Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has claimed that during a round of golf with Donald Trump, the president-elect told him that inflation wasn’t really the issue that got him elected.
“He told me, he said, ‘Listen, I know inflation is a big deal,’ but … the number one reason why he got elected, he said, was because of the immigration and the border issue,” DeSantis said on The Dana Show hosted by Dana Loesch.
Trump campaigned on bringing inflation down, and anger at the rise of inflation was a major reason why many Americans voted for the president-elect in the 2024 election, according to polling.
Several of Trump’s economic policies could possibly worsen inflation, experts have warned. A top concern is his promises and threats to impose broad tariffs on imports from other countries, with economists warning that those costs are likely to be paid by American consumers.
Top U.S. trading partners Mexico, China and Canada are all facing threats of tariffs that could raise prices on a number of goods, such as cars, oil and electronics.
Inflation Insights founder and President Omair Sharif told NPR that the tariffs Trump put in place during his first term in the White House were not as broad as they’re expected to be this time around and they were not placed on “things you go out and buy at Home Depot on the weekends.”
If Trump goes ahead with the threats of widespread tariffs, that’s likely to be painful for household finances.
“More likely than not, you will be paying higher prices,” Sharif said.
Trump also campaigned on mass deportations of illegal immigrants, but it remains unclear who he will target and how his administration will go about it. Economists have noted that this may also raise prices by increasing the cost of labor.
Top Trump aide Stephen Miller has said that the deportations will begin at “light speed” as soon as Trump “puts his hand on that Bible and takes the oath of office.”
