Along with hand-picking journalists who can attend his daily media sessions and deciding which ones can actually ask questions -- along with insulting those who ask tough ones -- President Donald Trump has another media strategy.
Telling frustrated Americans to shut up.
On Sunday on Truth Social, Trump shared a column by MAGA mouthpiece Charlie Kirk, demanding that Americans "Shut Up About Egg Prices."
Egg prices, up 53%, have reached record highs, with prices as high as $10 per dozen in some parts of the country. In New York, bodegas are selling single eggs.
And now, Trump and his followers, who pounded former president Joe Biden on egg prices, have decided they're not Trump's fault.
Trump, voters will recall, promised to lower grocery prices "on Day One" of his administration, but a month in, he has yet to unveil an economic policy to deal with inflation and the cost of living -- instead making them worse with tariffs and threats of more tariffs. Even Trump's former adviser admits that.
Bird flu, which forced the killing of chickens, is responsible for much of the price increase, but Trump has revealed no plan to deal with the problem -- and now he's tired of hearing about an issue Democrats keep hammering, even as some, like Bernie Sanders, say they need to change their message.
Democratic activist Tristin Snell posted on Twitter:
"Donald Trump on eggs and other high-priced groceries:
August 2024: 'When I win, I will immediately bring prices down on Day One.'
March 2025: 'Shut up about egg prices.'"
Republicans Against Trump posted: "Donald Trump thinks Americans should "shut up" about the outrageously high price of eggs" in response to Trump's boost of Kirk's piece.
According to The Associated Press:
As their party struggles to navigate the early days of Donald Trump's second presidency, some Democrats are convinced that their road to recovery lies in the price of eggs.
Instead of leaning into Trump's teardown of the federal government or his alliance with billionaire lieutenant Elon Musk, they're steering to what they perceive as the everyday concerns of Americans -- none more important than grocery prices and eggs in particular.
U.S. egg prices hit a record average of $4.95 per dozen in January, surpassing a previous record set in January 2023, according to federal data. In some parts of the country, they're much higher. A Safeway supermarket in San Francisco was selling a dozen eggs for $10.99 this week.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture expects egg prices to rise 41% this year over last year's average of $3.17 per dozen. Already, some restaurants are adding temporary surcharges when customers order eggs. Denny's said its surcharge varies by region and even by restaurant, while Waffle House added a 50-cent surcharge per egg at all its restaurants.
A Washington Post/Ipsos poll found that one month into the new administration, U.S. adults remain almost universally unhappy about the cost of groceries. According to the survey, about 9 in 10 Americans say that food prices are "not so good" or "poor," including about half who say they're "poor." And a CNN/SSRS poll conducted in mid-February found that about 6 in 10 Americans said Trump had "not gone far enough" in trying to reduce the price of everyday goods.