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Throughout last year's presidential campaign, Donald Trump wooed voters with promises to reduce costs starting on day one. But, after his inauguration, there was minimal attention to the cost of living. All that changed after inflation-weary citizens delivered a rebuke at the ballot box. Shortly thereafter, his team launched a slapdash campaign to address living costs. Regrettably, this initiative has proven a hot mess—characterized by absurdity, inconsistencies, magical thinking, blame-shifting, and misleading statements.

Out-of-Touch Assertions and Grocery Store Reality

Just two days post-election, the president kicked off his affordability drive with a disastrous remark: “Our groceries are way down. All items is way down… So I don’t want to hear about affordability.” These words from billionaire Trump—who frequently associates with other ultra-rich individuals—revealed utter contempt for millions of Americans who struggle when visiting the grocery store. Essentially, he ignored their struggles as unimportant, suggesting they were mistaken about price levels.

This statement that everything was “way down” proved absurdly obtuse and inaccurate. In what way could every price be decreasing when the taxes he imposed were increasing costs? Recent data show banana prices increased 6.9% over the past year, the price of beef went up 14.7%, and coffee prices jumped by nearly 19%—partly because of punitive tariffs applied to Brazilian products. Between January and September, costs increased in the majority of food categories monitored by the Consumer Price Index, such as meats, poultry, and fish (up 4.5%), drinks (up 2.8%), and produce (up 1.3%).

Inconsistencies and Inaccuracies in Economic Statements

Despite these numbers, the president continues to push his misleading narrative about affordability. Since election day, he has stated there is “almost no price increases,” insisted “costs have fallen significantly,” and asserted “it is far less expensive under Trump than it was under his predecessor.” Such remarks ignore the fact that prices overall have clearly increased since Biden left office. At present, price growth is running at a 3% annual rate, which is 50% higher than the Federal Reserve’s 2% goal. In another falsehood, he claimed that fuel costs had fallen to nearly $2 a gallon, despite official data show they average over three dollars.

Confronted by actual conditions and declining opinion polls, some Trump aides evidently warned that his “costs are falling” message portrayed him as disconnected from ordinary people. A lot of citizens are frustrated about prices continuing to climb following assurances of reductions. In response, advisers suggested a simple solution: roll back certain import taxes. The logical move contradicted the president’s unrealistic claim that new tariffs wouldn’t raise prices for American shoppers.

Proposed Solutions and Their Possible Impact

As certain taxes being rolled back on several food items, the administration will probably claim that he has lowered costs once those foods start declining in price. This would be like an arsonist boasting for extinguishing a blaze that he ignited. On another occasion, when addressing McDonald’s executives, Trump stated that “we are in the peak period of America” and assured the audience that “prices are coming down and all of that stuff.” Such statements come naturally for a billionaire to make, but seem insincere to millions of Americans who are struggling—particularly when many face cuts to nutrition assistance or rising insurance costs.

Per a survey conducted last fall, 74% of Americans think the state of the economy are mediocre or bad, while only 26% consider them good or excellent. Another poll showed that 61% of Americans say Trump’s policies have “worsened economic conditions” in the country.

Economic Truth and Suggested Measures

The treasury secretary, the president’s top economic official, lately disputed claims of a golden age. He noted that instead of thriving, certain sectors of the US economy “have contracted.” Industrial production—which Trump vowed to save—seems to have shrunk for multiple consecutive months and lost around tens of thousands of positions since January. Citing these challenges, Bessent called on the central bank to reduce borrowing costs—an action that could ease financial pressure.

Reacting to widespread concern about affordability, Trump proposed a direct payment of “a dividend of at least $2,000 a person” not for “high income people.” To numerous households in need, this sounds like a financial lifeline, but the prospects are dim that lawmakers—concerned about huge budget deficits—will approve such a plan. This idea would likely increase federal spending, push up interest rates, and potentially fuel inflation by putting more money into the economy.

Another supposed fix for cost issues involved introducing half-century home loans, based on the idea that they could lower housing costs. But, reality is that such lengthy loans would do little to reduce installments—often reducing them by a small amount per month. The drawback is that these mortgages could more than double the overall cost homeowners pay and slow their accumulation of equity.

Blaming the Past Government and Economic Outlook

As part of their cost-cutting effort, Trump and his team have again blamed the previous president for financial challenges, including rising prices. Spokespeople claimed they “inherited a disaster from Joe Biden” and were “cleaning up the prior administration’s price hikes.” These are absurd and untruthful claims. In reality, the former president handed over a strong economy, with inflation way down, solid expansion, and minimal joblessness. However, Trump’s policies—particularly import taxes—have resulted in an economic mess, driving costs higher and slowing GDP growth.

Per Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, numerous regions are already in recession, with their economies damaged by the administration’s trade policies. He worries that if key regions like major economies enter a downturn, the US could slide into a broad economic slump. In downturns, people typically have less money to spend, and inflation usually declines. Unfortunately, with Trump’s much-ballyhooed affordability campaign probably ineffective to hold down prices, his most effective “tool” for achieving increased affordability might prove to be triggering an economic contraction—a scenario that struggling Americans cannot handle.