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During last year's presidential campaign, Donald Trump wooed the electorate with pledges to lower costs immediately upon taking office. But, after his inauguration, there was minimal focus to affordability issues. All that changed following price-fatigued citizens expressed dissatisfaction at the polls. Shortly thereafter, his team initiated a hastily assembled campaign to address affordability. Regrettably, the drive has proven a hot mess—filled with illogical claims, contradictions, unrealistic expectations, blame-shifting, and misleading statements.

Detached Assertions and Grocery Store Reality

Just two days after the election, the president kicked off his cost-reduction push 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.” This comment from the wealthy leader—who frequently associates with other ultra-rich individuals—revealed a lack of empathy for everyday citizens who struggle when visiting supermarkets. Essentially, he ignored their struggles as trivial, implying they had it wrong about actual costs.

His assertion about declining prices was highly misleading and dishonest. In what way could every price be decreasing when his cherished tariffs were pushing up prices? Official statistics show banana prices rose nearly 7% in the last twelve months, the price of beef climbed almost 15%, and coffee prices surged by nearly 19%—partly due to punitive tariffs on Brazil’s coffee and beef. Between January and September, prices rose in the majority of food categories monitored by the government’s price index, such as meats, poultry, and fish (up 4.5%), non-alcoholic beverages (increasing nearly 3%), and produce (rising slightly).

Contradictions and Falsehoods in Economic Claims

In spite of these numbers, the president continues to push his misleading narrative about affordability. Since election day, he has stated there is “almost no price increases,” declared “prices are way down,” and asserted “it is far less expensive under Trump than it was under his predecessor.” These statements ignore the fact that general costs have unarguably risen after the previous administration. Currently, price growth is running at a 3% annual rate, which is 50% higher than the Federal Reserve’s target of 2 percent. Adding to the inaccuracies, he boasted that gas prices had dropped to nearly $2 a gallon, despite official data show they average $3.19.

Confronted by actual conditions and declining opinion polls, some Trump aides evidently cautioned that his “prices are down” rhetoric portrayed him as dangerously out of touch from typical Americans. Many voters are angry about prices continuing to climb after promises of reductions. In response, aides suggested one quick fix: roll back some of Trump’s beloved tariffs. This sensible idea clashed with the president’s unrealistic claim that additional taxes would not increase costs for American shoppers.

Suggested Fixes and Their Potential Impact

As some tariffs being rolled back on several food items, Trump will likely claim that he has cut prices once these products begin to fall in price. This would be similar to a firestarter boasting for extinguishing a fire that he ignited. In another instance, when addressing McDonald’s executives, he declared that “this is the peak period of America” and assured the audience that “prices are coming down and all of that stuff.” Such statements are easy for a billionaire to make, but they ring hollow to millions of Americans facing hardships—particularly when many face losing food stamps or rising insurance costs.

Per a recent poll conducted last fall, three-quarters of respondents believe the state of the economy are fair or poor, while just a quarter consider them good or excellent. A separate survey found that 61% of Americans say the administration’s actions have “worsened economic conditions” in the country.

Financial Reality and Proposed Measures

Scott Bessent, Trump’s top economic official, lately contradicted claims of a prosperous era. He stated that far from booming, some parts of the US economy “are in recession.” Industrial production—which Trump vowed to save—appears to have contracted for multiple consecutive months and lost approximately 33,000 jobs this year. Citing this weakness, the secretary urged the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates—an action that could help affordability.

Reacting to widespread concern about living costs, Trump proposed a cash handout of “a payout of at least $2,000 a person” excluding “high income people.” To numerous struggling Americans, this sounds like manna from heaven, but the prospects are dim that lawmakers—already alarmed about large shortfalls—will enact the proposal. The scheme would likely increase federal spending, push up borrowing costs, and possibly fuel inflation by putting more money into the economy.

A further supposed fix for cost issues centered on creating 50-year mortgages, based on the idea that they could lower housing costs. However, reality is that 50-year mortgages have minimal impact to reduce installments—frequently cutting them by a small amount per month. The downside is that these mortgages could more than double the overall cost homeowners pay and slow building home value.

Blaming the Past Government and Economic Outlook

As part of their affordability campaign, Trump and his team have once more pointed fingers at Biden for financial challenges, such as rising prices. Spokespeople stated they “inherited a disaster from Joe Biden” and were “addressing the prior administration’s price hikes.” These are absurd and untruthful allegations. Actually, the former president handed over a strong economy, with low price growth, economic growth strong, and unemployment low. But, the current administration’s actions—particularly import taxes—have created an difficult situation, pushing up prices and reducing economic output.

Per an economist, lead analyst at a research firm, 22 states are already in recession, with their economies damaged by Trump’s tariffs. He worries that if key regions such as major economies tumble into recession, the US could face a widespread recession. During recessions, consumers generally possess less money to spend, and price increases often falls. Sadly, given the highly-touted affordability campaign probably ineffective to hold down prices, his most effective “tool” for achieving increased affordability might prove to be triggering an economic contraction—a scenario that hard-pressed households cannot handle.