Trump’s 2024 grocery photo op haunts Republicans as prices rise

Two years after Donald Trump staged a press conference at his Bedminster golf club flanked by grocery staples to blame the Biden administration for inflation, food prices have risen 3.4% in the first 19 months of his second term, a Reuters analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows. The increase is far smaller than under Biden but still short of Trump's promise to lower prices, with surges in coffee, beef and apples offsetting declines in eggs and butter.

Voter frustration over the cost of living is evident. Reuters/Ipsos polling shows Democrats edging ahead on economic stewardship for the first time in nearly a decade. Republican voter Sheila Carney told Reuters she was considering sitting out the November midterm elections because high grocery and gasoline prices remain a daily burden. A White House official said the latest consumer price data proves Trump's agenda is working, pointing to falling drug and auto insurance costs.

The issue looms large in New Jersey's 7th Congressional District, where incumbent Republican Tom Kean faces Democrat Rebecca Bennett. More than half of 17 Republicans and independents interviewed by Reuters were undecided or leaning toward Bennett. Berkeley professor Francesco Trebbi, who co-authored research on inflation and Trump support, expects an anti-incumbent shift that could weaken Republicans in November.