Inflation Rises, Contradicting Trump’s Claim He Has Solved It

President Donald Trump has declared that he had “already solved inflation” and that “costs are down,” boasting that “we have almost no inflation anymore.”

The annual inflation rate to 2.9% is the highest since January.

Yet Consumer Price Index (CPI) data released recently told a different story, Elisabeth Buchwald reported for CNN.

Not only is inflation rising, but the pace of price increases is accelerating. Consumer prices rose 0.4% in August from the previous month, pushing the annual inflation rate to 2.9% — the highest since January, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

Economists point to Trump’s higher tariffs on nearly all imports and his crackdown on undocumented immigrants, including workplace raids, as key drivers. Goldman Sachs reminded Trump that 86% of tariffs are paid by US corporations and passed on to consumers.

“Slowly — quite slowly, in fact — but surely, we are seeing evidence of more tariff pass-through,” Brian Coulton, chief economist at Fitch Ratings, wrote.

Pew Research Center estimates more than 750,000 immigrants have left the workforce since January. The agriculture and food services sectors — heavily dependent on foreign-born labor — are among the hardest hit.

Food was one of the biggest contributors to August’s inflation jump, with grocery prices up 0.6% (the sharpest monthly rise in nearly three years) and restaurant prices up 0.3%, matching July’s pace.