David Colburn

I didn’t think I needed a defibrillator when I stopped at the grocery store on Monday, but when I strolled into the coffee aisle, having one would’ve been handy. A 20.7-ounce container of Maxwell House coffee – ordinary, blue-can, nothing-fancy coffee – was priced at $33.
Back in January, that same container retailed for around $15. So, within nine months, if I was locked in on Maxwell House, the cost of my daily caffeine would have more than doubled. Fortunately, there are cheaper alternatives, and buying what’s on sale can ease the sticker shock quite a bit – Zup’s is doing what they can to keep me and you perky throughout the day (perky, a coffee pun, get it?). But if this keeps up, grocers should consider installing AEDs in the coffee aisle for customers who collapse at the sight of a price tag.
It’s not just coffee, of course. Food prices overall have kept rising this year, even though President Donald Trump promised that groceries would get cheaper “on day one” of his administration.
They haven’t. In fact, the numbers proving that come straight from his own agencies, from the people he hand-picked to run them.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s latest Food Price Outlook, issued in September, shows that food-at-home prices (government talk for groceries) are projected to rise 2.4 percent this year, slightly below the increase for restaurant food but above pre-pandemic norms. The Consumer Price Index for nonalcoholic beverages, which includes coffee, has climbed 4.6 percent from last year.
Those are the averages. The $15-to-$33 leap on my store shelf represents a 120-percent increase, so clearly some products are experiencing much higher inflation than the official composite suggests.
To be fair, part of that coffee increase is global. Brazil and Vietnam, the world’s largest coffee producers, have suffered drought and crop losses, and while he’d probably like to, not even Trump can control the weather. When crop yields fall, prices rise. That’s economics, not politics. But politics has made it worse.
In July, Trump slapped a 50 percent tariff on Brazilian coffee. He framed it as tough trade policy, but the reality is simpler and uglier.
Trump imposed the tariff after Brazilian courts advanced corruption charges against former president Jair Bolsonaro, a longtime Trump ally. Bolsonaro has since been convicted, but before that verdict, Trump tried to apply pressure through trade policy, declaring the Brazilian court action a “witch hunt” – and where have we heard that before?
So now, Americans are paying more for coffee not because of global shortages, but because the president wanted to shield a corrupt political friend from accountability. That isn’t “America First.” It’s favoritism at our expense.
Literally OUR expense. Because tariffs aren’t paid by Brazil. They’re paid by American importers, who then pass those higher costs to roasters, retailers, and ultimately to consumers like you and me. So, Trump’s tariffs may cause companies to think twice before shipping in products from abroad, but in reality they’re taxing U.S. shoppers when the increased costs are passed on to us.
Meanwhile, shrinkflation makes the math worse. Even if prices hadn’t jumped, we’d still be paying more for less. Coffee brands have quietly trimmed package sizes over the past few years. A standard Maxwell House container once held 24 to 25 ounces; today’s version carries 20.7 ounces. Folgers, the other grocery-aisle staple, has seen similar cuts, with some canisters shrinking by nearly 15 percent.
Manufacturers call it efficiency. Consumers call it shrinkflation, and it’s everywhere. Cereal boxes are slimmer. Snack bags contain more air than chips. Toilet paper rolls are shorter. When the package shrinks but the price doesn’t, inflation hides behind clever packaging.
So while the USDA’s food inflation rate might look moderate, the reality on the shelf feels far worse. You’re not just paying more per item; you’re paying more per ounce.
Trump’s campaign pledge to reduce food costs was on its face ridiculous, obviously pandering to voters who never took or couldn’t pass Economics 101. And he wasn’t content to promise mere progress over time; he said prices would drop immediately.
Eight months later, his own agencies are reporting the opposite. The USDA projects food prices rising faster than the historical average this year, driven in part by meat, eggs, sugar, and beverage costs. The Bureau of Labor Statistics confirms the same trend across the broader Consumer Price Index.
Day one came and went. The savings never arrived.
And there’s potentially more turbulence ahead, again according to the Trump administration itself. The U.S. Department of Labor recently warned that Trump’s stepped-up immigration enforcement could worsen food-supply instability. Farm and food producers rely heavily on immigrant labor for planting, harvesting, and processing. Deportations, visa delays, and stricter enforcement have already thinned the workforce in some sectors.
When fewer hands are available to harvest crops, more produce goes unpicked. Supply drops, prices rise. Economics 101, people.
You can’t build a wall around a strawberry field and expect it to pick itself.
None of this information comes from partisan think tanks or activist groups. These are Trump’s own people crunching the numbers – the USDA’s Food Price Outlook, the BLS inflation tables, and Labor Department filings – who have written the indictment against him.
They tell a clear story: Food inflation remains elevated, tariff policy is making it worse, and labor shortages threaten to compound the problem.
Trump promised relief. What we’ve received instead is a political premium added to nearly every grocery purchase.
I don’t blame the president for every nickel of my grocery bill. Supply shocks happen. Weather changes. Markets fluctuate. But leadership matters, and when policy choices drive prices higher, accountability should follow.
If you want to make life cheaper for ordinary Americans, you don’t tax the coffee we drink to defend the “honor” of a corrupt politician halfway around the world. You don’t cripple the labor force that keeps our farms running. You don’t brag about “winning on trade” while consumers lose at checkout.
A $33 can of Maxwell House tells the story better than any index ever could. It’s the price of political theater. It’s the cost of tariffs disguised as patriotism. It’s what happens when campaign slogans obscure and deny grocery-store realities.
So the next time someone insists that Trump made life more affordable, ask them a simple question: What did you pay for coffee this week?
And if they hesitate, tell them to check the coffee aisle. Right next to the AED.