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Throughout last year's presidential campaign, Donald Trump courted the electorate with pledges to lower costs starting on day one. But, once he assumed office, there was precious little focus to affordability issues. This shifted following inflation-weary citizens delivered a rebuke at the ballot box. Shortly thereafter, his team initiated a slapdash campaign to address living costs. Regrettably, the drive is a disorganized endeavor—filled with absurdity, contradictions, unrealistic expectations, scapegoating, and misleading statements.

Detached Assertions and Supermarket Truth

Merely 48 hours after the election, the president began his affordability drive with a disastrous statement: “Our groceries are way down. All items is way down… So I don’t want to hear about the cost of living.” These words from billionaire Trump—who frequently associates with fellow billionaires—demonstrated utter contempt for millions of Americans who struggle when visiting supermarkets. In effect, he dismissed their concerns as unimportant, implying they were mistaken about price levels.

This statement about declining prices was highly misleading and inaccurate. In what way could all costs be falling when his cherished tariffs were increasing prices? Recent data indicate the cost of bananas increased nearly 7% in the last twelve months, beef prices climbed 14.7%, and the cost of coffee surged by nearly 19%—partly because of punitive tariffs on Brazil’s coffee and beef. Between January and September, prices rose in five of the six food categories tracked by the Consumer Price Index, such as animal proteins (up 4.5%), drinks (up 2.8%), and produce (up 1.3%).

Inconsistencies and Falsehoods in Economic Statements

In spite of the evidence, the president continues to push his big lie about affordability. Since election day, he has claimed there is “virtually no inflation,” insisted “prices are way down,” and asserted “it is far less expensive under Trump than it was under sleepy Joe Biden.” Such remarks ignore the reality that general costs have clearly increased since Biden left office. Currently, inflation is running at a 3 percent per year, that’s half again as much than the Federal Reserve’s target of 2 percent. In another falsehood, Trump claimed that gas prices had fallen to nearly $2 a gallon, even though government figures show they average over three dollars.

Confronted by reality and declining opinion polls, advisers evidently cautioned that his “prices are down” message made him sound dangerously out of touch from ordinary people. A lot of citizens are angry about prices continuing to climb after promises of decreases. As a result, aides proposed a simple solution: reduce some of Trump’s beloved tariffs. This sensible idea contradicted the president’s unrealistic claim that new tariffs would not increase costs for American shoppers.

Suggested Fixes and Their Possible Impact

With 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. That would be like an arsonist boasting for extinguishing a fire that he ignited. In another instance, when addressing McDonald’s executives, he stated that “this is the golden age of America” and told listeners 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 facing hardships—especially when millions face cuts to nutrition assistance or rising insurance costs.

According to a recent poll from October, 74% of Americans believe economic conditions are fair or poor, while just a quarter consider them positive. Another poll showed that a majority of citizens feel Trump’s policies have “worsened economic conditions” in the country.

Economic Truth and Proposed Measures

Scott Bessent, the president’s chief financial officer, lately contradicted claims of a prosperous era. He noted that far from booming, certain sectors of the American economy “are in recession.” The manufacturing sector—which Trump vowed to save—appears to have contracted for eight months in a row and lost approximately 33,000 jobs since January. Citing these challenges, the secretary called on 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” excluding “high income people.” For many households in need, this sounds like manna from heaven, but it is unlikely that Congress—already alarmed about huge budget deficits—will enact the proposal. This idea would likely raise government expenditure, push up interest rates, and possibly fuel inflation by putting more money into the economy.

A further proposed solution for affordability centered on creating half-century home loans, with the notion that they could lower housing costs. However, the truth is that 50-year mortgages have minimal impact to reduce installments—often reducing them by just $100 or $200 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 Economic Prospects

In their cost-cutting effort, the administration have once more pointed fingers at the previous president for economic problems, including increasing costs. Officials claimed they “faced a mess from Joe Biden” and were “cleaning up the prior administration’s price hikes.” This is unfounded and untruthful claims. Actually, the former president left a robust economic situation, with inflation way down, economic growth strong, and unemployment low. However, the current administration’s actions—particularly his tariffs—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 experiencing economic decline, with their economies damaged by Trump’s tariffs. He worries that if large states like major economies enter a downturn, the nation could slide into a broad economic slump. During recessions, consumers generally possess reduced funds to spend, and price increases usually declines. Sadly, given Trump’s much-ballyhooed affordability campaign probably ineffective to control costs, his most effective “tool” for improving living standards might end up triggering an economic contraction—something that struggling Americans really can’t afford.