President Donald Trump has boasted that he won his second term on two issues, on the U.S. southern border and immigration — and “on groceries.” On the campaign trail Trump repeatedly promised that he’d fix both problems toot suite, telling rally-goers at a June appearance: “When I win, I will immediately bring prices down, starting on day one.”
The Trump administration is fond of the phrase “promises made, promises kept” — which was featured in Trump’s victory speech after the 2024 election. But while Trump has been extraordinarily active in pursuing his MAGA agenda through an onslaught of executive orders — and while ICE immigration sweeps and deportations have begun quickly in Trump 2.0 — grocery prices, which no executive order can determine, remain as high or higher than they were before he took office.
[Trump’s promise to cause prices to plummet on “day one” has become another instance of the famous dictum that citizens are advised to take Trump “seriously, but not literally.”]
Notably, some of Trump’s early executive orders are predicted to make prices worse, at least in the short term, with even the President himself conceding that his proposed trade-war tariffs with Canada, Mexico and China may cause American consumers “some pain.”
Economists and food industry executives largely concur, saying U.S. consumers “will face even higher costs for meat, vegetables and fruit if President Donald Trump imposes tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports.”
A few Republicans including Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) are complaining about Trump’s threats of tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, which represent a threat to the household economies of everyday Americans.
Paul, a doctor who dutifully swallowed his reservations about Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s confirmation as HHS Secretary in order to express fealty to Trump, said recently that “Tariffs are taxes. Taxing trade will mean less trade and higher prices” for everyday Americans.
Tariffs are simply taxes. Conservatives once united against new taxes. Taxing trade will mean less trade and higher prices.
— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) February 1, 2025
Former Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) also called Trump’s tariffs “a bad idea” and Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) voiced concerns about the likely dent in consumer spending power created by tariff-induced inflation.
Peter Navarro, Trump’s senior counselor for trade and manufacturing, defended the President’s proposed tariffs on Fox News on Monday and repeatedly said: “It’s a drug war not a trade war.”
(Trump has said the tariffs are largely, though not solely, a punitive measure for the three countries he says are most responsible for the American fentanyl epidemic.)
[Note: Both Canada and Mexico have negotiated 30-day delays on the tariffs and agreed to increase law enforcement on the borders.]
Navarro responded to Senator Paul’s comments about Trump’s tariffs: “Anybody who’s talking about inflation right now is dishonoring, dishonoring the men and women and children who have died at the hand of Chinese, Mexican, Canadian fentanyl coming across our borders. That is what this is about.”
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