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Throughout last year's presidential campaign, Donald Trump wooed voters with promises to reduce costs starting on day one. However, once his inauguration, there was precious little attention to affordability issues. This shifted following inflation-weary citizens delivered a rebuke at the ballot box. Within days, the Trump administration launched a slapdash effort to address living costs. Unfortunately, the drive is a hot mess—characterized by absurdity, inconsistencies, unrealistic expectations, blame-shifting, and misleading statements.

Out-of-Touch Claims and Grocery Store Reality

Just two days after the election, Trump kicked off his affordability drive with a disastrous statement: “Our groceries are way down. Everything is way down… So I don’t want to hear about affordability.” This comment from billionaire Trump—who frequently mingles with other ultra-rich individuals—demonstrated a lack of empathy for millions of Americans who struggle every time they go supermarkets. Essentially, he dismissed their concerns as unimportant, suggesting they were mistaken about actual costs.

His assertion that everything was “way down” was absurdly obtuse and dishonest. In what way could all costs be decreasing when the taxes he imposed were increasing costs? Recent data indicate banana prices increased nearly 7% over the past year, beef prices went up 14.7%, and coffee prices surged by nearly 19%—partly because of punitive tariffs on Brazil’s coffee and beef. In the first three quarters, costs increased in five of the six food categories tracked by the government’s price index, such as animal proteins (rising over 4%), drinks (increasing nearly 3%), and produce (up 1.3%).

Contradictions and Falsehoods in Financial Claims

In spite of the evidence, Trump persists in repeating his misleading narrative about lower costs. After the vote, he has stated there is “virtually no inflation,” declared “prices are way down,” and argued “it is far less expensive under Trump than it was under his predecessor.” These statements ignore the fact that prices overall have clearly increased after the previous administration. Currently, price growth is running at a 3 percent per year, that’s half again as much than the central bank’s 2% goal. In another falsehood, Trump claimed that gas prices had fallen to nearly $2 a gallon, despite government figures indicate they are over three dollars.

Confronted by actual conditions and lower approval ratings, some Trump aides apparently cautioned that his “prices are down” rhetoric portrayed him as dangerously out of touch from typical Americans. Many voters are angry about rising costs following assurances of decreases. In response, aides suggested one quick fix: reduce certain import taxes. This sensible idea contradicted the president’s unrealistic claim that additional taxes would not increase costs for US consumers.

Proposed Solutions and Their Possible Effects

With some tariffs reduced on coffee, beef, tomatoes, and bananas, the administration will probably claim that he has lowered costs once these products begin to fall in price. This would be like an arsonist boasting for extinguishing a fire that he had started. On another occasion, when addressing fast-food leaders, he stated that “this is the peak period of America” and told listeners that “costs are decreasing and all of that stuff.” Such statements are easy for a billionaire to make, but seem insincere to millions of Americans who are struggling—particularly when many face losing food stamps or rising insurance costs.

Per a recent poll from October, 74% of Americans believe the state of the economy are mediocre or bad, while just a quarter rate them positive. Another poll found that a majority of citizens feel Trump’s policies have “made the economy worse” in the country.

Economic Reality and Proposed Measures

The treasury secretary, Trump’s top economic official, recently disputed assertions of a prosperous era. He stated that far from booming, some parts of the US economy “have contracted.” The manufacturing sector—a priority for the administration—seems to have shrunk for multiple consecutive months and shed around tens of thousands of positions since January. Citing this weakness, Bessent urged the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates—a move that could help affordability.

Reacting to widespread concern about living costs, the president suggested a direct payment of “a dividend of at least $2,000 a person” not for “high income people.” For many households in need, it seems like a financial lifeline, but it is unlikely that Congress—concerned about large shortfalls—will enact such a plan. The scheme would likely raise government expenditure, push up borrowing costs, and potentially drive prices higher by injecting cash into consumers’ pockets.

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

Faulting the Previous Administration and Economic Outlook

As part of their cost-cutting effort, Trump and his team have once more blamed Biden for financial challenges, including increasing costs. Spokespeople claimed they “faced a mess from Joe Biden” and were “cleaning up Biden’s inflation.” These are unfounded and untruthful allegations. Actually, Biden left a strong economy, with inflation way down, economic growth strong, and unemployment low. However, the current administration’s actions—especially import taxes—have resulted in an economic mess, pushing up prices and reducing economic output.

According to Mark Zandi, lead analyst at Moody’s Analytics, 22 states are already in recession, with their conditions worsened by Trump’s tariffs. Zandi fears that if large states such as California and New York enter a downturn, the nation could face a broad economic slump. In downturns, consumers generally possess reduced funds to spend, and inflation usually declines. Sadly, with Trump’s much-ballyhooed cost initiative likely to do little to hold down prices, his most effective “tool” for improving living standards might prove to be triggering an economic contraction—a scenario that hard-pressed households really can’t afford.