Has the price of food decreased since Trump has been in office?
Executive summary
Available reporting shows no broad, sustained fall in U.S. grocery prices since President Trump took office; some measures show modest month-to-month declines at times while most food categories remained higher or continued to rise, and analysts warn tariff policy and supply factors will blunt quick relief [1] [2] [3]. Multiple outlets say tariff rollbacks in November 2025 may slow or reverse recent spikes for specific imports like coffee, bananas and some beef products, but retailers and economists say the lower duties will take months to affect shelves and will not automatically erase earlier price increases [4] [5] [6].
1. What the headline CPI and major trackers say
Federal and private trackers report a mixed picture: the broader “food at home” CPI has mostly stayed elevated, with periods of small monthly declines (for example April’s single-month drop cited by the White House) but overall food costs were still higher in many months and categories since January 2025, according to BLS-based reporting and USDA forecasts [1] [2] [3]. Independent fact‑checks and analyses found that a grocery measure rose slightly between late 2024 and mid‑2025 (just under 1% food-at-home and 1.5% food-and-beverage in one review), even as some items like eggs fell from earlier spikes [7] [8].
2. Winners and losers inside the grocery cart
Reporting is unanimous that prices moved unevenly by product. Eggs, bread and some fruit prices fell after earlier surges, while beef, pork, ground beef, coffee, dairy and sugar products have often climbed — in some cases double digits versus prior periods — leaving many households feeling worse off despite isolated price drops [8] [9] [10].
3. Tariffs: cause, cure, timing and limits
Trump’s tariffs have been widely flagged as a contributor to higher prices for targeted imports; the administration later exempted more than 200 food items and removed duties on coffee, bananas, cocoa and some beef in mid‑November 2025 as political pressure rose [3] [4] [11]. News coverage and economists warn the rollback will not produce immediate consumer savings because inventories bought under higher tariffs remain in supply chains and retailers may not promptly pass savings along — relief could take months, not days [5] [12] [13].
4. Other structural drivers keep upward pressure
Journalists and economists cited non‑policy drivers—weather, disease (bird flu), global supply shocks, higher input costs and labor shortages—that sustained food-price pressure independent of White House actions; these factors limit how much a president’s actions can quickly lower grocery bills [2] [14] [3].
5. Political framing vs. independent assessments
The White House highlights indices and promotional retail examples to argue prices are falling — for instance a DoorDash Breakfast Basics metric the administration cites — while independent outlets and watchdogs call the picture “mixed,” noting that some retail promotions substitute smaller or lower-quality bundles for direct price declines and that aggregate food costs remain elevated for many Americans [15] [16] [10].
6. Short-term outlook and what to watch next
Multiple analyses warn food inflation could persist or reaccelerate: Yale Budget Lab and other analysts projected short‑term price increases tied to tariff policy and supply constraints, while BLS monthly CPI releases and USDA ERS forecasts are the clearest short-term data to watch for real change [5] [2] [10].
7. Bottom line for the question “Has the price of food decreased?”
Available reporting does not support a simple “yes.” Some items and occasional monthly measures show declines, but most reporting concludes that overall grocery prices remained elevated or rose in many categories since Trump took office, and that the recent tariff rollbacks are unlikely to deliver broad, immediate reductions at the supermarket [1] [8] [6].
Limitations: this summary relies on the supplied news reports and analyses; available sources do not mention household‑level microdata or the latest BLS monthly release beyond those cited here.