Donald Trump Claims People Have to ‘Give ID’ at Grocery Stores and Gas Stations While Justifying Voter ID Laws

Former President Donald Trump again claimed that Americans must show identification when grocery shopping, a remark he used to support his push for stricter voter ID laws during a meeting with Republican senators on Wednesday, Nov. 5.

The 79-year-old made the comments a day after Democrats secured major wins in several states, including New York, Virginia, California, and New Jersey. Speaking to GOP lawmakers, Trump urged them to adopt tougher voting restrictions:

“We should pass voter ID. We should pass no mail-in voting. We should pass all the things that we want to pass to make our election secure and safe. Because California is a disaster. Many of the states are disasters, but can you imagine when they vote almost unanimously against voter ID?”

He added, “All we want is voter ID. You go to a grocery store, you have to give ID. You go to a gas station, you give ID. But for voting, they want no voter ID. It’s only for one reason, because they cheat.”

Although Trump may have been referring to alcohol purchases or outdated practices such as showing identification for personal checks, ID is not required for buying groceries or fuel.

This is not the first time Trump has made similar statements. In November 2018, he said, “If you buy, you know, a box of cereal, if you do anything, you have a voter ID. Well, over here, the only thing you don’t is if you’re a voter of the United States.” The following year, during a campaign rally in Louisiana, he claimed, “If you want to go out and buy groceries, you need identification.” He repeated the assertion in October 2023, saying, “If you buy a loaf of bread, you got to have your ID out. But for voting, you don’t.”

Trump’s latest comments came just months after he drew attention for calling “groceries” an “old-fashioned word” during an April 2 speech about tariffs, which he referred to as “Liberation Day.” He said, “It’s such an old-fashioned term but a beautiful term: groceries. It sort of says a bag with different things in it.”

At that time, he also claimed credit for lowering grocery costs, saying, “Groceries went through the roof and I campaigned on that. I talked about the word ‘groceries’ for a lot, and energy costs now are down. Groceries are down.”

However, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Price Outlook, grocery costs were expected to rise slightly faster than average this year. More recent data from the Consumer Price Index showed that average grocery prices increased 0.3% between August and September, following a 0.6% rise from July to August.