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Throughout last year's race for the White House, the former president courted voters with promises to reduce prices immediately upon taking office. But, once his inauguration, there was minimal attention to affordability issues. All that changed following price-fatigued voters delivered a rebuke at the ballot box. Within days, his team initiated a hastily assembled campaign to address living costs. Regrettably, this initiative has proven a hot mess—filled with illogical claims, contradictions, magical thinking, blame-shifting, and misleading statements.

Out-of-Touch Claims and Grocery Store Truth

Merely 48 hours post-election, the president kicked off his cost-reduction push with a disastrous statement: “Food prices are way down. All items is way down… So I don’t want to hear about affordability.” This comment from billionaire Trump—often associates with other ultra-rich individuals—revealed a lack of empathy for millions of Americans who struggle every time they go the grocery store. Essentially, he ignored their struggles as trivial, implying they were mistaken about actual costs.

His assertion that everything was “way down” proved highly misleading and dishonest. How could every price be decreasing when his cherished tariffs were pushing up costs? Recent data indicate the cost of bananas increased nearly 7% over the past year, beef prices climbed 14.7%, and the cost of coffee jumped 18.9%—in part due to import taxes applied to Brazilian products. In the first three quarters, prices rose in five of the six main grocery groups monitored by the government’s price index, including animal proteins (up 4.5%), drinks (up 2.8%), and produce (rising slightly).

Contradictions and Falsehoods in Economic Claims

In spite of these numbers, the president continues to push his misleading narrative about lower costs. Since election day, he has claimed there is “virtually no inflation,” declared “costs have fallen significantly,” and asserted “living is cheaper under Trump than it was under sleepy Joe Biden.” Such remarks contradict the reality that general costs have unarguably risen since Biden left office. At present, inflation is running at a 3 percent per year, that’s 50% higher than the Federal Reserve’s target of 2 percent. Adding to the inaccuracies, he boasted that fuel costs had dropped to nearly $2 a gallon, even though official data indicate they average $3.19.

Confronted by actual conditions and declining opinion polls, advisers apparently cautioned that his “prices are down” message made him sound dangerously out of touch from ordinary people. Many citizens are angry about rising costs after promises of reductions. In response, aides proposed one quick fix: reduce certain import taxes. The logical move contradicted the president’s unrealistic claim that additional taxes wouldn’t raise prices for American shoppers.

Suggested Fixes and Their Potential Effects

As certain taxes reduced on several food items, Trump will probably claim that he has lowered costs once these products start declining in price. This would be like an arsonist taking credit for putting out a blaze that he ignited. On another occasion, while speaking fast-food leaders, Trump declared that “this is the peak period of America” and assured listeners that “costs are decreasing and all of that stuff.” Such statements come naturally for a wealthy individual to make, but they ring hollow to countless households facing hardships—especially when many face cuts to nutrition assistance or rising insurance costs.

Per a recent poll conducted last fall, three-quarters of respondents believe the state of the economy are mediocre or bad, while only 26% rate them good or excellent. A separate survey found that a majority of citizens say Trump’s policies have “made the economy worse” in the country.

Financial Reality and Proposed Steps

Scott Bessent, the president’s chief financial officer, lately contradicted claims of a prosperous era. He noted that instead of thriving, some parts of the US economy “have contracted.” Industrial production—a priority for the administration—appears to have contracted for eight months in a row and lost around 33,000 jobs since January. Pointing to this weakness, Bessent called on the central bank to cut interest rates—a move that could ease financial pressure.

Reacting to public dismay about living costs, the president suggested a direct payment of “a payout of at least $2,000 a person” excluding “the wealthy.” For many households in need, this sounds like manna from heaven, but it is unlikely that Congress—already alarmed about huge budget deficits—will enact such a plan. The scheme would likely raise government expenditure, push up interest rates, and potentially fuel inflation by injecting cash into the economy.

Another supposed fix for cost issues centered on creating half-century home loans, based on the idea that they could reduce monthly mortgage payments. However, the truth is that 50-year mortgages have minimal impact to lower monthly payments—often cutting them by a small amount each month. The drawback is that these loans could more than double the overall cost borrowers pay and slow their accumulation of equity.

Blaming the Past Government and Financial Prospects

In their affordability campaign, Trump and his team have once more pointed fingers at the previous president for financial challenges, such as rising prices. Officials claimed they “inherited a disaster from Joe Biden” and were “addressing Biden’s inflation.” These are unfounded and untruthful allegations. In reality, the former president handed over a robust economic situation, with inflation way down, economic growth strong, and unemployment low. But, Trump’s policies—especially his tariffs—have resulted in an economic mess, pushing up prices and reducing economic output.

According to Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, 22 states are already in recession, with their conditions worsened by Trump’s tariffs. Zandi fears that if key regions like California and New York tumble into recession, the US could face a broad economic slump. In downturns, consumers typically have reduced funds to spend, and price increases often falls. Unfortunately, given Trump’s much-ballyhooed cost initiative probably ineffective to control costs, his most effective “tool” for achieving increased affordability might prove to be triggering an economic contraction—something that struggling Americans really can’t afford.