Trump inflation brag undercut as Congress shares astronomical costs for American families

A congressional report published Tuesday further undercut US President Donald Trump’s claim that he has defeated inflation, estimating that the average American family paid $1,625 in higher costs last year as the Republican president’s tariffs and broader policy agenda drove up prices across the nation’s economy.

The new analysis by Democrats on the Joint Economic Committee (JEC) found that the $1,625 total includes $323 more for housing expenses and $241 more for transportation costs. In some states—including Alaska, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York—the average family paid more than $2,000 in higher costs in 2025 as prices for groceries, housing, and other necessities continued to rise under Trump’s leadership.

Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH), the ranking member of the JEC, said in a statement that “President Trump has imposed reckless tariffs, driven up healthcare costs, and created economic uncertainty. And because of these choices that he made, Americans are paying over $1,600 more than when he came into office.”

“While the president pledged that he would end inflation and now claims that prices are down,” Hassan added, “the data reflects what families are experiencing every day: higher costs that make it harder to make ends meet.”

The JEC report was released just weeks after Trump falsely proclaimed in a year-end address to the nation that “inflation is stopped” and “prices are down.” CNN fact checker Daniel Dale noted that inflation data released on the morning of Trump’s December 17 speech showed that “average consumer prices were 2.7% higher in December than they were a year prior and 0.3% higher than they were in November.”

Trump also used his primetime speech to hail the supposed successes of his tariff regime. But a report released Monday showed that US consumers and businesses, not foreign exporters, are shouldering nearly all of the burden of the White House’s import taxes.

“Despite President Trump’s claims that 2025 was the ‘greatest first year in history’ for an American president, Americans’ attitudes about their economic security and the latest economic data say otherwise,” experts at the Center for American Progress wrote Tuesday. “With increased costs of everyday items due to tariffs and fewer job opportunities, families are feeling the direct impacts of the Trump administration’s harmful economic policies.”