Eggs-traordinary food fight: Democrats pounce on Trump price pledge as bird flu spikes egg prices

Democrats have seized on the cost of eggs to accuse President Trump of reneging on his promise to lower grocery prices after just days on the job.

Mr. Trump took office on Jan. 20, but Democrats, who will be sidelined from power for at least the next two years, say the president has been in charge long enough to reduce food prices, which rose by more than 22% under President Biden.

“He has spent his first week pardoning insurrectionists and firing the government’s watchdogs instead of focusing on things ordinary Americans care about, like the price of groceries,” said Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat.

Mr. Trump’s critics say high egg prices indicate that the president has abandoned his pledge to lower consumer food prices.

The latest increase in egg prices was triggered by highly contagious avian bird flu, which has forced farmers to kill tens of millions of chickens to stop the spread of the disease.

The slaughter began long before Mr. Trump took office, limiting supply and making eggs much more expensive.

It didn’t stop Democrats from blaming Mr. Trump.

The cost of one dozen eggs has shot up more than 22% in the past few weeks to an all-time high of more than $7, according to Trading Economics, which tracks prices.

“The price of eggs and the cost of living was supposed to go down, not up,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, New York Democrat, wrote in a social media post.

Democrats have pivoted to critiquing Mr. Trump’s handling of the economy, a top voter issue that likely cost their party the election.

During the campaign, Mr. Trump attacked the Biden administration and his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, for policies that led to historic inflation and sky-high grocery store prices.

Mr. Trump promised to lower prices quickly, primarily by making energy more affordable, but he moderated his pledge after winning the November election.

“I’d like to bring them down,” Mr. Trump said in a December interview on NBC. “It’s hard to bring things down once they’re up. You know, it’s very hard. But I think that they will. I think that energy is going to bring them down. I think a better supply chain is going to bring them down.”

In a recent CBS interview, Vice President J.D. Vance said grocery prices will come down, “but it’s going to take a little bit of time.”

On his first day in office, Mr. Trump issued several executive orders to lower costs, including a memorandum “to restore purchasing power to the American family and improve our quality of life.” It called for departments and agencies to reduce government regulations and mandates to lower the costs of housing, health care, appliances, food and fuel.

Grocery prices are expected to continue rising, although much more slowly than at the height of inflation during the Biden administration.

The Department of Agriculture predicts that grocery food prices will rise by 1.3% this year, but it forecasts egg prices will increase by more than 20% because of avian influenza. The virus was first detected in 2022 and is spreading through new outbreaks nationwide, wiping out commercial flocks.

The virus has spread to more than 1,000 cattle herds across 16 states.

Trump administration officials called on Congress to quickly confirm Brooke Rollins, Mr. Trump’s nominee to run the Department of Agriculture, so she could get to work containing the virus.

Ms. Rollins told senators at her confirmation hearing that stemming the spread of the bird flu “is certainly a top priority.”

More than 73 million egg-laying poultry have been slaughtered or died because of avian flu since August, according to the Farm Bureau. More than 100 million birds “throughout the poultry industry” have been impacted by the avian flu since 2022, the Farm Bureau said.

At the first White House press briefing, reporters asked how Mr. Trump planned to lower egg prices.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt blamed the Biden administration’s Agriculture Department, which she said “directed the mass killing of more than 100 million chickens, which has led to a lack of chicken supply in this country, therefore lack of egg supply, which is leading to the shortage.”

The chicken slaughter isn’t likely to let up soon. The Farm Bureau warned that the virus “is constantly changing and continuing to present challenges for the poultry and dairy sectors.”

Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. James McGovern, Massachusetts Democrats, offered a solution. They wrote to Mr. Trump last week and called on him to crack down on grocery stores and egg producers that might be gouging consumers.

“These companies often exploit crises like pandemics and avian flu outbreaks as an opportunity to raise beyond what is needed to cover rising costs,” they said.

The two lawmakers told Mr. Trump, “Americans are looking to you to lower food prices.”