Trump shares Stephen Moore chart claiming inflation runs at half the Biden rate
Trump the graphic compares cumulative CPI growth about 16 months into each term, listing 3.6% in the first Trump term, 11.7% under Biden and 5.5% in the current term.
WASHINGTON D.C. — Donald Trump shared a chart claiming inflation has run at half the pace seen under his predecessor.
Here is the full post on truthsocial: “From Stephen Moore Shows inflation running at half the Biden rate 22 20 18 CPI Growth Since Taking Office Trump 1st Term Under Biden/Harris CPI Growth Percent Trump 2nd Term 16 11.7% Inflation 14 Biden 12 10 5.5% Inflation Trump Term2 3.6% Inflation Trump Term 1 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 Months in Office”
The graphic, titled “CPI Growth Since Taking Office,” plots three lines measuring cumulative Consumer Price Index growth against months in office. At roughly the 16-month mark, it lists 3.6% inflation for the first Trump term, 11.7% under Biden and Harris, and 5.5% for the current Trump term. The chart carries no government source, date range, or methodology on its face.
Stephen Moore, a conservative economist and former senior economic advisor to Trump, co-founded the Committee to Unleash Prosperity and hosts a weekly economics program on Red Apple Audio Networks according to redappleaudionetworks.com. Moore has questioned the credibility of ratings agencies over their treatment of Trump’s tax cuts according to foxbusiness.com.
The stakes fall on households that feel price increases directly. Lower cumulative inflation would preserve more purchasing power for wage earners, while critics of the comparison argue that starting points, energy shocks, and pandemic-era supply disruptions shaped the earlier figures. The chart supports the administration’s economic messaging and disadvantages political opponents who governed during the higher-inflation stretch.
Inflation has dominated recent US politics because the 2021 through 2023 surge pushed annual price growth to its highest levels in four decades. The Consumer Price Index tracks the average change in prices paid by urban consumers for a basket of goods and services, and it remains the most widely cited gauge of the cost of living.
For the average US reader, the numbers translate into grocery bills, rent, gasoline, and the price of everyday goods. A smaller cumulative CPI increase means slower erosion of a paycheck’s value over the course of a presidential term.
Has this happened before? Trump has repeatedly promoted charts and figures on Truth Social to frame his economic record against Biden’s. In the last 30 days, 31 of 489 Trump posts carried the topic “Economy,” according to Zenger analysis, underscoring how often the president returns to inflation and prices as a theme.
The next authoritative reading will come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which publishes monthly CPI data. A specific date for the administration’s next public comparison has not been announced.
Economic scorekeeping between rival administrations is not new. Presidents have long leaned on inflation and unemployment numbers to define their tenure, from the double-digit price spikes of the late 1970s under Jimmy Carter to Ronald Reagan’s 1980 campaign question asking voters whether they were better off than four years earlier. Reagan won that election in a landslide, capturing 44 states, and inflation fell from above 13% in 1980 to below 4% by 1983. The pattern set a template that candidates and presidents have invoked in every economic argument since.
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