When news broke Wednesday that inflation and food prices went up in January, President Donald Trump wasted no time taking personal responsibility and vowing to focus solely on making life better for all Americans.
HAH! Just kidding. He posted “BIDEN INFLATION UP!” on social media and then presumably went back to planning the Trump-branded hotel and casinos I imagine he wants to build in Gaza once he’s ethnically cleansed the region.
The man who claims to care deeply about “real Americans” and “the forgotten men and women of our country” swore up and down that he would fix inflation and food prices “from the day I take the oath of office.”
He also started taking credit for a rising stock market well before the 2024 election, saying the mere fact he was leading in the polls was driving the market higher.
Well, I guess I’d like to know where those magical economic powers are now and why he isn’t using them to make the average trip to the grocery store more affordable.
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Inflation, food prices hike on Trump’s watch, along with layoffs
Inflation hit a seven-month high in January, and consumer prices saw their biggest rise on a monthly basis since August 2023.
Last month, the cost of bacon jumped 4.1% from December and gas prices were 1.8%. Eggs prices rose astronomically – up 15.2% from December – thanks largely to the spread of bird flu, which Trump appears to be ignoring while he plots out a “Gaza redevelopment plan” and lets Elon Musk fire thousands of federal workers.
Opinion:Musk, Trump degrade federal workers as they put them out of work. It’s sadistic.
We also learned Wednesday that the Joann fabric and crafts chain is going to close half of its U.S. stores and that the U.S. oil company Chevron, according to Reuters, is laying off as much as 20% of its global workforce.
Earlier this month, Estée Lauder announced it plans to lay off as many as 7,000 workers. And in late January, Kohl’s cut 10% of its corporate workforce and closed 27 stores.
By letting Musk fire federal workers, Trump is just adding economic woes
Add to all that what Trump is allowing Elon Musk to do to the federal workforce, mandating via an executive order signed Tuesday that agency heads “initiate large-scale reductions in force.”
Keep in mind that the “force” that’s being reduced aren’t just nameless, faceless bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. States with some of the highest numbers of federal workers include Texas, Florida, Georgia and Alabama. These job losses will be felt nationwide.
Opinion:Waffle House bumps egg prices while Trump focuses on DEI. I say yolk before woke.
Trump’s obsession with tariffs is also likely to drive up prices and increase inflation, despite the president’s ignorant belief that he knows better than a vast majority of economists.
Nothing is ever Trump’s fault. Blame, blame, blame.
If you’ve been living in a cave for the past decade, you might have missed the simple fact that Trump takes credit for good things he has nothing to do with and passes blame for bad things that are his responsibility.
The economy, inflation, food prices and gas prices are now his responsibility, and he should be held accountable for them in the same way he and Republicans and Fox News and every right-wing blatherer out there held President Joe Biden accountable.
Fair’s fair. Trump promised to fix things for us on Day 1. We’re way past Day 1.
His focus has been on dehumanizing transgender people, shipping immigrants to Guantanamo, slapping tariffs on our allies and daydreaming about forcing Palestinians out of Gaza and turning it into a seaside vacation paradise.
America first? Nah. Trump first. The rest of us can eat cake, assuming we can afford the eggs to make it.
Follow USA TODAY columnist Rex Huppke on Bluesky at @rexhuppke.bsky.social and on Facebook at facebook.com/RexIsAJerk
