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Throughout last year's race for the White House, the former president courted voters with pledges to lower prices immediately upon taking office. But, after his inauguration, there was minimal attention to affordability issues. All that changed after inflation-weary citizens expressed dissatisfaction at the ballot box. Shortly thereafter, his team launched a hastily assembled campaign to address affordability. Regrettably, this initiative is a disorganized endeavor—characterized by illogical claims, contradictions, unrealistic expectations, blame-shifting, and misleading statements.

Out-of-Touch Assertions and Supermarket Reality

Just two days post-election, the president kicked off his affordability drive with a disastrous remark: “Food prices are way down. All items is way down… So I don’t want to hear about affordability.” This comment from billionaire Trump—often mingles with other ultra-rich individuals—revealed a lack of empathy for millions of Americans who struggle every time they go the grocery store. Essentially, he ignored their concerns as unimportant, implying they had it wrong about price levels.

This statement about declining prices proved absurdly obtuse and inaccurate. In what way could every price be decreasing when the taxes he imposed were increasing costs? Recent data indicate the cost of bananas increased nearly 7% over the past year, the price of beef went up 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 the majority of main grocery groups monitored by the Consumer Price Index, including meats, poultry, and fish (up 4.5%), non-alcoholic beverages (increasing nearly 3%), and fruits and vegetables (up 1.3%).

Inconsistencies and Inaccuracies in Financial Statements

Despite these numbers, the president continues to push his misleading narrative about affordability. After the vote, he has stated there is “almost no price increases,” declared “prices are way down,” and argued “living is cheaper under Trump than it was under his predecessor.” These statements contradict the fact that general costs have unarguably risen after the previous administration. Currently, inflation is at a 3 percent per year, that’s 50% higher than the Federal Reserve’s 2% goal. In another falsehood, he boasted that gas prices had dropped to around two dollars, even though government figures indicate they average $3.19.

Faced with reality and lower approval ratings, advisers apparently warned that his “prices are down” rhetoric portrayed him as disconnected from typical Americans. A lot of voters are frustrated about rising costs after assurances of decreases. In response, aides suggested a simple solution: roll back some of Trump’s beloved tariffs. This sensible idea contradicted the president’s unrealistic claim that new tariffs wouldn’t raise prices for US consumers.

Proposed Fixes and Their Potential Impact

As some tariffs being rolled back on coffee, beef, tomatoes, and bananas, the administration will likely announce that he has lowered costs once these products start declining in price. That would be like an arsonist boasting for extinguishing a fire that he had started. On another occasion, when addressing McDonald’s executives, he declared that “we are in the peak period of America” and told listeners that “costs are decreasing and all of that stuff.” Such statements are easy for a wealthy individual to make, but seem insincere to millions of Americans facing hardships—especially when many risk cuts to nutrition assistance or skyrocketing health premiums.

Per a recent poll from October, 74% of Americans believe the state of the economy are fair or poor, while just a quarter rate them good or excellent. A separate survey found that a majority of citizens feel Trump’s policies have “worsened economic conditions” in the country.

Economic Truth and Proposed Steps

The treasury secretary, the president’s top economic official, recently contradicted claims of a prosperous era. He stated that instead of thriving, some parts of the US economy “have contracted.” Industrial production—a priority for the administration—seems to have shrunk for multiple consecutive months and shed approximately 33,000 jobs since January. Pointing to this weakness, the secretary urged the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates—an action that could help affordability.

Reacting to public dismay about living costs, Trump proposed a direct payment of “a payout of at least $2,000 a person” excluding “the wealthy.” To numerous households in need, it seems like manna from heaven, but it is unlikely that Congress—concerned about large shortfalls—will approve the proposal. The scheme would likely increase federal spending, push up interest rates, and potentially drive prices higher by injecting cash into consumers’ pockets.

A further proposed solution for cost issues centered on creating 50-year mortgages, based on the idea that this would reduce monthly mortgage payments. But, reality is that such lengthy loans would do little to lower monthly payments—frequently reducing them by just $100 or $200 per month. The downside is that these mortgages could significantly increase 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, the administration have again pointed fingers at the previous president for financial challenges, such as increasing costs. Spokespeople claimed they “inherited a disaster from Joe Biden” and were “cleaning up the prior administration’s price hikes.” This is unfounded and inaccurate claims. Actually, the former president handed over a robust economic situation, with low price growth, economic growth strong, and unemployment low. However, Trump’s policies—especially import taxes—have resulted in an difficult situation, pushing up prices and reducing economic output.

According to an economist, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, 22 states are already in recession, with their economies damaged by the administration’s trade policies. Zandi fears that if key regions such as California and New York enter a downturn, the US could face a widespread recession. During recessions, consumers generally possess less money to spend, and price increases often falls. Sadly, with Trump’s much-ballyhooed cost initiative probably ineffective to hold down prices, his primary method for improving living standards might end up pushing the nation into recession—a scenario that struggling Americans cannot handle.