What has President Trump done to fulfill his big promise to lower prices in the United States (and has he achieved it?)

He explained that President Trump’s tariffs are increasing the price of certain foods. One-third of the coffee consumed in the United States comes from Brazil, so it is subject to a 50% tariff.

President Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration may also have played a role, Ortega added, particularly in the agricultural sector, where up to 40% of workers, or about 1 million people, are estimated to be illegal immigrants.

Farmers and businesses will be forced to raise wages to attract more workers, but there is currently no data to quantify these impacts in terms of higher prices.

Diane Swonk, chief economist at KPMG, believes changes in tariffs and immigration policy are contributing to the rise in costs.

“There is no question that these changes are beginning to manifest as inflationary pressures,” he said.

He added that other factors, such as weather events, are also contributing.

“In the case of coffee, we had a very bad growing season because of the climate, but the tariffs imposed on Brazil and Colombia made the situation even worse,” he explained.

White House officials said. bbc verification President Trump has argued that he does not control weather patterns in South America and that rising coffee prices are a global phenomenon.

According to Coffee Data, prices rose globally, peaking in February, but are now falling.

The official suggested the president was addressing rising beef prices by temporarily increasing imports.

And while food prices are rising across the board, not everything is becoming more expensive.

When Mr. Trump was replaced by Mr. Biden in January, the price of 12 large eggs was $4.93, but in March, after the bird flu outbreak, the price reached an all-time high of $6.23.

The price has since fallen to $3.49 per dozen.

“President Trump’s supply policies are keeping Joe Biden’s inflation crisis under control,” White House Press Secretary Khush Desai said.

Other items whose prices have fallen over the past 12 months include butter and margarine (-2%), ice cream (-0.7%) and frozen vegetables (-0.7%).

During his campaign, Trump promised to drastically reduce electricity costs.

“Under my administration, we will cut energy and electricity prices in half within 12 months, and at most 18 months,” he declared at a rally in August 2024.

But prices have risen since he took office.

The average household electricity bill reached 17.62 cents per kWh (kilowatt hour) in August 2025, up from 15.94 cents in January 2025, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, latest figures show.

“It wasn’t technically possible (to cut prices in half) at the time he promised,” said James Sweeney, a professor at Stanford University’s Precourt Energy Institute.

He explained that electricity prices reflect not only the cost of generation, but also the cost of distribution through “cables, transformers, etc.”

Professor Sweeney believes both supply and demand issues are responsible for the increase.

“There is a sharp increase in demand, mainly driven by data centers. People creating images using artificial intelligence are consuming a lot of electricity,” he claimed.

He added that reduced subsidies for renewable energy and tariffs on imported steel, which make it more expensive to build new power plants, are also contributing to price increases.

Swonk agreed that the rise of AI is driving up prices, especially for low-income groups.

“Consumers with more access to solar panels and renewable energy tend to be from wealthier households, so this exacerbates inequality,” he said.

In response, White House officials said President Trump is ramping up electricity generation from coal, natural gas and nuclear energy, saying this is “the only viable way to meet growing energy demand and lower energy prices.”

At a campaign rally in September 2024, President Trump extended his promise to lower food prices to cars, telling supporters: “We’re going to lower the prices of food, cars, everything.”

However, the average price of a new car exceeded $50,000 for the first time in September, up from $48,283 in January, according to U.S. car appraisal firm Kelley Blue Book.

Erin Keating of Cox Automotive explained that vehicle prices typically increase by 2% to 3% each year.

“Tariffs, which have been the most important factor for the auto industry over the past 12 months, have only caused inflation,” he said.

He explained that new car prices rise by about 4% every year, with tariffs contributing at least 1 percentage point.

“We believe prices will rise further in 2026 as most manufacturers refrain from directly raising prices through tariffs, but they will be forced to do so sooner or later.”

Keating mentioned the tax cuts for Americans included in President Trump’s spending bill, which he believes could encourage people to buy new cars.

When asked about rising car prices, a White House official said: bbc verification The government said it had taken historic regulatory action to “reverse the radical left’s energy fraud and save billions of dollars every year.”

During his campaign, Trump specifically promised to “reduce gas prices to less than $2 a gallon.”

On the day he took office, the average price of a gallon of regular gasoline was $3.125, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA).

Although he is far from fulfilling his promise to lower prices to less than $2, the price of a gallon of gas has fallen to an average of $3,079 nationwide.

In response, White House officials directed us to a gasoline price comparison website. It shows the national average is $2.97 per gallon, slightly lower than AAA’s data.

The official added that President Trump is rapidly boosting the U.S. economy with the goal of making gasoline affordable again to households across the country.

Subscribe here Sign up for our new newsletter and we’ll bring you the week’s best content every Friday.

Don’t forget that you can also receive notifications in the app. Please download and activate the latest version.