'Misleading the American people': New York Times editorial board blasts Trump’s economy

Donald Trump campaigned heavily in 2024 on the promise of bringing down everyday prices for American people. However, as argued in a new piece from the New York Times editorial board, he hasn’t just failed to live up to this “impossible promise,” he has also “pursued policies… that are making the problem worse by making life in America less affordable.”

The editorial notes that, in many ways, Trump’s promise to start bringing down prices starting from his inauguration was unrealistic. Typically, the piece explained, prices do not fall across the board unless some sort of economic calamity, like a recession, takes place. In claiming that he could impact prices without such a discomfort, the board argued that Trump had been “misleading the American people.”

Beyond simply overstating his ability to impact prices, however, the board also accused Trump of actively pursuing policies that have driven up costs and the rate of inflation. Tariffs, the president’s most favored economic tool across both terms, were singled out as the clearest example of this.

Tariffs are a tax levied against companies or entities importing certain goods from other countries. Trump has wrongly claimed since his campaign that the costs are born by the country the goods originate from. In reality, the cost of tariffs are paid by the importer and almost always passed on to the end consumer in the form of higher prices.

Using the rate of inflation from Trump’s inauguration, to his announcement of sweeping tariffs in the spring, to September, the Times editorial board argued a direct impact on price inflation caused by the president’s import taxes.

“As the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic have worn off, the pace of price increases declined from an annual rate of 3 percent in January to 2.3 percent in April,” the piece explained. “Then, as Mr. Trump’s policies started to take effect, inflation rebounded to 3 percent.”

The impact from this is likely to get worse in the near future. Initially, to keep consumers calm, importers took a greater portion of the new tariff costs. Citing estimates from Goldman Sachs, the Times said that the portion passed on to consumers will hit 67 percent by mid-2026, up from only 22 percent when the tariffs arrived this past spring.

Trump’s widespread crackdown on undocumented immigrants was also highlighted as an inflationary policy.

“The administration’s crackdown on immigration is similarly being conducted in ways that maximize the economic costs,” the piece added. “Reducing illegal immigration is a worthy goal, and its long-term economic effects are complex. But Mr. Trump’s cruel, chaotic campaign to deport and drive out undocumented immigrants is creating labor shortages that increase prices. It is part of the reason food prices were rising at an annual pace of 3.1 percent as of September, the last data released before the government shutdown.”