Trump’s False Claim About ID Requirements at Grocery Stores Persists

Former U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that Americans must show photo identification to purchase groceries or gas, a statement that has been proven false. The assertion, which Trump has made at various public appearances since at least 2018, typically surfaces when he advocates for voter ID laws.

Trump’s mischaracterization of everyday shopping requirements first gained widespread attention during a July 2018 political rally in Tampa, Florida. “If you go out and you want to buy groceries, you need a picture on a card. You need ID,” Trump told supporters. The statement prompted immediate fact-checking from journalists and retail experts who confirmed that no such requirement exists for standard grocery purchases.

Despite corrections, Trump has continued making the claim, often specifically mentioning bread and cereal. In November 2018, he told The Daily Caller, “If you buy a box of cereal, if you do anything, you have a voter ID.” Similar statements followed at rallies in Louisiana (2019), Arizona (2021), and Iowa (2023), where he insisted that Americans need photo identification “to buy a loaf of bread.”

Most recently, during a November 2025 White House breakfast with Republican senators, Trump expanded the falsehood to include gas stations: “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.”

When questioned about these statements in 2018, then-White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders attempted to clarify by noting that ID is required for alcohol purchases, but she did not address the broader inaccuracy of Trump’s claim regarding routine grocery shopping.

The former president’s comments have raised questions about his familiarity with everyday consumer experiences. In multiple recent interviews, Trump has expressed unfamiliarity with grocery shopping, referring to “groceries” as an “old-fashioned word” during a November 2025 Fox News appearance. This echoes a 2010 clip from the reality TV show “The Marriage Ref” where Trump admitted he had “never even gone to a food market” with his wife Melania.

Retail industry standards in the United States generally require identification only for age-restricted items such as alcohol, tobacco, certain medications, and firearms. Standard groceries, including bread and cereal specifically mentioned by Trump, can be purchased without identification at virtually all American retailers.

Trump’s grocery store claims typically appear alongside his allegations of widespread voter fraud in U.S. elections and his advocacy for stricter voter identification laws. During his October 2019 rally in Louisiana, he explicitly connected the two issues, saying the only reason Democrats oppose voter ID is “because they cheat like hell.”

The persistence of this claim despite years of correction illustrates how misinformation can become entrenched in political discourse. While photo identification is indeed required for certain transactions in American life, everyday grocery shopping is not among them.

Retail industry associations have consistently clarified that their member stores do not require ID for standard purchases, and journalists who have investigated the claim have found no evidence supporting Trump’s assertion that photo identification is necessary for buying bread, cereal, or other grocery staples.

The White House has not responded to requests for clarification about the former president’s repeated statements on this matter.