CBS News
· collected 2026-10-09 · by Aimee Picchi, Megan Cerullo, Mary Cunningham
President Trump campaigned in 2024 on promises to lower Americans' cost of living, vowing to push gasoline prices below $2 a gallon and to deliver 2% mortgage rates.
asserted
Trump → campaign → rates
Two years later, consumers face sharply higher costs for many of the necessities he pledged to make more affordable.
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he → face → necessities
Less than a month before the midterm elections, the gap between Mr. Trump's promises and the financial realities facing many Americans is fueling voter frustration over the economy.
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gap → face → economy
Although economic growth is solid and unemployment remains low, nine in 10 Americans say prices are the most important factor shaping their views of the economy, according to a recent .
uncertain
prices → remain → recent
The financial pressures affecting Americans predate Mr. Trump's return to the White House last year.
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pressures → affect → House
Consumers are reeling from the cumulative impact of five years of post-pandemic inflation, economists note.
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economists → reel → inflation
But his campaign promises raised hopes that he would lower consumer prices.
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he → raise → prices
At the same time, some of Mr. Trump's policies have exacerbated inflation.
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some → exacerbate → inflation
His tariff regime contributed about 2.9 percentage points to inflation through February, according to new research from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
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regime → contribute → York
Without the tariffs, the price of goods would have declined, the researchers said.
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researchers → decline → goods
Mr. Trump's decision to attack Iran in February has also led to a drawn-out conflict that has disrupted oil shipments and sharply driven up the price of oil, gas and diesel.
"It's undeniable that several of these supply shocks that the U.S. economy has been navigating through come from policy decisions made by the administration — namely, decisions to intervene in Iran and decisions to impose tariffs," Greg Daco, chief economist at investment advisory firm EY-Parthenon, told CBS News.
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Daco → attack → News
Inflation in September is forecast to have risen at an annual rate of 3.6%, up from 3.4% in August, according to economists polled by FactSet — well above the Federal Reserve's 2% annual target.
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Inflation → forecast → target
Ryan Bourne, an economist at the libertarian Cato Institute, said that consumers "judge the prices they're paying against the prices they paid four or five years ago, and are still shocked by it."
He added, "As a result of that, they think the economy's doing very, very badly."
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economy → say → that
The White House said that Mr. Trump's agenda "stopped Biden's inflation crisis" while creating jobs and economic growth.
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agenda → say → jobs
The administration's policies "will continue to deliver economic wins over the next two years," White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers told CBS News.
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Rogers → continue → News
The President has delivered tangible wins for American families: He signed the largest working-class tax cuts in history, cut the cost of prescription drugs, added more than one million private-sector jobs, locked in nearly 20 trade deals that put American workers first and sent 401(k)s to record highs," Rogers added.
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Rogers → deliver → highs
The following charts show how U.S. costs have changed for expenses ranging from groceries to car insurance.
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costs → follow → insurance
"A vote for Trump means your groceries will be cheaper."
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groceries → mean → Trump
For consumers, each visit to the supermarket is a fresh reminder of inflation's impact on food costs, which has continued to rise since Mr. Trump vowed to lower grocery prices.
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Trump → continue → prices
The cost of food prepared at home has climbed 4% since November 2024, according to Consumer Price Index data, when Mr. Trump said a vote for him would lead to lower costs.
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vote → prepare → costs
That increase comes on top of a 23% jump in food prices during the prior four years.
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increase → come → years
Because consumers tend to remember what they spent on groceries before the pandemic, they get a jolt each time they visit the supermarket, said Daco of EY-Parthenon.
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Daco → tend → Parthenon
"Whether it's talking about gas prices or grocery prices or restaurant prices or travel prices, everybody talks about inflation," he said.
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he → talk → inflation
"The salience of prices is what is driving this downbeat consumer morale.
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what → drive → morale
"
Food costs are continuing to rise due to a number of factors, ranging from the elevated price of gas and diesel, which are needed to fuel farm equipment and ship items to stores, to the Trump administration's tariffs, economists said.
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economists → continue → tariffs
Gasoline
"Energy is going to bring us back.
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Energy → go → us
That means we're going down and getting gasoline below $2 a gallon, bring down the price of everything from electricity rates to groceries, airfares, and housing costs."
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we → mean → groceries
Gas prices have surged since the
in late February.
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prices → surge → ?
That's up 47% from $2.98 on Feb. 27, one day before the war began, according to CBS News data.
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war → begin → data
Diesel prices rose to a record high of $6.53 per gallon on Sept. 22 and now hover around $6.28.
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prices → rise → 6.28
Diesel, which is widely used in the trucking, agriculture and construction sectors, is a factor in consumer prices for nearly every type of good, including groceries.
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which → use → groceries
Gas prices tend to have an outsized impact on consumer sentiment, influencing their views on future inflation and the broader economy, according to research from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
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prices → tend → Francisco
"By contrast, I'm announcing today that under my leadership, the United States will commit to the ambitious goal of slashing energy and electricity prices by half, at least half."
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States → announce → half
Consumers' energy bills have continued to increase this year.
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bills → continue → ?
Data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) shows that average monthly residential electricity costs rose 12.5% between December 2024 and July of this year.
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costs → show → year
Electricity bills are rising as utilities spend more to upgrade the nation's aging power grid, and overall energy demand grows amid the data center buildout.
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demand → rise → buildout
Natural gas is also growing more expensive.
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gas → grow → ?
Average monthly residential prices for natural gas rose 106% between December 2024 and July 2025, according to the EIA.
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prices → rise → EIA
Energy Innovation, a nonpartisan policy and research firm, attributes the jump to geopolitical conflict, an increase in domestic exports, extreme weather linked to climate change and rising infrastructure costs.
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Innovation → attribute → change
A July report from advocacy groups The Century Foundation and Protect Borrowers found that the national average utility bill reached $280 per month in early 2026, up 12% since the end of 2024, just before Mr. Trump took office.
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Trump → find → office
…and 46 more, not listed.
The Aporia
