US President Donald Trump has made various claims about the current state of the US economy.
In a long, meandering address to the media on Tuesday, the first anniversary of his second term in office, President Trump’s claims ranged from “there is no inflation” in the United States to drug prices being cut by up to 600%. Most of the claims were factually inaccurate.
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Al Jazeera examined some of his statements on the economy.
The core inflation rate for the past three months was 1.6%, meaning “inflation is non-existent.”
Both claims are false. Core inflation in November and December was 2.6% compared to a year earlier, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
Last month’s core consumer price index (CPI) report was not released due to the longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history.
Overall, the inflation rate rose by 2.7% compared to the same period last year.
Drug prices under President Trump’s Most Favored Nation program have fallen by “300, 400, 500, 600 percent.”
This is wrong. Although this program aims to lower drug prices, reductions of more than 100% are mathematically impossible.
A 100% price reduction means the product is free. Anything above that would require drug companies to pay consumers to ingest their products.
Pending Supreme Court ruling on tariffs:
President Trump referred to a pending Supreme Court case ruling on the legality of invoking the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose tariffs. He argued that the United States would have to return the funds if the courts ruled against his administration.
This is partially accurate, but unclear. If the courts rule against the administration, the U.S. would have to return some of the money the importers paid in customs duties. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in September that the government could be required to return about half of the tariffs it collects.
White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said the administration is exploring alternative legal means to impose tariffs if the courts block the current plan.
Former President Joe Biden “did not impose tariffs.”
This is incorrect. Biden imposed multiple tariffs during his administration. In 2022, as part of sanctions following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, it imposed a 35% tariff on imports from Russia.
Biden increased tariffs on Canadian timber from 8.5% to 14.5% in 2024, continuing a Trump-era policy.
That same year, he imposed tariffs on China of 100% on electric vehicles, 25% on steel and aluminum, and 50% on semiconductor chips.
The Trump administration has removed more than 270,000 bureaucrats from the federal government, but they will be lost to the private sector.
The federal government has cut 277,000 jobs since January 2025, according to the BLS. But data shows limited growth in the private sector, particularly in industries exposed to tariffs.
In the latest jobs report, the US economy added 50,000 jobs. The biggest increases were in food services (27,000 jobs) and health care (34,000 jobs).
The U.S. economy added 584,000 jobs in 2025. This is significantly lower than the 2 million jobs created the previous year under the Biden administration.
Gas prices are $1.99 per gallon in some states
This is incorrect. According to the American Automobile Association (AAA), which tracks gas prices, the average price of a gallon of gasoline is $2.82. Oklahoma has the lowest gas price at $2.31.
More auto factories are being built in the United States today than ever before.
Oxford Economics tracks private construction spending on transportation equipment factories. According to the report, nominal spending on transportation manufacturing structures in 2025 has declined from its peak in 2024.
Trump has been making this claim for nearly a year. Auto industry experts have long said that the increasing investment in U.S. manufacturing by companies like Hyundai and Stellantis is an exaggeration because they are simply adding to existing factories.
Oxford Economics, which tracks private construction of transportation equipment, found that “nominal spending” in 2025 has trended downward after peaking in the final year of the Biden administration. Bernard Yaros, chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics, told Al Jazeera that it peaked at $16.6 billion a year in April 2024 and now stands at $14.4 billion a year.
