The June inflation report just dropped, and right on cue, the left's spin machine is in full swing. Consumer prices ticked up slightly, and now they’re scrambling to spin it as proof that Donald Trump’s America First trade agenda is tanking the economy. But don’t fall for the headlines; they’re not telling you the whole story.
Yes, the Consumer Price Index rose 0.3% last month, pushing the annual inflation rate to 2.7%. That’s a bit above the Fed’s 2% target and the highest since February, but it was exactly what Wall Street expected. Actually, it was better.
For starters, the Fed expected an increase in inflation, but we saw a smaller increase than predicted.
“Excluding volatile food and energy prices, core inflation picked up 0.2% on the month, with the annual rate moving to 2.9%, with the annual rate in line with estimates. The monthly level was slightly below the outlook for a 0.3% gain,” explains CNBC. “Before June, inflation had been on a generally downward slope for the year, with the headline CPI at a 3% annual rate back in January and progressing gradually slower in the subsequent months despite fears that Trump’s trade war would drive prices higher.”
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So the experts were bracing for core inflation to rise to 0.3% in June, but it came in at 0.2% instead. That may not sound like a big deal, but when you consider the apocalyptic predictions we've been hearing from the left for months now, this is a win for Trump.
“Look, you've got to look at this report as another victory for President Trump who has focused on reining in inflation, and that's what we're seeing from this report again,” observed Maria Bartiromo on Fox Business.
.@MariaBartiromo on today's inflation report: "You've got to look at this report as another victory for President Trump, who has focused on reining in inflation — and that’s what we're seeing from this report again." pic.twitter.com/vVpdzSipId
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) July 15, 2025
In fact, CNBC’s Rick Santelli wrote off the increase as mere noise.
“To me, the best way to look at this is: inflation is going to ebb and flow,” he said Tuesday. “If we want to really isolate it in terms of what this administration's doing or Liberation Day, I would benchmark it to the beginning of the year. January and February reads being warmer gives you a lot of information that some of the policies have not been detrimental in boosting inflation.”
CNBC's Rick Santelli: "Inflation is going to ebb and flow. If we want to really isolate it in terms of what this Administration is doing or Liberation Day, I would benchmark it to the beginning of the year ... The policies have not been detrimental in boosting inflation." pic.twitter.com/NHt5FCg6uB
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) July 15, 2025
Meanwhile, Heritage Foundation economist E.J. Antoni explained on X, the data actually proves that the uptick in the CPI doesn’t appear to be because of tariffs at all.
To be clear, the uptick in the CPI does not appear to be from tariffs; import prices were flat M/M in May and preliminary data shows only a small increase for Jun; the big culprit here was energy - all the more reason why we need more domestic production: https://t.co/yvuuIBjGmC pic.twitter.com/8N91qfm3Ou
— E.J. Antoni, Ph.D. (@RealEJAntoni) July 15, 2025
Others agreed.
“It’s really hard to point to this report or any details in the report and say, ‘Aha! See what’s happened to prices because of tariffs,’” Dan North, senior economist at Allianz Trade North America, told CNBC. “You get these pretty massive tariff increases. It’s bound to pass through to the consumers, and I still think it will, but it’s not in this report so far.”
For months, so-called experts have been warning of catastrophic inflation under Trump, but the disaster they’ve been hyping never showed up. Not even close. It’s almost like they’re rooting for economic pain just to score political points. Here’s the inconvenient truth: inflation is still lower today than it was under Joe Biden. That’s a fact the liberal media would rather memory-hole because it blows up their entire narrative.
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