President Donald Trump’s administration reached out to some of America’s leading grocery chains to “pressure” them into lowering beef prices ahead of the Fourth of July weekend, according to a report.
Seeking a cost of living win ahead of the holiday weekend marking the 250th birthday of the United States, when meat sales were expected to surge, calls were put in to the likes of Walmart, Kroger and Albertsons pushing for price cuts, The Wall Street Journal reported. The average cost of a pound of ground beef in the U.S. is $6.75 as of May, which is the most recent data and up 13 percent from a year ago.
Tate Bennett, Chief of Staff to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, reportedly spoke to some of the biggest retailers and discovered that Walmart was already planning to introduce a series of summer discounts across its stores, with beef products included among its offerings.
The news was relayed to the White House and Trump took credit on Truth Social Monday, posting: “Great news! I have just been informed that one of the biggest, best, and smartest Retailers in America, Walmart, will be lowering prices, by a lot, at my Administration’s request to celebrate our great Country’s 250th birthday.
“Walmart will, in particular, be dropping the price for a pound of ground beef by almost 15 percent, among many other products. This is a huge deal for the many millions of Americans who, smartly, shop at Walmart, which is a truly patriotic Company who loves the U.S.A.”
The retailer duly issued a press release revealing that the price of ground beef was indeed dropping by 12 percent while the cost of other items such as cherries, sweetcorn, Coca-Cola and Frito-Lay chips were also being reduced as part of its promotion.
White House spokesman Kush Desai told The Independent: “President Trump promised to lower costs for working families, and he’s delivering.
“Walmart’s historic summer-long sale on beef and other essentials is the result of this administration cutting red tape, slashing taxes, and ramping up domestic food production.
“The Trump administration stays in close contact with retailers to ensure savings are getting passed on to American consumers, and results like this prove the strategy is working.”
The Independent also contacted the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Walmart, Kroger and Albertsons for comment. The USDA directed its response to the White House and Walmart referred to its press release.
Just as he urged other retailers to follow Walmart’s example, Trump has repeatedly pressured gas stations to lower the price of fuel in recent weeks, claiming that the signing of a memorandum of understanding with Iran, reopening the Strait of Hormuz, had brought the cost of oil tumbling.
While the resumption of hostilities with Tehran Tuesday may now mean that is no longer feasible, the president’s appeals suggest he is finally heeding consumer concerns about affordability, with one eye on November’s midterms.
Voters have consistently told pollsters that they are worried about inflation and the price of everyday essentials, routinely ranking those issues among their top priorities. Trump’s perceived inaction has meanwhile sent his approval rating tanking to record lows, with his dismissive statements insisting that all is well hardly helping.
The public’s anxiety may represent an opportunity for retailers seeking to steal a march on their competitors by offering lower prices but the companies themselves have also been hit by the Republican’s policies, from his tariffs hiking the cost of imports to the war’s gas price spikes impacting the smooth operation of their supply chains.
The U.S. beef industry, in particular, is one sector of the economy that continues to struggle, despite unflagging demand, with the number of cattle on domestic pastures currently standing at a 75-year low, according to the WSJ, as ranchers battle drought and high costs.
Those factors, in turn, have meant record-high prices for ground beef and rib-eye steak in supermarkets.
The Trump administration has recently pledged $500 million to bail out small and medium-sized meatpacking companies and support the sector, having already come to the rescue of the wider agriculture industry last year to the tune of $12 billion and blamed the president’s predecessor Joe Biden for its problems.
Trump recently told America’s beleaguered farmers that they will soon be able to sell their goods to the “lovely country of Iran,” although that potential lifeline might also be off the table now that airstrikes have returned to the Persian Gulf.
