Murdoch Paper Skewers Trump for Imitating Biden

The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board blasted President Donald Trump for ordering an investigation into whether meat packers are “criminally profiting” from rising prices—and using language that sounds suspiciously Democratic.

The president wrote in a Truth Social post that it was “fishy” that the price of beef has shot up by 15 percent over the past year and suggested foreign-owned meat packing companies were to blame.

“Actions must be taken immediately to protect Consumers, combat Illegal Monopolies, and ensure these Corporations are not criminally profiting at the expense of the American People,” the president wrote.

President Donald Trump holding up his tariff chart on what he called “Liberation Day” on April 2 as he has moved to impose sweeping tariffs on countries around the world since taking office. — The Wall Street Journal argued that President Trump’s tariffs had contributed to rising beef prices. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

His post said he had asked the Department of Justice to immediately being investigating “the Meat Packing Companies who are driving up the price of Beef through Illicit Collusion, Price Fixing, and Price Manipulation.”

Those statements were indistinguishable from comments previously made by former President Joe Biden and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the Rupert Murdoch-owned paper noted Tuesday in an editorial.

“President Trump is doing his best Biden-Warren imitation these days, as he tries to shift blame for rising prices,” the opinion editors wrote.

Biden also instructed the DOJ to scrutinize meat packers for anti-competitive behavior, the paper noted.

Meat packers’ profits have actually fallen, not increased, as the cattle supply has shrunk, the Journal wrote. Thanks in part to Trump’s 50 percent tariff on imports from Brazil and the administration’s quotas on Argentinian beef imports, live cattle prices have soared by 24 percent.

Those higher prices have in turn squeezed meat packers’ margins.

“The real beneficiaries of higher beef prices have been U.S. ranchers, not meat packers,” the editorial board wrote. “Ranchers have been pressing the Administration to continue its ban on Mexican cattle imports and to use his national-security authority under Section 232 of the 1962 Trade Expansion Act to restrict beef imports, as if Argentinian steaks endanger the homeland.”

The president ran on a promise to “immediately” lower food costs but has failed to rein in prices. During an interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham, Trump claimed that “we are doing phenomenally well—this is the greatest economy we’ve ever had.”

President Donald Trump talks about the price of beef on Truth Social. — President Trump announced last week that he had instructed the DOJ to investigate meat packing companies. Truth Social

He also claimed that high costs were just a Democratic talking point and that only beef prices were high. Ingraham immediately cut in to say coffee was also up, and Trump said he would lower some tariffs on coffee.

The Journal’s editorial board suggested that Trump also remove all beef tariffs and quotas, saying Biden had “learned the hard way” that “attacking business won’t reduce the price of a hamburger.”

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