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Throughout the previous presidential campaign, Donald Trump courted the electorate with promises to lower costs starting on day one. However, once his inauguration, he seemed to pay minimal attention to affordability issues. This shifted following price-fatigued citizens expressed dissatisfaction at the polls. Within days, the Trump administration launched a hastily assembled campaign to tackle living costs. Regrettably, the drive has proven a disorganized endeavor—characterized by illogical claims, contradictions, magical thinking, blame-shifting, and Trumpian dishonesty.

Out-of-Touch Claims and Supermarket Truth

Just two days post-election, the president kicked off his affordability drive with a disastrous remark: “Food prices are way down. All items is way down… So I don’t want to hear about the cost of living.” These words from billionaire Trump—who frequently mingles with fellow billionaires—demonstrated a lack of empathy for millions of Americans who struggle when visiting supermarkets. In effect, he dismissed their struggles as unimportant, suggesting they had it wrong about price levels.

His assertion that everything was “way down” was highly misleading and inaccurate. In what way could every price be decreasing when his cherished tariffs were increasing prices? Official statistics show the cost of bananas increased 6.9% in the last twelve months, beef prices climbed almost 15%, and the cost of coffee jumped by nearly 19%—partly due to punitive tariffs applied to Brazilian products. In the first three quarters, costs increased in the majority of main grocery groups monitored by the government’s price index, such as meats, poultry, and fish (rising over 4%), non-alcoholic beverages (increasing nearly 3%), and fruits and vegetables (rising slightly).

Contradictions and Inaccuracies in Financial Claims

Despite the evidence, the president persists in repeating his big lie about lower costs. After the vote, he has claimed there is “virtually no inflation,” insisted “costs have fallen significantly,” and argued “it is far less expensive under Trump than it was under his predecessor.” Such remarks ignore the reality that prices overall have unarguably risen after the previous administration. Currently, price growth is at a 3 percent per year, that’s 50% higher than the central bank’s target of 2 percent. In another falsehood, Trump boasted that fuel costs had fallen to around two dollars, despite official data show they average over three dollars.

Confronted by reality and lower approval ratings, some Trump aides apparently cautioned that his “prices are down” message made him sound disconnected from typical Americans. Many voters are angry about rising costs following promises of decreases. As a result, advisers proposed one quick fix: roll back some of Trump’s beloved tariffs. The logical move clashed with the president’s unrealistic claim that additional taxes would not increase costs for US consumers.

Proposed Fixes and Their Potential Effects

As certain taxes being rolled back on several food items, Trump will probably announce that he has lowered costs once those foods start declining in price. This would be similar to a firestarter taking credit for putting out a fire that he ignited. On another occasion, while speaking McDonald’s executives, he declared that “this is the golden age of America” and told 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 millions of Americans who are struggling—especially when millions risk cuts to nutrition assistance or rising insurance costs.

According to a survey from October, three-quarters of respondents think 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 “worsened economic conditions” in the country.

Financial Truth and Suggested Steps

The treasury secretary, the president’s top economic official, recently contradicted claims of a prosperous era. He stated that far from booming, certain sectors of the American economy “have contracted.” Industrial production—a priority for the administration—appears to have contracted for eight months in a row and shed approximately 33,000 jobs since January. Pointing to these challenges, Bessent called on the central bank to cut interest rates—a move that could help affordability.

Reacting to widespread concern about living costs, Trump proposed a cash handout of “a dividend of at least $2,000 a person” not for “high income people.” For many struggling Americans, it seems like a financial lifeline, but the prospects are dim that Congress—already alarmed about large shortfalls—will approve the proposal. The scheme would likely increase federal spending, increase interest rates, and potentially fuel inflation by injecting cash into consumers’ pockets.

Another proposed solution for affordability centered on introducing 50-year mortgages, based on the idea that this would reduce monthly mortgage payments. But, reality is that 50-year mortgages have minimal impact to lower monthly payments—often reducing them by just $100 or $200 each month. The drawback is that these mortgages could significantly increase the total interest borrowers pay and slow their accumulation of equity.

Faulting the Previous Administration and Financial Prospects

In their cost-cutting effort, Trump and his team have once more blamed Biden for economic problems, including increasing costs. Officials claimed they “inherited a disaster from Joe Biden” and were “cleaning up the prior administration’s price hikes.” These are absurd and inaccurate allegations. Actually, Biden left a strong economy, with inflation way down, solid expansion, and minimal joblessness. However, Trump’s policies—particularly his tariffs—have created an difficult situation, pushing up prices and slowing GDP growth.

According to an economist, lead analyst at a research firm, numerous regions are already in recession, with their conditions worsened by Trump’s tariffs. He fears that if key regions such as California and New York tumble into recession, the nation could face a broad economic slump. In downturns, people generally possess reduced funds to spend, and price increases often falls. Sadly, with the highly-touted affordability campaign probably ineffective to hold down prices, his most effective “tool” for achieving increased affordability might prove to be pushing the nation into recession—something that struggling Americans cannot handle.