Trump Desperately Tries to Blame Anyone but Himself for Inflation
U.S. inflation was up in January, with Americans taking yet more hits from the rising costs of groceries, rent, and energy.
The consumer price index indicated that prices rose by 3 percent in January compared to a year earlier, according to data released Wednesday from the Labor Department.
Rent alone made up 30 percent of that increase, according to The Washington Post's economic columnist Heather Long, who noted on X that the 'core' consumer price index—which excludes the volatile prices of food and energy—had practically stalled since June.
But Americans were still feeling sticker shock for some key grocery staples in January, when the price of a dozen eggs soared by 13.8 percent and averaged $4.95 across the country—a price tag that's still up by 53 percent from last year, according to The New York Times. Egg prices are only expected to increase amid a widening outbreak of avian flu, which has temporarily shuttered New York City's poultry markets and skyrocketed the cost of a standard dozen eggs to more than $12 in Key Food and CTown supermarkets, amid a nationwide egg shortage.
But Donald Trump felt that there was only one person to blame. ''BIDEN INFLATION UP!' the president posted on Truth Social Wednesday morning.
On the campaign trail, Trump repeatedly pledged to lower costs for American consumers on 'day one.' But three weeks into his second administration, Trump has repeatedly avoided answering the hard questions on exactly how he's going to provide relief for American's wallets.
'You said that tariff is a beautiful word,' pressed Fox News's Brett Baier in an interview with the president over the weekend. 'There are some signs in the market, consumer confidence, that they're a little jittery. So, if all goes to plan, when do you think families would be able to feel prices going down, groceries, energy? Or are you kind of saying to them, hang on, inflation may get worse until it gets better?'
But Trump quickly changed the topic, instead lumping the responsibility of rising inflation onto other countries.
'I think we're going to become a rich—look, we're not that rich right now,' Trump said. 'We owe $36 trillion. That's because we let all these nations take advantage of us. Same thing, like 200 billion with Canada. We owe 300—we have a deficit with Mexico of $350 billion. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to let that happen.'
Last week, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that the Trump administration doesn't 'have a timeline' for alleviating the nation's critically high cost of living.
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