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Throughout last year's presidential campaign, Donald Trump courted the electorate with promises to lower costs starting on day one. But, once his inauguration, there was precious little focus to affordability issues. All that changed after inflation-weary citizens expressed dissatisfaction at the polls. Shortly thereafter, his team initiated a slapdash effort to tackle affordability. Regrettably, the drive is a hot mess—filled with illogical claims, inconsistencies, magical thinking, scapegoating, and misleading statements.

Out-of-Touch Claims and Grocery Store Truth

Merely 48 hours post-election, Trump kicked off his cost-reduction push with a poorly received remark: “Food prices are way down. All items is way down… So I don’t want to hear about affordability.” These words from the wealthy leader—often associates with fellow billionaires—demonstrated a lack of empathy for millions of Americans facing difficulties every time they go the grocery store. Essentially, he dismissed their struggles as unimportant, suggesting they had it wrong about price levels.

This statement about declining prices proved highly misleading and inaccurate. How could every price be falling when his cherished tariffs were increasing costs? Recent data show banana prices increased 6.9% over the past year, beef prices went up 14.7%, and the cost of coffee surged 18.9%—partly due to import taxes applied to Brazilian products. In the first three quarters, costs increased in five of the six main grocery groups monitored by the government’s price index, such as animal proteins (up 4.5%), drinks (up 2.8%), and produce (up 1.3%).

Inconsistencies and Falsehoods in Economic Statements

Despite the evidence, Trump continues to push his misleading narrative about lower costs. After the vote, he has stated there is “virtually no inflation,” insisted “costs have fallen significantly,” and asserted “it is far less expensive under Trump than it was under sleepy Joe Biden.” Such remarks ignore the fact that general costs have unarguably risen since Biden left office. Currently, price growth is running at a 3 percent per year, that’s half again as much than the Federal Reserve’s 2% goal. In another falsehood, Trump claimed that gas prices had dropped to nearly $2 a gallon, despite official data indicate they average $3.19.

Confronted by actual conditions and declining opinion polls, some Trump aides apparently warned that his “costs are falling” rhetoric made him sound disconnected from ordinary people. A lot of voters are frustrated about prices continuing to climb after assurances of reductions. In response, advisers suggested a simple solution: reduce certain import taxes. This sensible idea clashed with Trump’s absurd assertion that additional taxes wouldn’t raise prices for American shoppers.

Proposed Fixes and Their Possible Impact

As some tariffs reduced on coffee, beef, tomatoes, and bananas, Trump will probably announce that he has lowered costs once these products begin to fall in price. That would be similar to a firestarter taking credit for putting out a fire that he had started. On another occasion, when addressing fast-food leaders, Trump stated that “we are in the golden age of America” and told the audience that “costs are decreasing and all of that stuff.” Such statements are easy for a billionaire to make, but seem insincere to countless households facing hardships—particularly when millions face cuts to nutrition assistance or skyrocketing health premiums.

According to a recent poll conducted last fall, three-quarters of respondents believe economic conditions are mediocre or bad, while only 26% rate them good or excellent. A separate survey found that 61% of Americans say the administration’s actions have “made the economy worse” in the country.

Financial Truth and Proposed Steps

The treasury secretary, Trump’s chief financial officer, recently contradicted claims of a prosperous era. He stated that instead of thriving, some parts of the US economy “have contracted.” Industrial production—which Trump vowed to save—appears to have contracted for multiple consecutive months and lost around 33,000 jobs since January. Pointing to these challenges, Bessent urged the central bank to reduce borrowing costs—an action that could ease financial pressure.

Reacting to widespread concern about affordability, Trump suggested a direct payment of “a payout of at least $2,000 a person” not for “high income people.” To numerous households in need, this sounds like manna from heaven, but it is unlikely that Congress—already alarmed about huge budget deficits—will approve such a plan. The scheme would likely increase federal spending, increase interest rates, and potentially fuel inflation by injecting cash into the economy.

Another proposed solution for cost issues involved introducing 50-year mortgages, based on the idea that this would lower housing costs. But, reality is that such lengthy loans would do little to reduce installments—frequently cutting them by just $100 or $200 per month. The drawback is that these mortgages could significantly increase the total interest homeowners pay and hinder building home value.

Faulting the Past Government and Economic Outlook

As part of their affordability campaign, the administration have once more pointed fingers at the previous president for financial challenges, including increasing costs. Spokespeople claimed they “inherited a disaster from Joe Biden” and were “cleaning up the prior administration’s price hikes.” These are unfounded and inaccurate allegations. Actually, Biden left a strong economy, with inflation way down, economic growth strong, and unemployment low. But, Trump’s policies—especially import taxes—have resulted in an difficult situation, driving costs higher and reducing economic output.

Per an economist, lead analyst at Moody’s Analytics, 22 states are experiencing economic decline, with their conditions worsened by Trump’s tariffs. He worries that if key regions like major economies tumble into recession, the nation could face a widespread recession. During recessions, consumers typically have reduced funds to spend, and inflation often falls. Unfortunately, given Trump’s much-ballyhooed affordability campaign likely to do little to control costs, his most effective “tool” for improving living standards might prove to be triggering an economic contraction—a scenario that hard-pressed households cannot handle.