"Very simple word, groceries. Like almost – you know, who uses the word? I started using the word – the groceries. When you buy apples, when you buy bacon, when you buy eggs, they would double and triple the price over a short period of time, and I won an election based on that," Trump emphasized in his interview, which was recorded on Friday and broadcast on Sunday.
While inflation has eased significantly since its peak in 2022, grocery prices remain substantially higher than they did before the COVID pandemic swept the globe nearly five years ago.
According to the most recent Consumer Price Index inflation data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Americans are dishing out 22% more for groceries in comparison to what they paid when President Biden took office nearly four years ago.
And voters' frustrations over high grocery prices, as well as other impacts from inflation, benefited Trump as he ran to win back the White House.
Voters said the economy was far and away the top issue facing the country, followed distantly by immigration and abortion, according to the Fox News Voter Analysis of the 2024 election.
And 40% said inflation was the single most important factor in their vote, and they backed Trump by almost two-to-one, according to the Fox News Voter Analysis, which was a survey of more than 110,000 voters and 18,000 nonvoters nationwide. An AP VoteCast, a survey of more than 120,000 registered voters, had similar findings.
On the presidential campaign trail, Trump railed against the Biden/Harris economy and promised to bring down prices.
"Grocery prices have skyrocketed," Trump said during an August news conference, as he stood by tables stocked with packaged foods.
"When I win, I will immediately bring prices down, starting on day one," he vowed.
And in his interview on "Meet the Press," Trump pledged that "we’re going to bring those prices way down."
But Trump, in the interview, reiterated that he would follow through on his campaign vow to levy large tariffs on imports from the nation's major trading partners.
During the presidential campaign, Harris argued that Trump's across-the-board tariffs, if implemented, would increase prices on many goods and amounted to a "a sales tax on the American people."
Tariffs are taxes that governments place on goods being imported or exported. They can raise the cost of imported products, making local products more attractive to buy.
Asked in his latest interview if he could guarantee that his tariffs wouldn't force Americans to pay more for items, Trump answered, "I can’t guarantee anything."