“We had inflation, but we've got that down.”

Remarks on tax cuts and the economy, Suffern, New York

The Bureau of Labor Statistics release published a week before he spoke put consumer prices 3.8 percent above a year earlier for the 12 months ending April 2026, an acceleration from 3.3 percent for the 12 months ending March. For January 2025, the month he returned to office, the same series recorded a 12-month increase of 3.0 percent. So the most recent reading available to him was higher than the rate he inherited, not lower. Local coverage of that April release described inflation reaching its highest level of his second term, driven in large part by energy costs tied to the war with Iran.

Inflation had come down for a period, and that is the claim's strongest defence. In February 2026, the month the war began, the 12-month rate stood at 2.4 percent, below the 3.0 percent of January 2025. What the claim cannot carry is its tense. He said prices were down at a moment when the latest published figure was the highest of his term.