While campaigning in the late summer of 2024, Donald Trump wooed voters with this declaration: “When I win, I will immediately bring [food] prices down, starting on Day One.” But even before Day One arrived, he was already backpedaling, declaring, “It’s hard to bring things down once they’re up. You know, it’s very hard.”
Indeed, it is. In the best of circumstances, presidents don’t have the power to unilaterally reduce prices. Yet Trump is adopting policies that are overtly inflationary. Aggressive import tariffs, for example, will drive up prices for food and other essential commodities. And the U.S. agriculture and construction sectors are particularly dependent on the immigrant workers Trump promises to deport. All of this will increase working Americans’ already high cost of living.
Still, if Trump were serious about fulfilling his campaign pledge, there is a policy tool he could use to help drive down the prices that most hurt working-class Americans. Namely, he could actively enforce the U.S. antitrust laws.
To understand the opportunity before him, consider that market power is a major factor in driving high prices for goods and services that matter the most to working American families.
