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Throughout the previous race for the White House, Donald Trump wooed the electorate with pledges to reduce costs immediately upon taking office. But, once his inauguration, he seemed to pay minimal focus to the cost of living. All that changed after inflation-weary voters delivered a rebuke at the polls. Within days, his team initiated a hastily assembled campaign to tackle affordability. Regrettably, the drive has proven a hot mess—characterized by illogical claims, inconsistencies, magical thinking, blame-shifting, and Trumpian dishonesty.

Out-of-Touch Assertions and Supermarket Reality

Merely 48 hours post-election, Trump 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 affordability.” These words from the wealthy leader—often mingles with fellow billionaires—revealed a lack of empathy for millions of Americans facing difficulties when visiting the grocery store. Essentially, he dismissed their struggles as trivial, suggesting they were mistaken about actual costs.

His assertion about declining prices proved highly misleading and inaccurate. In what way could all costs be falling when his cherished tariffs were increasing prices? Official statistics show the cost of bananas rose 6.9% over the past year, beef prices went up 14.7%, and the cost of coffee jumped by nearly 19%—partly due to punitive tariffs applied to Brazilian products. In the first three quarters, prices rose in the majority of food categories monitored by the Consumer Price Index, such as animal proteins (rising over 4%), drinks (up 2.8%), and produce (up 1.3%).

Contradictions and Inaccuracies in Financial Statements

Despite these numbers, the president continues to push his big lie about lower costs. After the vote, he has claimed there is “almost no price increases,” declared “prices are way down,” and asserted “living is cheaper under Trump than it was under his predecessor.” These statements contradict the fact that general costs have clearly increased since Biden left office. Currently, inflation is at a 3 percent per year, that’s half again as much than the Federal Reserve’s target of 2 percent. In another falsehood, he boasted that gas prices had fallen to around two dollars, even though government figures show they average over three dollars.

Faced with actual conditions and lower approval ratings, some Trump aides apparently cautioned that his “costs are falling” rhetoric portrayed him as disconnected from typical Americans. A lot of voters are angry about rising costs after promises of decreases. In response, advisers suggested a simple solution: roll back some of Trump’s beloved tariffs. This sensible idea contradicted Trump’s absurd assertion that new tariffs would not increase costs for US consumers.

Proposed Fixes and Their Possible Effects

As certain taxes being rolled back on coffee, beef, tomatoes, and bananas, the administration will probably claim that he has lowered costs once these products begin to fall in price. This would be similar to a firestarter boasting for putting out a fire that he ignited. On another occasion, when addressing McDonald’s executives, Trump stated that “this is the peak period of America” and told the audience that “costs are decreasing and all of that stuff.” These comments are easy for a billionaire to make, but they ring hollow to countless households facing hardships—especially when many risk cuts to nutrition assistance or skyrocketing health premiums.

Per a survey conducted last fall, 74% of Americans think economic conditions are fair or poor, while just a quarter consider them good or excellent. A separate survey showed that a majority of citizens feel Trump’s policies have “worsened economic conditions” in the country.

Economic Reality and Proposed Steps

Scott Bessent, Trump’s chief financial officer, recently disputed claims of a golden age. He stated that instead of thriving, some parts of the American economy “have contracted.” Industrial production—which Trump vowed to save—seems to have shrunk for eight months in a row and lost around 33,000 jobs this year. Citing these challenges, the secretary urged the central bank to reduce borrowing costs—an action that could help affordability.

In response to public dismay about affordability, the president proposed a direct payment of “a dividend of at least $2,000 a person” excluding “high income people.” For many struggling Americans, this sounds like manna from heaven, but it is unlikely that lawmakers—concerned about large shortfalls—will enact such a plan. This idea would likely increase federal spending, push up interest rates, and potentially drive prices higher by injecting cash into the economy.

A further supposed fix for cost issues involved creating 50-year mortgages, with the notion that this would lower housing costs. But, the truth is that 50-year mortgages would do little to lower monthly payments—frequently reducing them by just $100 or $200 per month. The downside is that these mortgages could more than double the overall cost homeowners pay and slow building home value.

Blaming the Previous Administration and Economic Outlook

In their affordability campaign, the administration have again pointed fingers at the previous president for economic problems, including increasing costs. Spokespeople claimed they “inherited a disaster from Joe Biden” and were “addressing Biden’s inflation.” These are absurd and inaccurate claims. In reality, Biden left a robust economic situation, with inflation way down, economic growth strong, and minimal joblessness. However, Trump’s policies—particularly import taxes—have created an difficult situation, driving costs higher and reducing economic output.

According to an economist, lead analyst at Moody’s Analytics, numerous regions are experiencing economic decline, with their economies damaged by the administration’s trade policies. Zandi worries that if key regions such as major economies enter a downturn, the US could slide into a broad economic slump. In downturns, consumers generally possess less money to spend, and price increases often falls. Unfortunately, with Trump’s much-ballyhooed cost initiative likely to do little to control costs, his primary method for achieving increased affordability might prove to be triggering an economic contraction—a scenario that struggling Americans really can’t afford.