Walmart and Aldi announced Thanksgiving deals for 2024 they described as "pre-inflation" or "2019" pricing.
Neither company mentioned former President Donald Trump in their news releases, and Walmart explicitly denied that Trump's presidency played any role in its pricing. Rather, the phrase "Trump-era" in in this context originated with conservative media and pundits.
A claim that food retail giants Walmart and Aldi had announced a return to "Trump-era" pricing for the upcoming 2024 holiday season circulated online in October 2024.
A post on X said, "BREAKING: Walmart and Aldi just announced that they will be returning to Trump-era prices for a special holiday promo… This is HUGE. Everyone remembers the prices when Trump was in office."
Arizona Congresswoman Debbie Lasko shared a report from CBS News on X and said, "Popular grocery store chain, Aldi, will now be offering Trump-era prices to counteract Kamalanomics this Thanksgiving. Even the grocery stores are getting tired of the cost-of-living crisis!" Trump was not mentioned in the CBS News piece.
(@RepDLesko on X)
The claim was also shared on Facebook, with one user commenting, "Vote Trump and we will see these high grocery prices come down to more affordable prices, just one of the many things that he will take care of."
Another user shared the alleged news and said, "It is great to know that Walmart and Aldi readily acknowledge that prices under President Donald were very much affordable, which is in stark contrast from this worthless current administration who has done nothing but destroyed the economy of our country from all fronts."
The posts were in reference to the news that both Walmart and Aldi would be offering what the companies called "pre-inflation" prices for their Thanksgiving meal specials.
However, neither company referenced the former president in their promotional materials, and the specific "Trump-era" language appeared to originate with conservative media outlets such as the Western Journal, which the various posts on X and Facebook repeated.
The official news release from Walmart said:
As food prices remain top of mind, more customers want to begin saving earlier and throughout the holiday season. Now through Dec. 24, Walmart is bringing back its inflation-free Thanksgiving meal at a lower price than last year to help customers save without compromising quality… This year's meal features 29 items and serves eight people for less than $7 per person.
Snopes contacted Walmart and asked if Trump's presidency or policies had any bearing on Walmart's pricing of these items and if Walmart had any affiliation with the candidate.
A Walmart spokesperson replied, "Walmart has offered the Holiday meal at a price lower than last year for the past 3 years for our customers. Walmart always works to offer our customers low prices every day. This is a Walmart annual program — there is no affiliation or bearing."
Indeed, Walmart's release about a similar promotion in 2023 stated:
Inflation fighting: Starting Nov. 1, Walmart is again removing inflation to offer a traditional Thanksgiving meal on customers' favorite brands at an even lower price than last year, making it even easier and more affordable for customers to set their holiday table so they can focus on what matters: spending time with loved ones.
A similar release from 2022 read, "We're proud to offer customers this year's Thanksgiving meal at last year's price so families don't need to worry about how they'll set their holiday table."
Both of those releases referenced "last year" — meaning 2022 and 2021, respectively, when Joe Biden was the sitting president, not Trump. Searching the archives of the Western Journal, we did not find any claims of Walmart reverting to "Trump-era" prices during these years, despite the news being effectively the same. In 2019, however, they reported on Walmart's prices rising due to the Trump administration's tariffs.
Aldi has not yet responded to Snopes' query but stated in a news release:
This holiday season, ALDI is offering its lowest-priced Thanksgiving basket in five years – a full meal for 10 people at less than $47.* With reports showing grocery prices are up 50% across the industry on hundreds of items compared to 2019,** shoppers will get welcome relief at ALDI on their favorite Thanksgiving fixings… This inflation-busting holiday meal comes at a time when the popularity of ALDI is at an all-time high, and shopper demand is driving the retailer's continued growth as it plans to open 800 stores over the next five years.
*Availability may vary by store location and is subject to change. Pricing valid 10/16/24 - 11/27/24. Assumes a 16lb Turkey.
**According to a NielsenIQ study published in the Wall Street Journal article "How Far $100 Goes at the Grocery Store After Five Years of Food Inflation." April 4, 2024.
Like Walmart, Aldi has offered similar discounts for Thanksgiving-related items in the past. In 2023, they announced "price reductions of up to 50% on items across the store" and in 2022, they touted "holiday favorites ranging from appetizers, desserts, sides and beverages, will match 2019 prices for discounts of up to 30%."
While grocery prices had indeed increased over the previous five years, CNN pointed out that it was "in part because of the pandemic and later exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, extreme weather and companies taking the opportunity to pad prices."
Therefore, we've rated this claim as a mixture of true and false, since the price reductions are real and Trump was president in 2019, but neither company mentioned the former president explicitly, and Walmart denied that Trump's presidency had any bearing on pricing.
Snopes has fact-checked many claims about inflation, including the claim that inflation has been higher than ever under President Biden, that inflation is hitting not just the U.S. but worldwide, and that the profits of 15 corporations were responsible for driving up inflation.