President Trump pointed to the lower price of Walmart's Thanksgiving meal this week as proof his economic policies are working, but critics quickly pointed out that the numbers aren't quite as straightforward as he makes them sound.
- "Walmart just announced that Prices for a Thanksgiving Dinner is now down 25% since under Sleepy/Crooked Joe Biden, in 2024," Trump said in a Truth Social post Wednesday, the day after the election victories of Democrats including New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, who campaigned on a platform of affordability. "AFFORDABILITY is a Republican Stronghold," Trump said. "Hopefully, Republicans will use this irrefutable fact!"
Walmart's new 2025 Thanksgiving package does clock in at $40 for 10 people—about $4 a head—compared to last year's $56 kit for eight, or $7 per person. However, as NBC News points out, a key difference is that Walmart trimmed six items from the meal and swapped out some brand names for cheaper alternatives. Gone from the menu are items like premade pie, miniature marshmallows, and fresh onions and celery. Cranberry sauce has been replaced by fresh cranberries, which are cheaper, and there is one can of cream of mushroom soup instead of two, per CNN. The list for the 2024 meal can be seen here and the 2025 list is here.
Trump doubled down on his remarks Thursday.
- In another Truth Social post, he said, "2025 Thanksgiving dinner under Trump is 25% lower than 2024 Thanksgiving dinner under Biden, according to Walmart. My cost are lower than the Democrats on everything, especially oil and gas! So the Democrats 'affordability' issue is DEAD! STOP LYING!!!"
- Asked about the Walmart Thanksgiving bundle an Oval Office event, Trump called it a "very powerful statement," NBC reports. "To me that's better than anything there is," he said. "That's better than a poll. They've got everything included. From the trimmings. To the turkey. A lot of different items."
story continues below
Despite Trump's claim to have lowered costs on "everything," the cost of food is up 3.1% over the past year, according to Labor Department data, and overall inflation remains above where it was before Trump's 2024 election win, NJ.com reports. But the overall cost of a typical Thanksgiving meal this year is down 2% to 3%, depending on how people shop, according to a Wells Fargo Agri-Food Institute analysis. Wells Fargo says items like frozen vegetables and dinner rolls are a little cheaper this year, but it would be a "very different" story if beef was a traditional Thanksgiving item, USA Today reports. (Marjorie Taylor Greene disagrees with Trump that prices are going down.)
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
