Trump claims rising prices are a 'con job by Democrats' as he dismisses inflation concerns

WASHINGTON, DC: President Trump sat for an interview on 'The Ingraham Angle' with Fox News’ Laura Ingraham on Monday, November 10.

The host pointed out that voters in recent elections held in New Jersey, New York, and Virginia identified the economy as their main priority.

Trump dismissed the idea of rising prices and inflation, arguing that economic concerns were being misrepresented and that the discussion about inflation was politically motivated.

Trump challenges media narratives and inflation claims

During the interview, Ingraham pointed to the rising costs of beef, coffee, and auto repairs. In response, Trump claimed that “costs are way down.”

He responded to Ingraham’s question about whether voters’ perception of the economy was off or whether more needed to be done by Republicans by stating, “More than anything else, it’s a con job by the Democrats.”

He proceeded to allege that major news networks take their cues from Democrats, saying, “They put out something, ‘Say today, the costs are up,’ and then anchor networks would repeat it as if it were coordinated.

He further added, “It’s like a standard… I’ll never forget they used a word like ‘manufactured.’ Do you remember the word manufactured? ‘It’s a manufactured economy.’ Nobody uses that word. Every anchor broke in, ‘Manufactured.’”

He also spoke about a “rigged system” before returning to his main point on rising prices.

Donald Trump on gas prices and energy

Trump referenced gasoline prices as part of his argument, insisting “Gasoline is gonna be hitting $2 pretty soon, or around $2. Gasoline is at $2.70 now.” 

He claimed that energy costs have come down, saying, “When gasoline comes down, when energy comes down and everybody agrees energy’s down. we’ve drilled, you know, drill baby, drill. We’re going like, wild. We produced more gasoline, oil, and gasoline in the last month than we ever have before.” 

As of today, the American Automobile Association reports that the national average price for a gallon of gasoline is $3.07.

Trump has previously also claimed that gas prices are down, stating on November 7, “We are a little bit above $2 right now for gasoline. … We are the victors on affordability.”

In response to Ingraham asking whether voters were simply mis-perceiving how they feel about the economy.

Trump responded by criticizing former President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in the context of the 2024 election, then went on to express frustration over the '60 Minutes' interview with Harris, which led him to file a lawsuit against CBS News'.