Rerun

recurring claim

The recurring claim that prices are coming down

You're probably here because of the Sep 2026 rerun. This is the 14th time since 2022 this story has run. The previous rerun was Jul 2026.

About this story

Since 2022, presidents and White House officials of both parties have repeatedly said inflation was down or that prices were "coming down" or "way down," including grocery, egg and prescription drug prices. Fact-checkers have compared those statements with Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index data and USDA egg prices. In most of the claims they reviewed, the data showed a slower inflation rate, or lower prices for a few items such as eggs, while overall and grocery price levels kept rising.

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

20162026

Sep 2026 Trump claims grocery prices have come way down from Biden

On Sept. 27, 2026, Trump told reporters, "The prices for groceries have come way down from Biden. Almost every price has come way down." Later that day he said, "With the exception of oil, everything is going down," and "We inherited the worst inflation in the history of our country, and it's going really down" (CNN). CNN, citing seasonally adjusted CPI figures, reported grocery prices up 3.4% and overall prices up 4.8% from January 2025 through August 2026, with eggs down 31.1% over that time. The BLS August 2026 release, published Sept. 11, showed the all items index up 0.4% in August (seasonally adjusted) and 3.4% over 12 months; the food at home index "was unchanged over the month" and rose 2.2% over 12 months. CNN noted the 12-month rate was 3% in January 2025, so the inflation rate in August 2026 was higher, not lower. The data show price levels rising and an inflation rate above where it was when Trump took office. CNN's headline said "Trump lies again that grocery prices 'have come way down' this term." Daniel Dale, the CNN fact-checker, wrote on X that "overall grocery prices are up 3.4% since Jan. 2025, and way more grocery items are up than down." In its October 2026 update, FactCheck.org later reported that the CPI rose 5.4% over Trump's first 20 months and that the 12-month increase in the most recent BLS report was 3.7%.

  • CNN article
    Grocery prices have increased 3.4% on average since January 2025, the month Trump took over from Biden, through August 2026
  • x.com social post
    Overall grocery prices are up 3.4% since Jan. 2025, and way more grocery items are up than down.
  • HuffPost article
    Critics are hitting President Donald Trump with a real-time price check after he insisted that the cost of common items, including groceries, is coming down.

Sources: CNN reliable · HuffPost needs a second source · factcheck.org reliable · x.com needs a second source · bls.gov needs a second source

Jul 2026 – Aug 2026 And that's true with everything else

In a July 27, 2026 speech in Michigan, Trump said, "Now eggs are much lower than they were when we first started. And that's true with everything else" (CNN, HuffPost). On Fox News on August 4 he said, "I inherited very, very high costs, and they're all coming down now… The food, the groceries, it's all coming down." BLS's June 2026 CPI release (published July 14) reported that the overall index fell 0.4% in June (seasonally adjusted), "the largest 1-month decrease since April 2020," with energy the largest contributor. Over the 12 months ending June, overall prices rose 3.5% and food at home rose 2.7%. Food at home rose 0.2% in June itself. So the data show a one-month drop in the overall price level, but grocery price levels were still rising. PolitiFact rated the Fox statement Mostly False, finding overall prices up about 4.3% and groceries up 3.4% since January 2025, with eggs, bacon and bread down. CNN's fact-check, headlined in part "'Everything else'? Absolutely not," reported eggs down 32.7% from January 2025 to June 2026 and said that "far more prices have gone up since his second inauguration than have gone down." HuffPost's answer was that "only eggs are actually getting cheaper."

  • CNN article
    Far more prices have gone up since his second inauguration than have gone down.
  • wral.com article
    Prices have decreased in some areas since Trump returned to office, including grocery items such as eggs, bacon and bread and durable goods, including cars. But items with falling prices are in the minority.
  • HuffPost article
    The short answer: Only eggs are actually getting cheaper. Everything else is still getting more expensive.

Sources: wral.com needs a second source · PolitiFact reliable · CNN reliable · bls.gov needs a second source · HuffPost needs a second source

Apr 2026 Leavitt says "Egg Prices Are Down 80%"

On April 3, 2026, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote on X, "Happy Easter: Egg Prices Are Down 80%," according to The National News Desk. She linked a Breitbart article, which The National News Desk quoted as saying: "In the producer price index for eggs for fresh use, prices in February were down 80.4 percent from a year earlier." The cited figure is a producer price index, which BLS says measures "the average change over time in the selling prices" received by domestic producers. It is not a retail price measure. The BLS Consumer Price Index, which measures prices paid by urban consumers, reported a "42.1 percent drop in the eggs index" over the 12 months ending February. Both measures show egg prices lower than a year earlier, not just rising more slowly, though the retail drop was about half the size of the wholesale figure. Over the same 12 months, BLS reported the all items index up 2.4% and food at home up 2.4%. Social media users replying to the post pointed to gas prices, which the article said averaged above $4 as the Iran war continued.

  • x.com social post
    Happy Easter: Egg Prices Are Down 80%
  • abc3340.com article
    White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that egg prices are down 80% as Easter approaches.

Sources: abc3340.com needs a second source · katv.com needs a second source · bls.gov needs a second source · bls.gov needs a second source

Jan 2026 Trump at the Detroit Economic Club: "Prices are down"

In a Jan. 13, 2026 speech to the Detroit Economic Club, Trump said, "Inflation is stopped. Wages are up. Prices are down" (Marketplace), and "Grocery prices are starting to go rapidly down, rent is down, airfares are down, hotel rates are down, cell phone prices are down" (Bridge Michigan). The BLS December 2025 CPI release, published that morning, said the all items index "increased 0.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis in December" and "rose 2.7 percent for the 12 months ending December," the same increase as over the 12 months ending November. The food at home index "rose 0.7 percent in December" and 2.4 percent over 12 months. So the data show neither falling prices nor a falling inflation rate that month. A CNN fact-check republished by WRAL said average consumer prices were about 2.2% higher, seasonally adjusted, than in January 2025, and that "some products got cheaper during that period, but far more products got more expensive." Bridge Michigan noted that airfares had decreased during Trump's second term.

Sources: wral.com needs a second source · bridgemi.com needs a second source · marketplace.org needs a second source · bls.gov needs a second source · ABC News reliable

Dec 2025 The Pennsylvania rally and the prime-time address

At the Dec. 9 Mount Pocono rally, Trump said, "Our prices are coming down tremendously from the highest prices in the history of our country" (quoted by PolitiFact). In the Dec. 17 address he said, "I am bringing those high prices down and bringing them down very fast" (quoted by ABC News). The latest BLS data at the time of the rally showed overall CPI up 3.0% in the 12 months ending September, the same rate as January 2025, according to CBS and PolitiFact. The BLS release of Dec. 18 showed prices up 2.7% over the 12 months ending November, with food at home up 1.9%. That is a slower rate of increase than in January, but overall prices were still rising, not falling. Some individual items did fall in price. Eggs dropped from a BLS average of $6.23 a dozen in March to $3.49 in September (43%), per ABC; Trump had claimed an 82% drop. ABC also reported hotel rates down 0.8% and car rental prices down 5.0% over the past year, and CBS reported gasoline down 0.5% in September from a year earlier.

  • PolitiFact article
    Our prices are coming down tremendously from the highest prices in the history of our country.
  • ABC News article
    I am bringing those high prices down and bringing them down very fast,
  • youtube.com video
    transcript
    Our prices are coming down tremendously from the highest prices in the history of our country.

Sources: cbsnews.com reliable · NPR reliable · PolitiFact reliable · bls.gov needs a second source · ABC News reliable

Sep 2025 "Grocery prices are down" (UN General Assembly speech)

In his UN speech on Sept. 23, 2025, Trump said that under his leadership "grocery prices are down" and "inflation has been defeated." CBS, citing the BLS, reported that food-at-home prices rose 0.6% in August 2025, which CBS called the fastest monthly rise in nearly three years, and were up 2.7% from August 2024. CNN's fact-check, citing CPI figures, said average grocery prices were about 1% higher in August than in January 2025, and labeled the grocery claim "False." Both measures show grocery prices still going up, not down. The overall inflation rate was not falling either: CBS reported that the CPI "rose by 2.9% in August, a slight increase from months prior." Some single items did get cheaper. CBS reported that egg prices had fallen to $3.59 a dozen in August from $4.95 in January.

  • cbsnews.com article
    Prices for food at home increased by 0.6% in August, which was the fastest monthly rise in nearly three years, with increases across all major food groups.
  • cbsnews.com article
    So grocery prices are increasing at a slower rate than the overall CPI. But they're still increasing.
  • rev.com statement

Sources: cbsnews.com reliable · CNN reliable · Time reliable

Sep 2025 – Oct 2025 Drug prices "coming down" and groceries "way down"

CNN reported that Trump repeatedly said grocery prices were down: "Under my leadership…grocery prices are down" (UN General Assembly, Sept. 23); "We've gotten prices way down for groceries" (Oct. 10); "Now, as you know, groceries are down" (Oct. 14); "Groceries are down" (Oct. 16); "Grocery prices are way down" (Oct. 21). Citing BLS CPI figures released Oct. 24, CNN reported that average grocery prices rose 0.3% from August to September, after a 0.6% rise from July to August, and were about 2.7% higher than a year earlier and about 1.4% higher than in January 2025. Overall consumer prices were up 3.0% over the year. These figures show grocery price levels rising, not falling. CNN wrote that the figures showed "that President Donald Trump was wrong." Over the same weeks Trump said drug prices were coming down by more than 100%: "We have something else called 'favored nations,' where I'm going to be reducing drug prices by 1,000%" (Sept. 22, reported by CNN on Sept. 23) and "Drug prices are coming down 400%, 200%, 600%, numbers that nobody's ever seen before" (Oct. 16). CNN called those figures "mathematically impossible," because a 100% cut would bring a price to $0.

  • CNN article
    Grocery prices are way down
  • CNN article
    Drug prices are coming down 400%, 200%, 600%, numbers that nobody's ever seen before
  • CNN article
    We have something else called 'favored nations,' where I'm going to be reducing drug prices by 1,000%

Sources: CNN reliable · kvia.com needs a second source · CNN reliable · CNN reliable

Aug 2025 Trump says drug prices were cut by "1,200, 1,300, 1,400, 1,500%"

On Sunday, Aug. 3, 2025, Trump told reporters, "You know, we've cut drug prices by 1,200, 1,300, 1,400, 1,500%. I don't mean 50%, I mean 14 — 1,500%." In the same remarks he described the cuts as still to come: "It will start over the next two to three months" (AP). The AP fact check gave a rating of "This is false." It said a cut of more than 100% "would theoretically mean that people are being paid to take medications." Experts it quoted said there was no sign of such a large drop. At the time, the administration had sent letters to 17 drug makers asking for "most favored nation" pricing (AP, Newsweek). For context on overall prices, the BLS release of Aug. 12, 2025, published a week after these remarks, reported the all items index up 0.2% in July (seasonally adjusted) and 2.7% over 12 months. The food at home index fell 0.1% in July but was up 2.2% over 12 months. CNN's Aug. 29 fact-check cited the same overall figures. So overall prices were still rising, and grocery prices dipped for one month but were higher than a year earlier.

  • nbcwashington.com article
    Cutting drug prices by more than 100% would theoretically mean that people are being paid to take medications.
  • Newsweek (pre–2013) article
    Trump told reporters on Sunday that his administration had cut the price of some prescription drugs by as much as 1,500 percent.
  • youtube.com video
    You know, we've cut drug prices by 1,200, 1,300, 1,400, 1,500%. I don't mean 50%, I mean 14 — 1,500%.

Sources: nbcwashington.com needs a second source · Newsweek (pre–2013) needs a second source · CNN reliable · CNN reliable · bls.gov needs a second source

Apr 2025 Trump says egg prices "came down 50%"

On April 2, 2025, in a Rose Garden speech announcing tariffs, President Trump said "The egg prices came down 50%." He added that eggs were "down about 59% now, and they're going down further" (PolitiFact). PolitiFact reported that the USDA national wholesale price for a dozen large white eggs fell from $6.55 on Jan. 21 to $3 on March 28. That wholesale price fell by more than half. Retail prices were a different story. PolitiFact said the latest BLS figure, for February, was about $5.90 a dozen for grade A large eggs, up from about $4.90 in January. Axios later reported that BLS data showed a record $6.23 in March. PolitiFact rated the claim "Half True."

  • PolitiFact article
    The egg prices came down 50%
  • wral.com article
    Consumers aren't necessarily experiencing this price decline at the check-out register yet.
  • Axios article
    Egg prices rose to a record high of $6.23 per dozen in March

Sources: PolitiFact reliable · wral.com needs a second source · Axios reliable

Jun 2024 Biden at the CNN debate: "working to bring down the prices around the kitchen table"

At the June 27, 2024 debate hosted by CNN, the first question to President Biden began, "President Biden, inflation has slowed, but prices remain high." Biden answered that "we brought down the price of prescription drugs," citing insulin, and said, "So we're working to bring down the prices around the kitchen table." Later he said, "We're going to continue to fight to bring down inflation and give people a break" (CNN transcript). PolitiFact rated the insulin claim Half True: the Medicare cap was $35 a month, not the $15 he first said, and he corrected the number to $35 in his closing statement. Trump said Biden "also said he inherited 9 percent inflation," and ABC News' live fact-check wrote, "Biden said he inherited 9% inflation. This is false." The CNN and Rev transcripts do not show Biden using the 9% figure at the debate; there he said, "There was no inflation when I became president." ABC called Trump's reply, that Biden "inherited almost no inflation," "mostly true," while PolitiFact rated Trump's line that he left "essentially no inflation" Mostly False. The BLS release of June 12, 2024 showed the all items index unchanged in May (seasonally adjusted) and up 3.3% over 12 months, with food at home unchanged in May and up 1.0% over 12 months. That is a falling inflation rate compared with the 9.1% peak ABC cited for June 2022: prices were flat for the month but still higher than a year earlier, not lower.

  • CNN broadcast
    So we're working to bring down the prices around the kitchen table.
  • ABC News article
    Biden said he inherited 9% inflation. This is false. In January 2021, year-over-year inflation was about 1.4%.
  • ABC News article
    This is mostly true. In January 2021, when Biden was inaugurated, year-over-year inflation was about 1.4%.
  • youtube.com video

Sources: ABC News reliable · ABC News reliable · PolitiFact reliable · CNN reliable · rev.com needs a second source · bls.gov needs a second source

Mar 2024 Biden's State of the Union, "Inflation has dropped from 9% to 3%"

In his March 7, 2024 State of the Union address, President Biden said: "Inflation has dropped from 9% to 3% — the lowest in the world!" He also said "wages keep going up, inflation keeps coming down." PolitiFact said Biden was correct that the year-over-year inflation rate had dropped from 9%, a four-decade high in summer 2022, to "a little above 3%." It added that seven OECD countries had lower inflation than the U.S. in December 2023. FactCheck.org, republished by Roll Call, said several nations reported lower rates than the U.S. in December. It also said that, according to BLS figures, real weekly earnings for rank-and-file workers fell 3.1% after Biden took office. The latest BLS release before the speech, published Feb. 13, 2024, showed the all items index up 0.3% in January (seasonally adjusted) and 3.1% over 12 months, with food at home up 0.4% in the month and 1.2% over 12 months. The claim is about a falling inflation rate, and that is what the BLS data show: prices were still rising, more slowly, not falling.

  • PolitiFact article
    Biden is correct that the year-over-year inflation rate has dropped from 9%, a four-decade high, in summer of 2022 to a little above 3% today
  • rollcall.com article
    Biden claimed that the more recent U.S. inflation rate of about 3 percent is the 'lowest in the world!' But several nations reported lower rates than the U.S. in December.
  • c-span.org video Watch

Sources: PolitiFact reliable · rollcall.com reliable · bls.gov needs a second source

Jan 2023 Biden on the December 2022 CPI

On Jan. 12, 2023, after the December CPI release, Biden wrote on Twitter, as quoted by The Center Square: "For the sixth month in a row, yearly inflation is down… it's coming down here. And gas prices, food, and more are following." In a speech the same day, CNBC reported him saying, "It's down from 9.1% this summer. Inflation is now at it's lowest level since October 2021." BLS reported that the overall CPI fell 0.1% in December (seasonally adjusted) but was up 6.5% over 12 months, "the smallest 12-month increase since the period ending October 2021." Food at home rose 0.2% in the month and 11.8% over the year. So the annual inflation rate was falling, while grocery prices were still rising. The one-month drop in overall CPI was a real price decline, but BLS said gasoline was "by far the largest contributor" to it.

  • thecentersquare.com article
    It might be rising in economies around the world, but it's coming down here. And gas prices, food, and more are following.
  • cnbc.com article
    It's down from 9.1% this summer. Inflation is now at it's lowest level since October 2021.
  • youtube.com video
    It might be rising in economies around the world, but it's coming down here. And gas prices, food, and more are following.

Sources: bls.gov needs a second source · bls.gov needs a second source · thecentersquare.com needs a second source · cnbc.com reliable

Sep 2022 Biden's 60 Minutes interview on inflation

In a 60 Minutes interview that aired Sept. 18, 2022, Scott Pelley told President Biden that "the annual inflation rate came in at 8.3%." Biden answered, "Inflation rate month to month was just-- just an inch, hardly at all." He added that "for the last several months, it hasn't spiked" and that prices "have gone up, but they've come down for energy" (CBS transcript). Asked whether inflation would continue to decline, he said, "I'm telling the American people that we're gonna get control of inflation" (Bloomberg Law). The BLS release of Sept. 13, 2022 said the all items index "rose 0.1 percent in August on a seasonally adjusted basis after being unchanged in July" and "increased 8.3 percent" over the last 12 months. The food at home index "rose 0.7 percent in August" and 13.5 percent over 12 months, and the gasoline index "fell 10.6 percent over the month." So the data show a slow monthly rate for overall prices, with energy prices falling, while overall prices were still rising year over year and grocery prices kept rising both month to month and year over year. They do not show overall prices falling.

  • cbsnews.com broadcast
    Inflation rate month to month was just-- just an inch, hardly at all,
  • Fox News article
    claiming that the month-to-month rate has "hardly" risen – which prompted his CBS interviewer to dispute his response.

Sources: cbsnews.com reliable · Fox News needs a second source · bls.gov needs a second source · news.bloomberglaw.com needs a second source

Aug 2022 Biden's "zero percent inflation" in July

On Aug. 10, 2022, speaking at the White House, Biden said "Today, we received news that our economy had zero percent inflation in the month of July -- zero percent", and added that "the price of some things go up went up last month the price of other things went down by the same amount. The result. Zero inflation last month." The BLS release that morning said the CPI-U "was unchanged in July on a seasonally adjusted basis after rising 1.3 percent in June" and that "over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 8.5 percent before seasonal adjustment." BLS also reported that "the gasoline index fell 7.7 percent in July and offset increases in the food and shelter indexes", and that "the food index continued to rise, increasing 1.1 percent over the month as the food at home index rose 1.3 percent." So the data show a flat month for overall prices, a year-over-year inflation rate that had slowed (prices still 8.5% higher than a year earlier), and grocery prices still rising. They do not show overall prices falling.

  • Bloomberg broadcast
    Today, we received news that our economy had zero percent inflation in the month of July -- zero percent.
  • Fox News article
    We just received news that our economy had 0% inflation in July. While the price of some things went up, the price of others, like gas, clothing, and more, dropped.
  • Snopes article
    The statement was also technically true, if somewhat misleading.
  • youtube.com video
    Today we received news that our economy had zero percent inflation in the month of July. Zero percent.

Sources: bls.gov needs a second source · Snopes reliable · Fox News needs a second source · slate.com needs a second source