Logos of The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, and the Los Angeles Times shown over a line graph tending down, with a red background
Andrea Austria / Media Matters

Research/Study Research/Study

Top 5 newspapers continue to mostly ignore presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s inflationary policies

Newspaper coverage following the release of the February CPI report, which included the period after Trump clinched the GOP nomination, only mentioned his inflationary policies in 2 of 71 articles that discussed inflation

Written by Zachary Pleat

Published

Media Matters’ analysis of print newspaper articles covering inflation during the period after the release of the February 2024 Consumer Price Index report again found almost no mention of the inflationary policies that former president and current presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump implemented during his term or has proposed for a second term should he win this fall. Media Matters found that Trump's inflationary policies were mentioned in just 2 out of 71 articles (3%) published during the review period. Previously, Trump’s inflationary policies were mentioned in only 6% of print articles following publication of the December 2023 CPI report and in zero print articles covering inflation following publication of the January 2024 CPI report.

These policies include proposals for the imposition of new across-the-board tariffs, mass deportation of undocumented immigrants, and more tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations. We looked at the top five U.S. newspapers by circulation — The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and the Los Angeles Times — from March 12 through April 9.

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  • Trump's inflationary policies were mentioned in only 3% of inflation articles

  • Our analysis showed that for the period between March 12 and April 9, 2024 — which includes the period between the releases of the February and March 2024 CPI reports — only 2 out of 71 (or 3%) articles covering inflation mentioned that some of Trump's policy proposals for a second term, as well as his past policies as president — tariffs, mass deportations, and tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations — would worsen inflation.

  • A chart showing that for the period of March 12, 2024, through April 9, 2024 — covering the period from when the February 2024 CPI report was released to the release of the March CPI report — only 2 out of 71 (3%) articles covering inflation mentioned that some of Trump's policy proposals for a second term, and his past policies as president — tariffs, mass deportations, and tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations — would worsen inflation

  • Trump's attacks on Biden's record on inflation and the economy were quoted in 7% of print news articles about inflation during this time period

  • Our analysis showed that 5 out of 71 (7%) print news articles on inflation for the period between March 12 and April 9, 2024, included a quote from Trump attacking President Joe Biden's record on the economy and/or inflation, more than the number of articles that mentioned Trump’s own inflationary policies.

  • A chart showing that 5 out of 71 (4%) print news articles on inflation between February 13 and March 11 included a quote from Trump attacking President Joe Biden's record on the economy and/or inflation

  • Less than half of articles covering inflation during this time period mentioned positive indicators in the economy

  • Less than half of print newspaper articles on inflation for the period between March 12 and April 9, 2024, included context addressing recent gains in wages, job creation, and/or economic growth, with 30 of 71 (42%) articles mentioning the strength of the overall economy. This marks an overall decline from the beginning of the year. Between January 11 and February 13, 56% of articles mentioned positive economic indicators; this number dropped to 40% between February 14 and March 11.

  • A chart showing that that a slightly higher percentage of print newspaper articles on inflation included context of the current economic conditions between March 12 and April 9 compared to the previous month, with 30 of 71 (42%) articles mentioning the strength of the overall economy.

  • Experts have explained that several of Trump's policy proposals and past policies make inflation worse

    • Per reporting from The Washington Post, former chief economist for the Trump administration's Council of Economic Advisers Casey B. Mulligan “estimated in an interview that Trump’s 10 percent import tariff proposal would add an extra percentage point to inflation, or a quarter percent a year if spread out over four years.” [The Washington Post, 1/7/24]
    • Conservative economist Doug Holtz-Eakin suggested that Trump’s trade and immigration policies might lead to a “wage-price spiral,” a condition in which pay increases and prices push one another upward and thus cancel out any seeming benefit for workers. [The Washington Post, 1/7/24]
    • Conservative American Enterprise Institute economist Michael Strain also suggested that Trump's mass deportation policy “could spark a wage-price spiral, which would be inflationary.” [Politico, 3/7/24]
    • Center for Economic and Policy Research senior economist Dean Baker: “Trump is promising massive tax increases in the form of tariffs, which will send inflation soaring if he carries through with them.” [Twitter/X, 3/2/24]
    • Former Federal Reserve economist Claudia Sahm stated that Trump's plan of “jacking up tariffs and cutting off immigration are both inflationary." [Twitter/X, 2/29/24]
    • Adam Posen, president of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, explained that Trump's mass deportation plan “would lead to very sudden spikes in prices of key goods like fresh produce, hotel rooms, and housing repairs.” [The Washington Post, 1/7/24]
    • Economic Policy Institute chief economist Josh Bivens: “If a future Trump administration really did deport millions of workers, that would be inflationary.” [Politico, 3/7/24]
    • The U.S. International Trade Commission found that the Trump administration's tariffs on Chinese imports had the effect of “raising costs for American companies” and “increased prices of US products.” [Bloomberg, 3/16/23]
    • The Federal Reserve raised interest rates following Trump's tax cuts to counter their inflationary pressure. The Tax Policy Center explained that since Trump's tax cuts were “enacted at a time when unemployment was low and output was near its potential level,” “the increase in demand was offset by tighter monetary policy, as the Federal Reserve held interest rates higher than they otherwise would have been to prevent an increase in inflation.” [Tax Policy Center, January 2024]

  • Methodology

  • Media Matters searched print articles in the Factiva database from the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post — the top five U.S. newspapers by circulation — for any of the terms “Consumer Price Index,” “CPI,” “Bureau of Labor Statistics,” or “BLS” or any variations of any of the terms “inflation,” “shrinkflation,” “price,” “cost,” or “expense” within the headline or lead paragraphs from March 12, 2024, when the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the February Consumer Price Index update, through April 9, 2024, a day prior to BLS releasing the most recent CPI update of the calendar year.

    We included articles, which we defined as instances when inflation was mentioned in the headline or lead paragraphs in the news or business sections of each paper. We did not include editorial, op-eds, or letters to the editor.

    We then reviewed the identified articles for whether they mentioned that some of Trump's policies as president or economic proposals, such as higher tariffs, mass deportations, and more tax cuts for the rich, would make inflation worse; quoted Trump criticizing Biden on inflation, exaggerating inflation, or lying about overall economic conditions; or mentioned any current positive economic indicators, such as economic growth, job creation, wage growth, and the low unemployment rate.