White House cites DoorDash data to indicate ‘inflation has been tamed’

The White House this week cited a new report from DoorDash that showed decreasing food prices across select products as evidence that “inflation has been tamed.”

DoorDash’s State of Local Commerce report, which was released on Monday, used several indexes to indicate dropping and steadying prices, referencing data from grocers on DoorDash Marketplace. Between March and September, its Breakfast Basics Index—which includes three eggs, a glass of milk, a bagel, and an avocado—declined 14% (mostly due to a drop in elevated egg prices, DoorDash noted). Its Everyday Essentials Index—comprising toothpaste, shampoo, toilet paper, laundry detergent, pain medicine, and diapers—remained flat.

The White House cited the data in a briefing on Monday that included a graph claiming that “grocery prices on breakfast items has [sic] dropped 14% in the last six months”—a number not reported by DoorDash.

Prices on many breakfast items continue to rise, according to the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index data released last month. Coffee prices have soared 18.9% year over year (YoY), while prices also jumped for juice—3.1% YoY and 1.4% month over month (MoM)—breakfast cereals (0.4% YoY and 1% MoM), and bread (up 1.8% YoY and 0.3% MoM).

While the White House claimed the Everyday Essentials Index fell, DoorDash reported just a two-cent drop nationally. Per the BLS, housekeeping supplies, paper products, and personal care products all increased annually and monthly.

The briefing also claimed annual pricing declines for products including cheese, frozen meals, condiments, and medicines, which have all seen an increase in prices ranging from 0.6% to 1.2% YoY, according to the BLS.

DoorDash did not respond to Retail Brew’s request for comment. Journalist Nancy Levine Stearns posted on Bluesky that a DoorDash spokesperson said, “We did not write that,” in reference to the White House’s statement that inflation had been “tamed,” while a spokesperson told SFGate the report was not created in “tandem” with lawmakers.

This week, the Trump administration signaled plans to reverse course on its tariff policy for some food imports, including coffee, that are seeing skyrocketing prices in an effort to bring prices down. Overall, food prices rose 0.2% MoM in September, with four of the six grocery indexes increasing. The CPI for October, scheduled to be released on Thursday, has been delayed due to the government shutdown.