President Donald Trump’s second inauguration was marked by his disdain for former President Joe Biden and vision for America under his leadership. One of his biggest promises was to cut inflation and make life more affordable for Americans. So, how’s he doing?
Prolonged fights with countries over tariffs and deals with drugmakers added to the fluctuation of how much everyday items cost. Several individuals and groups started keeping public logs to check the realities of inflation, housing and grocery prices.
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“From negative net migration for the first time in 50 years to the largest homicide drop on record, trillions in reshored investments, peace deals ending multiple wars, record energy production, and massive bureaucracy cuts, President Trump has put America First with urgency — and he’s just getting started,” the White House claimed on Tuesday.
That’s partially true. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the inflation rate dropped from 3% in January 2025 to 2.7% in December 2025. Data for the complete first year of Trump’s second term doesn’t come out until Feb. 11. The rate doesn’t give a full picture due to changes that happened during the government shutdown and a lapse in appropriations limited the bureau’s operations.
He’s also secured a win at the gas pump where prices fell $0.16 in a 12-month period from $3.21 to $3.05, according to the BLS.
But some costs increased as Americans make tough decisions in supermarkets about whether they can afford certain items. A POLITICO poll revealed that nearly half of the Americans they spoke to felt groceries, utility bills, health care, housing and transportation were difficult to afford.
“While the President pledged that he would end inflation and now claims that prices are down, the data reflects what families are experiencing every day: higher costs that make it harder to make ends meet,” Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., said in the Democrats’ Joint Economic Committee release.
Grocery prices fluctuated over the past year
Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that the cost of items like chicken, eggs, ground beef and milk changed over the course of a year, with eggs seeing the most fluctuation.
From January 2025 to December 2025, the cost of a dozen large Grade A eggs hit the highest at $6.23 in March, to the lowest at $2.71 in December. The cost was largely due to an avian flu outbreak, Florida International University epidemiologist professor Mary Jo Trepka said in February.
Overall, the BLS said in a Jan. 13 release that the cost of food increased 3.1% over a 12-month period.
Trump faces an uphill battle with Americans after an AP-NORC poll found that 37% of adults approve of how the president is handling the economy. To add, the left-leaning think tank Center on Budget and Policy Priorities said on Dec. 18 that Trump’s campaign on affordability backfired as some of his policies caused financial increases across the nation.
“The megabill’s tax cuts are so heavily tilted to high-income families — and do so little for low- and middle-income families — that they do not outweigh the harms of tariffs and the megabill’s cuts to assistance programs.”
Insights from the Republican party show they are just about as satisfied with how Trump has handled the cost of living, with about 40% agreeing he’s helped it at least “a little,” according to the AP-NORC poll. It’s a sharp drop from 79% in his first term.
John Candela told The Associated Press that his cost of living in Upstate New York hasn’t improved, but he awaits the end of Trump’s term to judge how things have changed.
“I would expect it to be different by the time his four years are up,” he told the publication.
