Prices across a wide range of sectors have been rising, and economists expect that once President Donald Trump’s tariffs fully go into effect, the increase may be substantial. But according to one top Trump official, prices are dropping. He credits “patriotism” and the President’s “leadership.”
“Economists, researchers and analysts have warned that President Donald Trump’s sweeping trade policy of tacking steep tariffs on most goods that come into America will deliver a taxing blow to consumers via higher prices,” CNN reported last week, while noting that “recent months’ economic data has shown that overall inflation has remained fairly tame.”
The price of gas, for example, may be down by 11.9% (yet nowhere near as low as what President Trump claims), but electricity and natural gas costs are up.
Through the end of May, food prices are up 2.9%, meats, poultry, fish, and eggs are up overall 6.1%, and electricity is up 4.5%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Also, rents are up 3.8%, and auto insurance is up 7%.
Bottom line, inflation is currently at 2.4%. The new report is due to be out on Tuesday and is expected to show significant price increases. One prediction shows inflation is likely to jump to 2.7% in the upcoming report.
White House Director of the National Economic Council (NEC), Kevin Hassett, offered a different take.
On CNBC on Monday (video below), Hassett pointed to what he says is a report from the Council of Economic Advisers “that showed that import prices into the U.S are dropping, actually dropping during all this.”
He points to what he calls President Donald Trump’s “leadership” for the decrease in at least some prices.
Hassett says his “theory” as “an economist of why that is, is that Americans, because of President Trump’s leadership, have recognized that when they buy an American product, they not only get perhaps a better product, certainly a better product, most of the time, but they’re also making their community stronger.”
“And so there’s, I think a lot of patriotism in the data,” Hassett insisted.
“The bottom line is people prefer American products, and so therefore, the demand for imports has gone way down, down so much that even with what tariffs have been there, where people would say, ‘oh, they might increase prices at least a little bit,’ we’ve seen prices going down,” he claimed.
Watch the video below or at this link.
Hassett says Trump's vibes are bringing prices down: "Americans because of President Trump's leadership have recognized that when they buy an American product, they not only get a better product most of the time, but they're also making their communities stronger. There's a lot… pic.twitter.com/stVUS3K2Bo— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 14, 2025
