With a new Labor Department report showing inflation reached its highest level in three years last month, Democrats seized on the issue to lambast President Donald Trump’s economic policies.
“Another month of Trump’s illegal Iran war, another month of Trump’s tariffs, another month of Republican control of Congress,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., wrote on X on Wednesday. “The result? A new all-time high for Trumpflation.”
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that consumer prices rose 4.2% in May compared with a year earlier — up from 3.8% in April. Prices rose 0.5% last month, following a 0.6% increase in April and 0.9% increase in March, the bureau said.
Speaking at an Oval Office bill signing Wednesday, Trump said “the numbers were great” when asked about the new inflation data.
He said the economy was strong and cited “another stock market high” despite a dip in financial markets Wednesday.
While grocery prices rose just 0.1% in May, the new report found that many goods and services cost more last month, with clothing increasing by 0.3% in May and up 4.8% compared with a year earlier. Airfares jumped 2.7% and are almost 27% higher than last year, while electricity prices rose 0.6% in May — up 5.9% over the past year.
“Today’s data shows that inflation has surpassed 4% for the first time in three years — a direct consequence of Donald Trump’s failed economic agenda, driven by his chaotic tariffs and illegal war with Iran,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said in a statement shortly after the report was released.
“In May, Americans continued to pay more for electricity, gas, and food,” she wrote. “And for the second month in a row, inflation outpaced wage growth. Trump promised to lower costs on ‘Day One.’ Instead, his broken promises are draining families’ paychecks and squeezing household budgets across the country.”
Wage growth in May was 3.4%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“With wage growth lagging behind price growth, household budgets are under increasing pressure,” NerdWallet Senior Economist Elizabeth Renter said in a statement Wednesday. “Consumers are paying more for essentials, and they can feel powerless to mitigate this pain.”
Democrats have spent much of the past year criticizing Trump’s economic policies after the president imposed sweeping tariffs on most U.S. trading partners in April 2025, increasing costs for many goods.
Prices have continued to increase after the United States and Israel launched their war on Iran on Feb. 28, which resulted in Iran shuttering the Strait of Hormuz, through which nearly 20% of the world’s oil supply traveled during peacetime.
While Trump has described recent inflation reports as “short term” and Republican lawmakers frequently praise the president for helping reduce working Americans’ taxes through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act he signed last July, his critics are seizing upon the new report to condemn the GOP.
“Trump’s illegal tariff taxes cost American families almost $2,000 last year,” Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Penn., wrote on X on Wednesday morning. “But Republicans have allowed Trump to do whatever he wants.”
“Families in the Inland Empire and across the country are paying more for gas, groceries, housing and utilities under Trump and Republicans,” California Democratic Rep. Pete Aguilar wrote on X on Wednesday. “And Republicans are doing nothing about it.”
Worsening inflation will be at the center of next week’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting, where newly confirmed Fed Chair Kevin Warsh will be at the helm for the first time.
The Federal Reserve inflation target has long been 2%. While inflation had been cooling before Trump began imposing tariffs last year, the consumer price index has surpassed the Fed’s preferred target for more than five years.
The rate cut President Donald Trump has long been pushing is “all but off the table,” Renter said Wednesday following the new inflation report and last week’s hotter-than-expected jobs report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“Higher and higher gas and food prices impact households in a dramatic way — these are things we can’t easily cut out of our budgets, or even reduce,” she said. “When the [Federal Open Market Committee] meets next week, these inflation numbers will be top of mind.”