According to Trump, there is no inflation. Americans claim otherwise.
The recent decline in PPI inflation has encouraged Donald Trump to launch further attacks on the Fed. According to the president, “there is no inflation” and the bank should immediately lower interest rates. However, according to ordinary Americans, inflation exists and is one of the biggest problems facing the economy today.
Only 29% of respondents support Trump’s actions regarding inflation
According to the latest Yahoo and YouGov poll, Donald Trump’s most favored policies are those related to combating illegal immigration (45% support) and crime (44%). Policies related to the cost of living, tariffs, and the economy were supported by only 29%, 35%, and 36% of respondents, respectively. CBS and Reuters polls found similar results.
US CPI and Core CPI inflation charts. Source: Tradingeconomics
On this issue, Trump’s rhetoric is at odds with the experiences of ordinary Americans. From the very beginning of his presidency, Trump adopted a strategy of denying the problem of inflation while exerting pressure on lower interest rates . His narrative ignored the fact that high interest rates were intended to curb inflationary growth and could mitigate the effects of tariffs on trading partners. In a recent statement to WABC radio, he continued this, saying that inflation in the US was not a problem and that prices for “virtually all” products had fallen.
The recent 0.1% decline in the Core PPI (which excludes food and energy prices) to 2.8% year-on-year provided him with an excuse to reiterate his position and launch another attack on Jerome Powell as Fed chairman. In a post on the Truth Social platform, he argued that Powell, “overdue,” needs to significantly lower the cost of debt. In another post, he also questioned the Fed’s 2% inflation target, quoting Jay Hatfield of Infrastructure Capital Advisors:
He [Powell] has done a terrible job since he adopted the 2% target. This target is too low, too rigid…
