A Fox News host is stirring conversation online after drawing attention to record-high grocery costs in the U.S. and tying them to President Donald Trump’s current term in office.
Last week, Jessica Tarlov, a Democratic commentator and co-host of “The Five” on Fox News, reacted to a report from NewsWire by posting on X: “Record high grocery prices delivered by Trump’s Golden Age.”
That post followed the release of new data showing that in 2025, the average monthly grocery bill for a family of four in the U.S. hit $1,030, the highest ever recorded.
What the Numbers Show
The Urban Institute confirmed the $1,030 figure in its report, citing data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), and Feeding America.
According to the data, grocery prices reached $1,030 in June 2025 and stayed there through August, up from $1,020 in January 2025, the month President Trump began his second term.
“Over that period, the highest nominal price for groceries is $1,030, which is the value for August 2025,” said Gregory Acs, vice president for the Urban Institute’s Tax and Income Supports Division.
“That national figure comes directly from the USDA and is the cost of those groceries in June 2021. We use the consumer price index (CPI) for food prepared at home to adjust the nominal cost, deflating to January 2017 and inflating to August 2025.”
The BLS confirmed that its index for food at home reached an all-time high in September 2025.
BLS spokesperson Cody Parkinson told Snopes, “Yes, the 316.042 index level (not seasonally adjusted) is the highest observed value in the series.”
How We Got Here
The affordability crisis didn’t start in 2025. The Urban Institute pointed out that since 2017, the cost of essentials has outpaced earnings.
Wages grew 38 percent during that time, while rent jumped 50%, child care rose 40%, and home sale prices skyrocketed 80%.
Health insurance and groceries also climbed significantly, with groceries up 32% since 2019.
Even cities that used to be more affordable, like Columbus, Nashville, and parts of Central Florida, have seen grocery, housing, and health care costs spike above national averages.
According to the Urban Institute, more than half of Americans don’t have the financial resources to meet basic living costs in their communities.
Nearly 4 in 5 people don’t expect their situation to improve within the next year.
Trump, Biden, and the Blame Game
The timing of the grocery price milestone has fueled political finger-pointing. Supporters of President Trump blame inflation on President Joe Biden’s term.
Biden took office in January 2021, during the COVID-19 recovery, and left in January 2025.
According to the Associated Press, inflation surged during Biden’s presidency due to supply chain issues, war in Ukraine, and economic disruptions from the pandemic.
But Trump has now had nearly a year to implement his promised cost-cutting policies. Not only have prices not come down, they’ve hit new records.
His earlier claim that grocery prices had dropped in his second term, made in an October 2025 interview with “60 Minutes,” has been disproven by multiple data sources.
In a December 2024 statement, Trump himself admitted, “It’s hard to bring things down once they’re up. You know, it’s very hard.”
In mid-November, he proposed rolling back tariffs on several food items, including beef, fruit juice, and spices, saying they “may, in some cases,” have contributed to higher prices. The move came only after a public backlash and worsening affordability numbers.
The truth is, many of Trump’s policies have so far done little to address the root causes of rising prices. His reliance on tariffs helped increase costs for consumers, and reversing those policies has been slow and inconsistent.
Meanwhile, grocery bills remain stuck at all-time highs. The $1,030 grocery bill in August 2025 marked both a nominal and real (inflation-adjusted) record high.
The Bottom Line
The data confirms grocery costs have hit new highs during the first year of Trump’s second term.
While the affordability crisis didn’t start with Trump, he’s had nearly a year back in office, and prices are still breaking records.
Many Americans were promised quick relief, but that hasn’t materialized.
Jessica Tarlov’s comment, “Record high grocery prices delivered by Trump’s Golden Age,” captures the frustration people are feeling as their grocery bills climb and leadership offers little more than rhetoric.
With everyday essentials costing more and no clear plan to reverse the trend, more voters are starting to question whether Trump’s economic approach is working for regular families at all.