Trump's new inflation message? Just change the topic

Trump’s rambling answer made no mention of prices or inflation.

“No, I think we’re gonna become a rich, look, we aren’t that rich right now, we owe $36 trillion, that’s because we let all these nations take advantage of us,” Trump responded, pivoting to tariffs. “Same thing, like $200 billion with Canada … We have a deficit with Mexico, $350 billion, I’m not going to do that, I’m not going to let that happen.”

Trump appears to misunderstand trade deficits, which are generally understood as a sign of a healthy economy, with consumers buying goods and powering growth. Americans aren’t being taken advantage of by Canada or Mexico, both economically smaller countries that supply the US with oil, lumber, fruits and vegetables, among other goods. But, to Trump, Americans have been suckers and he has arrived to settle the score. While Trump has kept up his campaign-era riffs on this front, he has largely dropped any talk of taming inflation and grocery prices, a pivot he even acknowledged recently.

“I hear so much about the word groceries. I used to use groceries a lot on that [campaign] trail. It's like sort of an old-fashioned word, groceries, but groceries is the word. That's the most accurate word,” he said, recalling his approach to inflation during the campaign. “And uh, the price of groceries went through the roof. Bacon was levels like nobody’s ever seen … You know, we inherited a mess.”

Democrats, largely caught flat-footed by Trump’s blizzard of actions following his inauguration, have blasted Trump’s failure to focus on lowering costs, pointing instead to the price increases economists predict would follow tariffs.

“Trump’s response to two out of three Americans who think he’s not doing enough on costs? Another Tax,” was the subject line of an email sent out by the Democratic National Committee.

Still, Trump seems intent on tariffs and voters have baked in a possible price hike, which could provide a political buffer for Trump. Some 54% of respondents say it will take six months to more than a year for grocery prices to go down. And Trump’s approval rating is high, even as the price of eggs continues to climb — those prices rose 14% from November to December, with an additional 20% increase expected this year, according to the US Department of Agriculture. (The culprit is the bird flu, which has decimated the hen population but gotten little air time from either the Biden or the Trump administration.)

Trump has upended much of the conventional wisdom on politics, marshaling his own unlikely coalition and conjuring his own reality. He is everywhere, all the time, enacting a kind of choose-your-own-adventure agenda. The sheer volume of activity guarantees that something on his agenda will find an audience. (Hate pennies, DEI trainings, paper straws? Trump is your guy.)

He is the bull in the proverbial china shop, gratifying millions of voters by smashing the status quo and sticking it to the elites. In this scenario, for these voters, prices might not matter as much. Especially if price hikes are framed as a kind of patriotic burden to bear temporarily, while Trump  promises riches to come. What could matter more is punishment of the right enemies, be they federal workers, undocumented immigrants, transgender athletes or countries that have supposedly been getting one over on the US.

The imperialistic bluster, rebuke of all things woke, and his authoritarian approach to governing won’t bring down the cost of bacon, but it could channel the pent-up frustrations of millions of voters who have gotten used to high prices, but now feel seen and heard by Trump. And in the end, that could be enough.

Credit: Bloomberg