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Despite Donald Trump‘s recent claims that inflation has sharply declined, the Federal Reserve continues to warn that consumer prices are still running uncomfortably high.

Trump’s Economic Claims

On Oct. 30, Trump posted on social media that inflation is “way down” under his leadership. In the same publication, Trump stated that income for people and companies is “way up” and declared that “The Golden Age of America Is Upon Us”.

Federal Reserve’s Assessment

Trump’s statements contrast with the assessments provided by the Federal Reserve earlier in the week. On Oct. 28, the Federal Open Market Committee released a statement noting that “Inflation remains elevated.”

During a press conference the same day, Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh stated that “Americans, of course, are still dealing with inflation that has been running above the Committee’s objective for close to 6 years.”

Warsh added that “inflation is too high” and noted that “Energy and related prices have moved higher again in recent weeks”. Warsh also stated that “It’s our responsibility to get inflation down”.

The Sept. 15-16, 2026, Federal Open Market Committee minutes indicated that recent price increases were driven by “the effects of past tariff increases, higher energy and input costs stemming from geopolitical developments, and an increase in technology-related consumer goods prices associated with the AI buildout.”

Monetary Policy Stance

To address economic conditions, the Federal Open Market Committee announced on October 28, 2026, that it “decided to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 3-3/4 to 4%.”

The committee stated that the “accumulation of more information will help the Committee determine the policy stance appropriate to ensure a timely return of inflation to the Committee’s 2% goal.” The Federal Reserve reaffirmed that “The Committee will deliver price stability.”

How Has the Stock Market Performed?

The S&P 500 index has advanced 12.57% year-to-date. Similarly, the Nasdaq Composite index was up 12.69%, and the Dow Jones gained 8.19% YTD.

On Thursday, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ:QQQ), which track the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100, respectively, closed lower. SPY fell 0.38% to $769.36, while QQQ declined 1.42% to $715.34. Meanwhile, the Dow tracker, State Street SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (NYSE:DIA), ended 0.37% lower at $522.73.

In premarket trading on Friday, SPY was down 1.04%, QQQ declined 2.60%, and DIA fell by 0.09%.

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

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