Said prices are way down from what he inherited. The government's own index has them 5.4 percent up.

The Action

The Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price index for all items read 317.671 in January 2025, the month he took office, and 334.980 in August 2026, the latest month published. Over the same months the electricity index went from 281.888 to 310.057, gasoline from 275.527 to 359.738 and food at home from 310.936 to 321.500. The most recent monthly move was up, from 333.918 in July.

The Gap

He set the comparison himself: what he was left with. On the government's own measure prices are 5.4 percent above that month. Electricity is up 10.0 percent, gasoline 30.6 percent and food at home 3.4 percent.

The Read

The sentence makes two claims and they should be kept apart. One is about the level: prices are way down from January 2025. The other is about the direction: they are coming down now, quickly.

The level is the easy one. The index was 317.671 when he was sworn in and 334.980 in August. Nothing in the basket we looked at is below where it started. Electricity, which he promised to halve, is up a tenth. Gasoline is up nearly a third.

The direction is closer. The all-items index did fall in June, from 335.123 to 333.952, and barely moved in July, mostly because gasoline came off a spike. Gasoline in August was 9 percent below its May peak. If that is what he means, there is something in it. But the index rose again in August, and a price that falls back from a spike it reached on his watch is not below what he inherited.

Two things this does not show. "Prices" is his word and he did not say which, so somebody can always find an item that fell. And the September figures are not out until the middle of October, so a statement made on Oct 1 is being read against August. If September shows a real drop we will say so on this page.

September's figures came out on Oct 14, 2026, and they show a rise, not a drop. The all-items index went from 334.980 in August to 336.940, up 0.6 percent in the month on the seasonally adjusted measure, and is now 6.1 percent above January 2025. Gasoline rose 9.1 percent in September and stands 39.1 percent above January 2025. Electricity is 9.9 percent above it. Groceries went his way: food at home fell 0.1 percent in September, with beef and milk cheaper, though it is still 3.5 percent above January 2025.

A slower rise is not a fall. Inflation coming down means prices going up less quickly. He did not say inflation. He said prices.

On the verdict. Our five verdicts were built for promises and for trades, and this is neither. It is a claim of fact with a baseline he chose, and the record he is responsible for does not agree with it. We have filed it as missed because that is the nearest of the five, and we would rather say so than pretend the label fits perfectly.