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![false](https://static.politifact.com/politifact/rulings/meter-false.jpg)
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Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a news conference at Trump National Golf Club, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024, in Bedminster, N.J. (AP)
Former President Donald Trump bemoaned grocery prices at a recent press conference.
But a review of the event’s transcript and video does not show he said the quote attributed to him in viral social media posts.
Ketchup, bread and cookies served as backdrop props at a recent press conference by former President Donald Trump. But did he make this statement about cereal prices? A viral social Threads post claims he did.
The Aug.17 post, which criticized Trump for being out-of-touch with food prices, uses a screenshot from an X post that claimed he said: "You used to be able to get cereal for 20, 30 bucks a pound. Now it's at least a hundred dollars a pound, probably. They debit it straight from your account when you show them your grocery ID."
That screenshot shows Trump speaking at an Aug. 15 press conference at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. We saw similar claims on X.
The Threads post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook, Threads, and Instagram.)
But a review of the press conference’s transcripts shows that Trump did not say these words. Early in his remarks, he criticized the Biden-Harris administration for rising grocery prices but not with the quote the viral posts attribute to him.
"Grocery prices have skyrocketed: cereals are up 26%, bread is up 24%, butter is up 37%, baby formula is up 30%, flour is up 38% and eggs are up 46%," he said. "And many items are up at much higher rates than that."
He also responded to a reporter’s question about his message to families "going into debt just to pay for groceries." He answered: "My message to them would be very simple: Vote for Trump and we are going to fix the problem."
Trump has previously talked about people using an ID for grocery purchases, but he said that in a very different context. In 2018, Trump said he was in favor of requiring voter ID cards because "if you go out and you want to buy groceries, you need a picture on a card, you need ID."
Fact-checkers roundly debunked that grocery ID claim. Most purchases in retail stores don’t require IDs, except in specific conditions such as the purchase of alcohol, tobacco or while shopping in stores such as Costco that require memberships.
We rate the claim that Trump said this viral quote about buying cereal in pounds False.
Threads post (archived link), Aug. 17, 2024
C-Span, Former President Trump Holds News Conference at New Jersey Golf Club, Aug. 15. 2024
YouTube, LIVE: Trump holds press conference in New Jersey - The Associated Press, Aug. 15. 2024
Voice of America, AP Fact Check: Trump’s Grocery ID Statement Unfounded, Aug. 2, 2018
BBC, Trump claims Americans need ID to go shopping, Aug. 2, 2018
CBS News, Trump says time has come for voter ID because if "you want to buy groceries you need a picture on a card", July 31, 2018
The New York Times, Trump Says You Need an ID to Buy Groceries. Shoppers Say, ‘Huh?’, Aug. 1, 2018
X post, (archived link), Aug. 16, 2024
X post, (archived link), Aug. 17, 2024
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