Economist Robert Reich calls out Trump for breaking one of his 'biggest' campaign promises
US President Donald Trump has been trying hard to prove that affordability is improving in his second term. He also claimed that the prices of groceries and the standard cost of a Walmart Thanksgiving meal were down. It did not take long for the President’s supporters to heap praise on him about the matter, but a lot of people are not impressed. One such person is Robert Reich, who was the labour secretary under the Bill Clinton administration. He believes that the President has broken one of his biggest promises. Reich has been a long-time critic of Trump’s economic policies, as per a Huffington Post report.
Reich directly refuted Trump’s claims about grocery prices being lower than before ahead of Thanksgiving, and he does have a point. Turkey prices are up, although that has more to do with a deadly avian flu, which has seen the supply of the birds come down drastically. The same cannot be said about the prices of groceries, which have gone up, partly due to the President’s tariffs.
Reich believed that the people who voted for Trump did so with the hope of seeing lower prices for groceries, which was one of the President’s biggest campaign promises. He said that grocery prices “are the highest they’ve been in years — and several of Trump’s policies are making the problem worse.” He also said that the President was out of his depth and was doing whatever possible to keep the public in the dark about rising prices.
“Trump doesn’t want you to know any of this. He’s doing everything possible to prevent the public from knowing how much and how fast prices are rising,” he said. He added, "But here’s the truth: Rising grocery prices resulting from Trump’s failure to keep his biggest promise are hitting all of us — no matter whom we voted for — and making this Thanksgiving especially expensive.”
Reich perhaps would not have made such explosive claims had the President not touted a low cost of groceries and a cheaper Walmart Thanksgiving meal earlier. “Grocery prices are way down, and Walmart just announced that the cost of their standard Thanksgiving meal — this is the greatest, their greatest,” he had said as per NBC. “It is 25% lower than one year ago. That’s a big deal,” he explained.
The problem with Trump’s claim about the Walmart meal is that while it has become cheaper, it has fewer items than it had the year prior. Clearly, that makes the President’s claim completely null and void. The meal is priced at $40 this year, and it contains 23 items. In 2024, the meal might have been more expensive, but it contained 29 items.
“This year, Walmart is raising the standard even higher — with the most affordable holiday meal yet,” Walmart had said, before adding, “Walmart’s 2025 abundant meal basket offers traditional favourites across national and private brands, for a full holiday feast serving 10 people for under $4.00 per person — the lowest price since Walmart started the program!”
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