25]
    • The NY Times reported that in a Fox interview, “Trump demurred when pressed about when families struggling with high prices would start to feel some relief.” The New York Times reported that Trump instead “suggested that his policies would make America a rich country, which would reduce the burden on consumers by, in theory, increasing their earnings.” [The New York Times, 2/12/25]

  • Many Americans are facing and expecting increased costs due to Trump’s actions

    • A Trump executive order to pause some federal spending led to surcharges on some Alabamans’ utility bills. [AL.com, 2/11/25]
    • Cato Institute vice president Scott Lincicome posted price increase notices from construction and appliance manufacturers in response to Trump’s tariffs on Chinese imports. [Twitter/X, 2/14/25, 2/14/25, 2/14/25]
    • Wall Street Journal: “Tariffs Give U.S. Steelmakers a Green Light to Lift Prices.” The Journal reported that Trump’s steel tariffs could “enable domestic companies to raise their prices, too,” and followed up with an example of it already happening: “At Riverdale Mills, a Massachusetts-based manufacturer of wire fencing and welded mesh used in lobster and crab traps, Chief Executive James Knott said his domestic suppliers of steel wire rod notified him two weeks ago that they are raising prices.” [The Wall Street Journal, 2/4/25]
    • Reuters reported that steel prices have increased costs for manufacturers in anticipation of Trump’s tariffs. Reuters explained: “While President Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum are only slated to start on March 12, the action is already reverberating through the network of producers and builders that rely on the metals to make their goods. And not in a good way.” Reuters additionally reported: “Steel prices in the U.S. have surged in recent days, adding to gains since Trump became president. Hot rolled coil prices in the Midwest have jumped 12% to $839 per short ton during the two weeks to Thursday and climbed 20% since Trump took office on January 20, according to data provider Fastmarkets. By contrast, the price of that type of steel has risen only 6% in northern Europe and was barely changed in eastern China since January 20.” [Reuters, 2/24/25]
    • Major PC and laptop manufacturer Acer responded to Trump’s tariffs on Chinese imports with a 10% price increase for its computers. Acer CEO Jason Chen said: “We will have to adjust the end user price to reflect the tariff. We think 10 percent probably will be the default price increase because of the import tax. It’s very straightforward.” [PC Gamer, 2/21/25]
    • WSJ: “U.S. Consumer Confidence Falls Back on Fears of Tariff-Induced Price Increases.” The Wall Street Journal reported that the “University of Michigan’s index of consumer sentiment tumbled to 64.7 at the end of February, well below January’s 71.7. It also was weaker than economists’ expectations of 67.8 from a Wall Street Journal poll.” The Journal further reported that “as a symbol of renewed concerns among U.S. consumers, year-ahead inflation expectations jumped to 4.3% this month from 3.3% in January, the highest reading since 2023 and now well above the range seen in the two years prior to the pandemic.” [The Wall Street Journal, 2/21/25]
    • CNN: “The stock market had its worst week of Trump’s presidency – the Dow lost 1,200 points over the course of Thursday and Friday” as “investors grew fearful that the weakening consumer sentiment could lead to a pullback in Americans’ shopping habits.” CNN also quoted FWDBonds chief economist Chris Rupkey telling investors, “The public’s fears have soared in just the last two weeks showing the blizzard of changes coming from the president’s desk have spilled over the line between pro-growth into the realm of pro-inflation. Once inflation expectations start moving higher it is only a matter of time before actual inflation takes off.” [CNN, 2/24/25]

  • Economists warned that Trump’s policies of tariffs and mass deportation would reignite inflation

    • Trump’s earliest acts included a major focus on mass deportation and announcing 25% tariffs on America’s biggest trading partners and industrial metals. According to the American Immigration Council, “on the first day of his second term of office, President Donald Trump issued ten executive orders and proclamations seeking to change the face of U.S. immigration law and policy” to “scale up a ‘mass deportation’ operation that everyone without legal status in the United States will be highly vulnerable to.” Trump also initially announced 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada, as well as universal 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum. [American Immigration Council, 1/22/25; Media Matters, 2/4/25, 2/11/25]
    • Economists across the political spectrum warned that Trump’s mass deportation and tariff policies would worsen inflation. These included conservative economists Casey B. Mulligan, Doug Holtz-Eakin, and Michael Strain. Progressive and nonpartisan economists, such as Dean Baker, Claudia Sahm, and Josh Bivens also said Trump’s trade and immigration policies would worsen inflation. [Media Matters, 6/18/24]
    • Sixteen Nobel Prize-winning economists released a letter in June warning that Trump’s re-election “will have economic repercussions for years, and possibly decades, to come” and that his policies “will reignite … inflation.” The letter cited “nonpartisan researchers, including at Evercore, Allianz, Oxford Economics, and the Peterson Institute,” who “predict that if Donald Trump successfully enacts his agenda, it will increase inflation.” [Media Matters, 6/27/24]