Has Trump kept his promise to tackle rising prices?

President Donald Trump came to power for the second time on the back of his campaign promise to tackle inflation.

The sharp rise in the cost of living was at the forefront of voters’ concerns and Trump blamed President Joe Biden.

He also made sweeping promises to lower prices for Americans “starting on day one.”

A year after his victory, the BBC is reviewing some of the president’s claims.

“When I win, I will lower prices immediately, starting on day one,” Trump declared at an August 2024 press conference surrounded by canned food, milk, meat and eggs.

The official data – which includes a four-month period when Biden was still president – It shows grocery prices rose 2.7% in the 12 months to September 2025Some items saw significantly sharp increases:

• Coffee: 18.9%
• Ground beef (ground beef): 12.9%
• Banana: 6.9%

Since Trump took office in January, data also shows that, with the exception of one decline recorded in April, Grocery prices have risen every month.

Professor David Ortega, a food economics expert, told the BBC: “The President of the United States has little control over food prices, especially in the short term.”

He said that Trump’s tariffs lead to higher prices for some foods, as one-third of the coffee consumed in the United States comes from Brazil and is therefore subject to a 50% tariff.

Ortega adds that Trump’s campaign against illegal immigration may have also had an impact, especially in agriculture where it is estimated that up to 40% of workers are undocumented, which is roughly 1 million people.

“As you know, farmers and businesses have to raise wages in order to attract more workers. But trying to measure those effects in terms of price increases is almost impossible right now.”

Diane Swonk, chief economist at KPMG, believes changes in tariff and immigration policy have contributed to higher costs.

“There is no doubt that these shifts are now beginning to emerge as inflationary pressures,” she said.

But she adds that other factors, including weather events, contributed.

“With coffee, you had climate issues because of a very bad growing season, and that was exacerbated by the tariffs on Brazil and Colombia as well,” she said.

A White House official told the BBC that President Trump did not control weather patterns in South America, and that the rise in coffee prices was a global phenomenon.

Data that tracks the cost of coffee It appears that prices rose globally, peaking in February, but are now falling.

The same official said that the president is addressing rising beef prices by temporarily increasing imports.

While grocery prices have risen overall, not all items have become more expensive.

When Trump succeeded Biden in January, The price for a dozen large eggs was $4.93 (£3.79), rising to a record high of $6.23 (£4.78) in March after the bird flu outbreak.

Prices have since dropped to $3.49 (£2.68) a dozen.

White House spokesman Kush Desai said, “President Trump’s supply-side policies are working to tame the inflation crisis that Joe Biden is suffering from.”

Other items that have dropped in price over the past 12 months include: Butter and margarine (-2%), ice cream (-0.7%) and frozen vegetables (-0.7%).

During his election campaign, Trump pledged to sharply reduce electricity bills.

“Under my administration, we will halve energy and electricity prices within 12 months, and a maximum of 18 months,” he said at a rally in August 2024.

Since he became president, prices have risen.

The latest figures show the average residential electricity prices reached 17.62 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) in August 2025 – Up from 15.94 cents per kilowatt-hour in January 2025, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

“It was technically impossible [to halve prices] “At the time he made the promise,” according to Professor James Sweeney of the Stanford Precourt Energy Institute.

He explained that electricity prices reflect not only the cost of generation, but also the cost of delivering it via “wires, transformers, and everything else.”

Professor Sweeney attributes this increase to demand and supply issues.

“We have an increase in demand that is mostly driven by data centers. People creating images with AI are using large amounts of electricity.”

He added that cuts in renewable energy subsidies and tariffs on imported steel – which raise the cost of building new power generators – have also pushed up prices.

Swonk agrees that the AI ​​boom is driving up prices, especially for low-income people.

“It exacerbates inequality because consumers with greater access to solar panels and renewables tend to be wealthier households,” she said.

In response, a White House official said Trump was expanding coal, natural gas, and nuclear power, which is “the only viable way to meet growing energy demand and lower energy prices.”

At a September 2024 campaign rally, Trump extended his grocery shopping pledge to cars, telling supporters: “We’re going to lower prices… on groceries, on cars, on everything.”

but, The average price of a new car exceeds $50,000 (£38,411) for the first time ever in September, up from $48,283 (£37,092) in January according to Kelley Blue Book, a US vehicle valuation research company.

Erin Keating of Cox Automotive explained that car prices usually rise by 2-3% annually.

“Tariffs, which have been the biggest factor in the auto industry over the last 12 months, have been nothing but inflationary.”

She explained that new car prices rise by about 4% annually, with tariffs contributing at least one percentage point.

“We really think this number will go up in 2026 because most manufacturers stop raising prices directly because of the tariffs, but they will have to step in at some point.”

Keating pointed to tax breaks for people in Trump’s spending bill, which she believes could incentivize people to buy new cars.

When asked about rising car prices, a White House official told the BBC that the administration had taken historic regulatory action to “reverse the far-left energy scam and save billions annually.”