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During the previous presidential campaign, Donald Trump wooed voters with promises to reduce costs starting on day one. But, once he assumed office, there was minimal focus to affordability issues. All that changed following inflation-weary citizens expressed dissatisfaction at the ballot box. Within days, his team initiated a slapdash effort to tackle living costs. Unfortunately, this initiative is a hot mess—characterized by illogical claims, contradictions, magical thinking, scapegoating, and Trumpian dishonesty.

Detached Claims and Grocery Store Truth

Just two days after the election, the president began his affordability drive with a poorly received remark: “Food prices are way down. All items is way down… So I don’t want to hear about the cost of living.” This comment from the wealthy leader—who frequently mingles with other ultra-rich individuals—demonstrated a lack of empathy for everyday citizens who struggle when visiting the grocery store. Essentially, he ignored their concerns as trivial, implying they had it wrong about actual costs.

His assertion about declining prices proved highly misleading and inaccurate. In what way could all costs be falling when the taxes he imposed were pushing up prices? Official statistics show the cost of bananas rose 6.9% over the past year, beef prices climbed 14.7%, and the cost of coffee surged 18.9%—in part due to punitive tariffs on Brazil’s coffee and beef. Between January and September, costs increased in five of the six food categories tracked by the government’s price index, including animal proteins (rising over 4%), non-alcoholic beverages (up 2.8%), and fruits and vegetables (up 1.3%).

Contradictions 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,” declared “costs have fallen significantly,” and argued “it is far less expensive under Trump than it was under his predecessor.” Such remarks ignore the reality that prices overall have unarguably risen since Biden left office. At present, price growth is at a 3% annual rate, which is half again as much than the Federal Reserve’s target of 2 percent. Adding to the inaccuracies, Trump boasted that gas prices had dropped to around two dollars, despite government figures indicate they average over three dollars.

Faced with reality and declining opinion polls, some Trump aides apparently warned that his “prices are down” rhetoric made him sound dangerously out of touch from ordinary people. Many voters are frustrated about prices continuing to climb following assurances of decreases. As a result, aides proposed a simple solution: reduce certain import taxes. The logical move clashed with Trump’s absurd assertion that additional taxes wouldn’t raise prices for US consumers.

Proposed Fixes and Their Possible Effects

As some tariffs reduced on several food items, Trump will likely announce that he has cut prices once those foods begin to fall in price. This would be similar to a firestarter boasting for extinguishing a fire that he had started. In another instance, when addressing fast-food leaders, he declared that “this is the peak period of America” and told listeners that “prices are coming down and all of that stuff.” These comments come naturally for a wealthy individual to make, but they ring hollow to countless households facing hardships—especially when millions risk cuts to nutrition assistance or skyrocketing health premiums.

According to a recent poll conducted last fall, 74% of Americans believe the state of the economy are fair or poor, while only 26% consider them good or excellent. A separate survey showed that a majority of citizens say Trump’s policies have “worsened economic conditions” in the country.

Economic Reality and Proposed Measures

Scott Bessent, the president’s chief financial officer, lately contradicted claims of a prosperous era. He stated that instead of thriving, some parts of the US economy “are in recession.” Industrial production—a priority for the administration—seems to have shrunk for eight months in a row and lost around tens of thousands of positions this year. Citing this weakness, Bessent called on the Federal Reserve to reduce borrowing costs—an action that could help affordability.

In response to public dismay about living costs, Trump 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 such a plan. This idea could increase federal spending, increase interest rates, and potentially drive prices higher by putting more money into consumers’ pockets.

A further supposed fix for cost issues involved creating 50-year mortgages, with the notion that this would reduce monthly mortgage payments. But, the truth is that 50-year mortgages have minimal impact to lower monthly payments—frequently cutting them by a small amount per month. The drawback is that these mortgages could significantly increase the total interest homeowners pay and slow their accumulation of equity.

Blaming the Previous Administration and Financial Outlook

In their cost-cutting effort, Trump and his team have again blamed the previous president for financial challenges, including increasing costs. Spokespeople stated they “inherited a disaster from Joe Biden” and were “cleaning up the prior administration’s price hikes.” These are unfounded and untruthful claims. Actually, the former president handed over a robust economic situation, with inflation way down, solid expansion, and minimal joblessness. But, Trump’s policies—particularly his tariffs—have resulted in an economic mess, driving costs higher and slowing GDP growth.

Per an economist, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, numerous regions are experiencing economic decline, with their economies damaged by Trump’s tariffs. He fears that if large states such as California and New York enter a downturn, the US could slide into a widespread recession. In downturns, people generally possess less money to spend, and inflation often falls. Sadly, with Trump’s much-ballyhooed cost initiative probably ineffective to control costs, his primary method for achieving increased affordability might prove to be triggering an economic contraction—a scenario that hard-pressed households cannot handle.