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Throughout last year's presidential campaign, Donald Trump wooed voters with promises to reduce prices starting on day one. But, once his inauguration, he seemed to pay minimal attention to affordability issues. All that changed following price-fatigued citizens delivered a rebuke at the polls. Shortly thereafter, his team initiated a slapdash effort to tackle affordability. Unfortunately, the drive has proven a hot mess—filled with illogical claims, contradictions, magical thinking, blame-shifting, and Trumpian dishonesty.

Detached Claims and Supermarket Reality

Just two days post-election, the president kicked off his affordability drive with a poorly received statement: “Food prices are way down. Everything is way down… So I don’t want to hear about the cost of living.” These words from the wealthy leader—often associates with fellow billionaires—revealed utter contempt for everyday citizens facing difficulties every time they go supermarkets. Essentially, he ignored their concerns as unimportant, implying they were mistaken about actual costs.

His assertion about declining prices was highly misleading and dishonest. In what way could all costs be decreasing when the taxes he imposed were pushing up prices? Recent data show the cost of bananas rose 6.9% over the past year, beef prices went up 14.7%, and coffee prices jumped by nearly 19%—in part due to import taxes on Brazil’s coffee and beef. Between January and September, costs increased in the majority of food categories monitored by the Consumer Price Index, including animal proteins (rising over 4%), non-alcoholic beverages (up 2.8%), and fruits and vegetables (rising slightly).

Contradictions and Falsehoods in Financial Claims

Despite these numbers, Trump continues to push his misleading narrative about lower costs. Since election day, he has stated there is “virtually no inflation,” insisted “prices are way down,” and argued “it is far less expensive under Trump than it was under sleepy Joe Biden.” These statements ignore the reality that general costs have clearly increased after the previous administration. At present, inflation is at a 3% annual rate, which is 50% higher than the Federal Reserve’s 2% goal. Adding to the inaccuracies, Trump claimed that fuel costs had fallen to nearly $2 a gallon, despite official data show they are over three dollars.

Confronted by actual conditions and lower approval ratings, some Trump aides evidently warned that his “costs are falling” message portrayed him as disconnected from typical Americans. A lot of citizens are frustrated about prices continuing to climb following promises of reductions. As a result, advisers proposed one quick fix: reduce certain import taxes. This sensible idea clashed with the president’s unrealistic claim that additional taxes would not increase costs for US consumers.

Suggested Solutions and Their Possible Impact

As some tariffs being rolled back on several food items, the administration will likely claim that he has cut prices once those foods begin to fall in price. That would be similar to a firestarter taking credit for extinguishing a fire that he had started. On another occasion, when addressing McDonald’s executives, he stated that “this is the golden age of America” and assured listeners that “costs are decreasing and all of that stuff.” Such statements are easy for a billionaire to make, but they ring hollow to countless households facing hardships—especially when many face cuts to nutrition assistance or rising insurance costs.

According to a survey from October, 74% of Americans believe economic conditions are mediocre or bad, while only 26% rate them good or excellent. Another poll showed that 61% of Americans say Trump’s policies have “made the economy worse” in the country.

Financial Reality and Suggested Measures

Scott Bessent, Trump’s top economic official, lately contradicted assertions of a golden age. He noted that instead of thriving, some parts of the US economy “have contracted.” The manufacturing sector—which Trump vowed to save—appears to have contracted for eight months in a row and lost approximately tens of thousands of positions since January. Citing these challenges, the secretary called on the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates—a move that could ease financial pressure.

In response to widespread concern about living costs, the president proposed a direct payment of “a payout of at least $2,000 a person” excluding “the wealthy.” For many households in need, it seems like manna from heaven, but the prospects are dim that Congress—already alarmed about huge budget deficits—will enact the proposal. This idea would likely raise government expenditure, push up borrowing costs, and possibly drive prices higher by injecting cash into the economy.

A further supposed fix for cost issues centered on creating 50-year mortgages, with the notion that this would reduce monthly mortgage payments. But, reality is that 50-year mortgages have minimal impact to lower monthly payments—often cutting them by a small amount per month. The downside is that these loans could more than double the overall cost borrowers pay and slow their accumulation of equity.

Blaming the Previous Administration and Financial Outlook

In their cost-cutting effort, Trump and his team have again blamed Biden for economic problems, including rising prices. Spokespeople stated they “faced a mess from Joe Biden” and were “cleaning up Biden’s inflation.” These are absurd and inaccurate allegations. In reality, the former president handed over a robust economic situation, with low price growth, solid expansion, and unemployment low. But, the current administration’s actions—especially import taxes—have resulted in an difficult situation, pushing up prices and slowing GDP growth.

Per Mark Zandi, lead analyst at a research firm, numerous regions are already in recession, with their economies damaged by the administration’s trade policies. Zandi fears that if large states such as California and New York tumble into recession, the US could face a broad economic slump. During recessions, people generally possess less money to spend, and inflation often falls. Unfortunately, given Trump’s much-ballyhooed affordability campaign likely to do little to hold down prices, his primary method for achieving increased affordability might prove to be pushing the nation into recession—a scenario that hard-pressed households really can’t afford.