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During last year's presidential campaign, Donald Trump courted voters with pledges to lower prices immediately upon taking office. But, once his inauguration, he seemed to pay minimal attention to affordability issues. This shifted after price-fatigued voters delivered a rebuke at the polls. Within days, the Trump administration initiated a slapdash campaign to address affordability. Regrettably, this initiative is a disorganized endeavor—characterized by illogical claims, contradictions, magical thinking, blame-shifting, and Trumpian dishonesty.

Out-of-Touch Claims and Grocery Store Reality

Merely 48 hours after the election, Trump began his cost-reduction push with a poorly received remark: “Our groceries are way down. All items is way down… So I don’t want to hear about the cost of living.” This comment from billionaire Trump—who frequently mingles with fellow billionaires—revealed a lack of empathy for millions of Americans who struggle when visiting the grocery store. Essentially, he ignored their struggles as unimportant, implying they were mistaken about actual costs.

His assertion about declining prices proved absurdly obtuse and inaccurate. How could every price be falling when the taxes he imposed were pushing up costs? Official statistics show the cost of bananas increased nearly 7% in the last twelve months, the price of beef climbed 14.7%, and coffee prices jumped 18.9%—partly due to import taxes on Brazil’s coffee and beef. Between January and September, costs increased in the majority of main grocery groups tracked by the government’s price index, such as meats, poultry, and fish (up 4.5%), drinks (increasing nearly 3%), and fruits and vegetables (up 1.3%).

Contradictions and Falsehoods in Economic Statements

Despite these numbers, Trump persists in repeating his misleading narrative about lower costs. After the vote, he has claimed there is “virtually no inflation,” insisted “costs have fallen significantly,” and asserted “living is cheaper under Trump than it was under his predecessor.” Such remarks contradict the reality that general costs have unarguably risen 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 boasted that fuel costs had dropped to around two dollars, despite official data show they are over three dollars.

Faced with actual conditions and lower approval ratings, advisers evidently warned that his “costs are falling” rhetoric made him sound dangerously out of touch from ordinary people. Many citizens are frustrated about rising costs after promises of decreases. As a result, aides proposed a simple solution: reduce some of Trump’s beloved tariffs. This sensible idea contradicted the president’s unrealistic claim that new tariffs would not increase costs for American shoppers.

Suggested Solutions and Their Possible Impact

As some tariffs being rolled back on several food items, the administration will probably announce that he has lowered costs once these products start declining in price. That would be similar to a firestarter boasting for putting out a fire that he had started. In another instance, when addressing fast-food leaders, Trump declared that “we are in the golden age of America” and told listeners that “costs are decreasing and all of that stuff.” Such statements come naturally for a billionaire to make, but they ring hollow to countless households who are struggling—particularly when many face losing food stamps or rising insurance costs.

According to a survey from October, 74% of Americans think the state of the economy are fair or poor, while only 26% consider them positive. Another poll showed that a majority of citizens feel Trump’s policies have “worsened economic conditions” in the country.

Financial Truth and Proposed Measures

The treasury secretary, the president’s chief financial officer, recently disputed assertions of a prosperous era. He noted that far from booming, certain sectors of the American economy “are in recession.” The manufacturing sector—a priority for the administration—seems to have shrunk for eight months in a row and shed approximately 33,000 jobs this year. Pointing to these challenges, the secretary called on the central bank to reduce borrowing costs—an action that could help affordability.

Reacting to widespread concern 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—already alarmed about large shortfalls—will approve the proposal. The scheme would likely increase federal spending, push up interest rates, and possibly drive prices higher by putting more money into the economy.

A further proposed solution for cost issues involved creating 50-year mortgages, with the notion that this would lower housing costs. However, the truth is that such lengthy loans would do little to lower monthly payments—often reducing them by a small amount per month. The downside is that these mortgages could significantly increase the overall cost homeowners pay and hinder their accumulation of equity.

Faulting the Past Government and Economic Outlook

As part of their affordability campaign, the administration have again pointed fingers at the previous president for economic problems, including increasing costs. Spokespeople claimed they “faced a mess from Joe Biden” and were “addressing the prior administration’s price hikes.” These are absurd and untruthful allegations. Actually, Biden left a strong economy, with inflation way down, economic growth strong, and unemployment low. However, Trump’s policies—particularly his tariffs—have created an difficult situation, pushing up prices and slowing GDP growth.

Per Mark Zandi, lead analyst at a research firm, 22 states are already in recession, with their economies damaged by the administration’s trade policies. Zandi fears that if large states like major economies tumble into recession, the US could slide into a broad economic slump. During recessions, people typically have reduced funds to spend, and inflation often falls. Sadly, with Trump’s much-ballyhooed affordability campaign likely to do little 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.