Gavin Newsom blames Trump's 'golden era' for soaring Thanksgiving prices
SACRAMENTO, CA: California Governor Gavin Newsom publicly accused President Donald Trump of having policies that are responsible for the sharp spike in food and grocery costs in the US during this Thanksgiving season.
In particular, he referred to a significant increase in the price of turkeys, as well as the overall cost of a traditional holiday meal. On his official X account, Newsom posted a headline of the conservative outlet Drudge Report saying, “A TARIFF THANKSGIVING. TURKEY PRICE UP 24%. GRIM RETAIL SALES. CONSUMER CONFIDENCE SPIRALS” with the caption, with the ironic caption added by him: "WELCOME TO TRUMP'S GOLDEN ERA!"
WELCOME TO TRUMP’S GOLDEN ERA! pic.twitter.com/1BHohymCnu
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) November 26, 2025
Gavin Newsom points to inflation, tariffs and tight budgets
The president has on several occasions described his second term as the start of America's "golden age," a term that Newsom used while talking about the Drudge Report.
That headline was based on a Times of London article that analyzed the cost of the recreation of a Julia Child-style classic Thanksgiving dinner, which included turkey, gravy, bread stuffing, creamed onions, sweet potato, pumpkin soup, and pie, and had gone up by 9 percent since 2024, amounting to a total of $107.
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone, except the turkey who incited the storming of the dinner table. pic.twitter.com/a9BtSK9Jk2
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) November 26, 2025
The price of a whole turkey saw the most significant increase, being raised by 24 percent, a rise that was in line with the general inflation of the grocery essentials that has been going on.
Over recent months, Newsom has repeatedly criticized Trump's economic record using sharp rhetoric and social media jabs.
It's 25% cheaper to have Thanksgiving this year than it was a year ago under sleepy Joe Biden, says Donald Trump
On the other hand, Trump kept on asserting that his policies had made Thanksgiving more affordable.
He promoted Walmart's holiday meal deal on Truth Social and said that it would be "25% cheaper to have Thanksgiving this year than it was a year ago under Sleepy Joe Biden."
However, Walmart's 2025 meal kit is dropping a few more items than last year's version, and some products have been reduced by shrinkflation, while others have been changed to generic substitutes.
Moreover, a recent study has revealed that Trump's import tariffs have been one of the factors that have led to rising inflation, which stood at 3 percent in September.
In the same month, the prices of foodstuffs were reported to be 2.7 percent higher than those of the previous year and 1.4 percent higher than at the time of Trump's return to office in January.
