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During last year's race for the White House, Donald Trump courted voters with pledges to lower prices immediately upon taking office. But, after he assumed office, there was minimal attention to affordability issues. All that changed after inflation-weary citizens delivered a rebuke at the ballot box. Within days, his team launched a slapdash effort to address affordability. Unfortunately, the drive is a hot mess—characterized by illogical claims, contradictions, magical thinking, blame-shifting, and Trumpian dishonesty.

Out-of-Touch Assertions and Supermarket Reality

Merely 48 hours post-election, Trump began his affordability drive with a disastrous remark: “Our groceries are way down. Everything is way down… So I don’t want to hear about the cost of living.” These words from the wealthy leader—who frequently associates with fellow billionaires—demonstrated utter contempt for millions of Americans facing difficulties when visiting supermarkets. Essentially, he ignored their concerns as trivial, suggesting they were mistaken about price levels.

This statement that everything was “way down” proved highly misleading and dishonest. How could every price be decreasing when his cherished tariffs were increasing prices? Recent data indicate the cost of bananas increased 6.9% in the last twelve months, the price of beef climbed 14.7%, and coffee prices surged by nearly 19%—in part due to punitive tariffs applied to Brazilian products. Between January and September, costs increased in the majority of main grocery groups tracked by the government’s price index, including animal proteins (rising over 4%), drinks (up 2.8%), and produce (up 1.3%).

Inconsistencies and Falsehoods in Economic Claims

In spite of these numbers, Trump continues to push his big lie about affordability. After the vote, he has claimed there is “virtually no inflation,” declared “costs have fallen significantly,” and asserted “it is far less expensive under Trump than it was under sleepy Joe Biden.” Such remarks contradict the reality that prices overall have clearly increased after the previous administration. At present, price growth is running at a 3% annual rate, that’s 50% higher than the Federal Reserve’s target of 2 percent. In another falsehood, Trump claimed that gas prices had fallen to nearly $2 a gallon, despite official data show they average $3.19.

Confronted by reality and lower approval ratings, some Trump aides evidently cautioned that his “prices are down” rhetoric made him sound disconnected from ordinary people. A lot of voters are frustrated about rising costs after assurances of decreases. As a result, advisers proposed a simple solution: roll back certain import taxes. This sensible idea clashed with Trump’s absurd assertion that additional taxes would not increase costs for American shoppers.

Proposed Fixes and Their Potential Effects

With some tariffs being rolled back on coffee, beef, tomatoes, and bananas, Trump will likely announce that he has cut prices once those foods start declining in price. That would be similar to a firestarter boasting for extinguishing a fire that he ignited. On another occasion, while speaking McDonald’s executives, he declared that “this is the peak period of America” and told the audience that “costs are decreasing and all of that stuff.” These comments are easy 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.

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

Financial Reality and Proposed Steps

Scott Bessent, Trump’s chief financial officer, lately contradicted claims of a prosperous era. He stated that instead of thriving, certain sectors of the American economy “have contracted.” Industrial production—which Trump vowed to save—seems to have shrunk for multiple consecutive months and shed approximately 33,000 jobs since January. Pointing to these challenges, Bessent urged the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates—an action that could ease financial pressure.

In response to public dismay about affordability, 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 a financial lifeline, but it is unlikely that Congress—concerned about huge budget deficits—will approve the proposal. The scheme could raise government expenditure, increase interest rates, and potentially fuel inflation by putting more money into the economy.

Another proposed solution for affordability involved introducing 50-year mortgages, based on the idea that this would lower housing costs. However, reality is that 50-year mortgages have minimal impact to lower monthly payments—often reducing them by a small amount each month. The downside is that these loans could more than double the total interest borrowers pay and slow their accumulation of equity.

Faulting the Previous Administration and Economic Outlook

In their affordability campaign, the administration have again pointed fingers at the previous president for financial challenges, including increasing costs. Spokespeople stated they “faced a mess from Joe Biden” and were “addressing the prior administration’s price hikes.” This is unfounded and inaccurate allegations. Actually, Biden left a strong economy, with low price growth, economic growth strong, and unemployment low. But, Trump’s policies—especially import taxes—have resulted in an economic mess, driving costs higher and slowing GDP growth.

According to an economist, lead analyst at Moody’s Analytics, 22 states are experiencing economic decline, with their economies damaged by Trump’s tariffs. He fears that if key regions such as major economies enter a downturn, the US could slide into a broad economic slump. In downturns, consumers generally possess less money to spend, and price increases usually declines. Unfortunately, given the highly-touted cost initiative probably ineffective to control costs, his primary method for improving living standards might prove to be triggering an economic contraction—a scenario that struggling Americans really can’t afford.