by Sharon Rondeau
(May 12, 2025) — 8:15 a.m. EDT – In a post timestamped 6:24 a.m. Monday, President Donald Trump provided an update to his announcement Sunday evening that he would sign an executive order Monday at 9:00 a.m. to bring down U.S. drug costs “by 30% to 80%.”
“Drug prices to be cut by 59%,” Trump wrote on Monday. Whether that number is an average of cost reductions remains to be seen.
He also stated gasoline, food, energy “and all other costs” are “down” and that “no inflation” currently exists. “LOVE, DJT,” Trump concluded his post.
In this writer’s area, since Trump took office, some grocery prices have increased while others have decreased. Gasoline is between $2.75 and $3.09 a gallon. The price of eggs has gone down from an observed grocery-store high of $5.97/dozen to between $3.93 and $3.97 as of Friday, while local farmers generally charge $4.00/dozen for mixed-variety, unwashed eggs.
Two weeks ago milk reached a high of $3.48/gallon but is now $3.07 or $3.08. A pound of butter ranges from $3.75 to $4.26. Over the last two weeks, the cost of fresh vegetables has increased slightly.
The price of a 16-ounce bag of halved walnuts dropped by $.10 from $5.99 to $5.89 at Aldi, while chocolate chips used for baking increased from $3.13 to $3.33.
What price changes have readers observed in their respective areas?