Fact check: Trump lies again that grocery prices ‘have come way down’ this term

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Facing abysmal poll numbers on inflation as the midterm elections approach, President Donald Trump is sticking to the communications strategy he tried in the summer: lie.

Trump has tried for months to concoct an alternate reality in which the country has experienced broad deflation during this presidency, with prices for groceries and other items down big and still falling. He falsely told reporters Sunday: “The prices for groceries have come way down from Biden. Almost every price has come way down.”

It wasn’t clear whether the second sentence was about groceries in particular or about products of all kinds, but it was inaccurate regardless. Then, speaking to reporters again later in the day, he falsely said , “With the exception of oil, everything is going down.”

For good measure, Trump then made two more false claims in one sentence: “We inherited the worst inflation in the history of our country, and it’s going really down.”

Grocery prices are up, not “way down,” since former President Joe Biden left office. Grocery prices have increased 3.4% on average since January 2025, the month Trump took over from Biden, through August 2026, according to seasonally adjusted figures from the federal Consumer Price Index. (Overall consumer prices are up 4.8% over the same time period.)

Far more grocery products have increased in price than have “come way down” since Biden’s term ended. While a smattering of grocery items have gotten cheaper since January 2025, the federal figures show that a much greater number of grocery items have gotten more expensive. You can check out the numbers yourself in the searchable graphic at the bottom of this section.

Five of the six overarching categories of grocery products tracked by the Consumer Price Index are up substantially since January 2025: cereals and bakery products (up 3.3%); meats, poultry, fish and eggs (up 3%); fruits and vegetables (up 4.6%); nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials (up 6.3%); and “other food at home” (up 3%). The sixth category, dairy and related products, is basically flat.

Trump has repeatedly touted a major decline in the price of eggs. They are indeed down big since January 2025, 31.1%, after spiking at the end of Biden’s term because of an avian flu outbreak . But the federal figures show eggs are an outlier, not a representative example. No other grocery product or product category has fallen even a third as much as eggs have during this presidency.

Coffee, meanwhile, is up 21.8%, while the beef and veal category is up 16.5%. Dozens of additional grocery products have seen smaller increases.

It’s not just oil. Numerous products are getting more expensive, not “going down.” Oil prices have jumped since Trump launched a war with Iran in late February, but they’re not the only products whose prices have been rising in recent months. Contrary to Trump’s claim that “everything” else is “going down,” federal figures show that dozens of products were more expensive in August, whether compared with a month prior or to a year prior. Food, shelter and new vehicles had all gotten pricier, to cite a few notable examples.

Trump didn’t inherit the worst inflation in history, and it’s higher now than when he returned to office. The year-over-year inflation rate was 2.9% in Biden’s last full month in office, December 2024, and 3% January 2025, the month Trump took over partway through. Even that 3% rate is lower, not higher, than the most recent rates under Trump — 3.4% in both August 2026 and July 2026 — and it’s unremarkable by historical standards.

Trump could fairly say that peak year-over-year inflation under Biden, 9.1% in June 2022 , was the highest in more than 40 years. But even that 9.1% rate was far from the all-time high, 23.7% , and the rate then fell significantly before Trump returned to office.

The year-over-year inflation rate has been above 3% in each of the six months since the start of the Iran war. The rate increased each month from March through May, declined in June and July, and was flat in August.

It’s possible, of course, that the rate will decline in September and beyond. But Trump’s suggestion of a major improvement from the level he inherited is not supported by the current data.

CNN’s Matt Stiles contributed to this report.

Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

随着中期选举临近，面对糟糕的通胀民调数据，唐纳德·特朗普总统仍然坚持他在夏季尝试过的沟通策略：撒谎。

几个月来，特朗普一直试图捏造一个虚假的现实，声称美国在本届总统任期内经历了普遍的通货紧缩，食品杂货和其他商品的价格大幅下降，而且还在持续下跌。他周日对记者谎称：“食品杂货的价格比拜登执政时期大幅下降。几乎所有商品的价格都大幅下降了。”

尚不清楚第二句话是指食品杂货还是指所有种类的商品，但无论如何，这句话都是不准确的。当天晚些时候，他又在接受记者采访时错误地表示：“除了石油，所有东西都在下跌。”

为了进一步佐证自己的观点，特朗普随后又在一句话中提出了两个错误的说法：“我们继承了我国历史上最严重的通货膨胀，而现在通货膨胀正在迅速下降。”

自前总统乔·拜登卸任以来，食品杂货价格并非“大幅下降”，而是上涨。根据联邦消费者价格指数的季节性调整数据，自2025年1月（特朗普接替拜登的月份）至2026年8月，食品杂货价格平均上涨了3.4%。（同期整体消费者价格上涨了4.8%。）

自拜登任期结束以来，价格上涨的食品杂货远多于价格“大幅下降”的。虽然自2025年1月以来，少数食品杂货的价格有所下降，但联邦数据显示，价格上涨的食品杂货数量远超降价商品。您可以在本节底部的可搜索图表中查看具体数据。

消费者价格指数追踪的六大食品杂货类别中，有五类自2025年1月以来价格大幅上涨：谷物和烘焙食品（上涨3.3%）；肉类、家禽、鱼类和蛋类（上涨3%）；水果和蔬菜（上涨4.6%）；非酒精饮料和饮料原料（上涨6.3%）；以及“其他家庭食品”（上涨3%）。第六类，即乳制品及相关产品，价格基本持平。

特朗普曾多次吹嘘鸡蛋价格大幅下降。自2025年1月以来，鸡蛋价格确实大幅下降了31.1%，此前由于禽流感疫情在拜登任期末期曾出现价格飙升。但联邦数据显示，鸡蛋价格的下降是一个特例，并不具有代表性。在本届总统任期内，没有任何其他食品杂货或产品类别的价格跌幅能达到鸡蛋的三分之一。

与此同时，咖啡价格上涨了21.8%，牛肉和小牛肉价格上涨了16.5%。其他数十种食品杂货的价格也出现了小幅上涨。

不仅仅是石油。许多产品的价格都在上涨，而不是“下跌”。自特朗普2月底对伊朗发动战争以来，石油价格飙升，但近几个月来价格上涨的并非只有石油。与特朗普声称其他所有东西都在“下跌”的说法相反，联邦数据显示，8月份数十种产品的价格上涨，无论是与上月还是与去年同期相比。食品、住房和新车等都出现了价格上涨，这只是几个比较明显的例子。

特朗普接手时并非历史上最严重的通货膨胀，而且目前的通胀率比他重返白宫时还要高。拜登任期最后一个完整月份（2024年12月）的同比通胀率为2.9%，而特朗普中途接任的2025年1月的同比通胀率为3%。即使是3%的通胀率，也低于特朗普执政期间最近的两个月份——2026年8月和7月均为3.4%——而且从历史标准来看，这并不算特别高。

特朗普完全可以说，拜登执政期间的同比通胀峰值（2022年6月为9.1%）是40多年来的最高水平。但即使是9.1%的通胀率也远低于历史最高水平23.7%，而且在特朗普重返白宫之前，通胀率已经大幅下降。

自伊朗战争爆发以来的六个月里，同比通货膨胀率均高于3%。该比率在3月至5月逐月上升，6月和7月有所下降，8月则保持平稳。

当然，感染率有可能在9月及以后下降。但特朗普所说的感染率会比他接手时的水平大幅改善，目前的数据并不支持这一说法。

CNN的马特·斯泰尔斯对本报道亦有贡献。