Here is the article:
In August 2024, then-candidate former President Donald Trump made a pledge to bring down prices, starting on his first day in office. He repeated the promise on the campaign trail, often accompanied by the phrase “drill, baby, drill.” Many voters saw skyrocketing prices as a justifiable target, as they had taken a toll on their hard-earned pay and livelihoods.
However, Day One has turned into Day Seven, and prices, particularly for essential items like eggs, continue to rise. Despite a flurry of executive actions, Trump’s price-related promises have gone unfulfilled, according to a letter signed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren and 20 congressional Democrats.
The lawmakers wrote that Trump’s sole action on costs was an executive order that barely mentioned food prices, with no specific policy to reduce them. Instead, Trump has focused on mass deportations and pardoning January 6 attackers, including those who assaulted Capitol police officers.
Economists have long noted that broad-based price declines, if achievable, would be improbable and potentially dangerous for the economy. Even Trump’s own vice president, JD Vance, acknowledged that prices “are going to come down, but it’s going to take a little bit of time” and that the way to lower prices is “to encourage more capital investment into our country.”
Egg prices, for instance, have been driven higher by a deadly bird flu, while meat prices have risen due to ongoing drought, and coffee prices are expected to jump due to severe weather in South America. Housing costs will continue to rise due to a long-running shortage of inventory.
Trump has argued that he can bring down food prices by drilling for more oil domestically, but the US is already producing more oil than any other country. Moreover, it takes time to increase production, and reducing housing regulations may also be a lengthy process.
Democratic lawmakers offered potential solutions, saying they were willing to work with the president to lower food prices by encouraging competition and fighting price-gouging along the food supply chain. Despite inflation’s recent slowdown, it still hovers above the Federal Reserve’s target rate of 2%. The US central bankers will meet this week and are expected to hold rates steady, given inflation’s stubborn retreat trajectory and uncertainty around Trump’s tariff and immigration policies, which could ultimately raise prices.
