Trump said beef, egg, chicken prices are falling: What the data shows

President Donald Trump said in his State of the Union speech Tuesday night that his administration’s policies were “rapidly ending” high prices for certain foods, including proteins in the U.S. diet, like beef, chicken and eggs.

However, prices for chicken and beef have increased since Trump took office in January 2025.

Egg prices have indeed fallen significantly — but, like beef prices, have been influenced more by supply and demand factors specific to those markets than federal policy, according to agricultural economists.

The price moves also come as the Trump administration said it was “ending the war on protein” by announcing new U.S. nutrition guidelines that emphasize protein, full-fat dairy and vegetables.

“President Trump is right: inflation has cooled, and prices of many everyday essentials have fallen or are on the right trajectory,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said in an emailed statement. “The entire Administration remains laser-focused on delivering economic relief for the American people.”

Trump said during his State of the Union address that beef prices are “starting to come down significantly.”

Federal data shows that beef prices have started to decline in some cases, but remain near multiyear or record highs.

Ground beef cost $6.75 per pound, on average, in January — the highest level on record, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Prices have increased 22% over the past year, from $5.55 per pound in January 2025, when Trump started his second term. That’s the fastest annual inflation rate since June 2020, during Trump’s first term in office.

Prices for other cuts of beef are also elevated, according to federal data.

For example, the price of uncooked beef steaks was $12.30 per pound, on average, in January, down slightly from an all-time high of $12.51 per pound in December, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Prices are up 13% over the past year.

Uncooked beef roasts cost $8.82 per pound, on average, in January, down from a record high of $9.29 per pound in November. Average prices are up 14% in the past year.

Beef prices are “still up substantially” over the past year, said Michael Swanson, chief agricultural economist at the Wells Fargo Agri-Food Institute.

A recent decline in prices is “very poor consolation for most people,” Swanson said.