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Throughout last year's presidential campaign, the former president wooed the electorate with pledges to lower costs immediately upon taking office. However, after he assumed office, there was minimal attention to the cost of living. All that changed following inflation-weary voters expressed dissatisfaction at the polls. Within days, the Trump administration launched a hastily assembled effort to address affordability. Unfortunately, this initiative is a disorganized endeavor—characterized by illogical claims, contradictions, magical thinking, scapegoating, and misleading statements.

Detached Assertions and Grocery Store Reality

Just two days post-election, the president kicked off his cost-reduction push with a poorly received statement: “Food prices are way down. All items is way down… So I don’t want to hear about affordability.” These words from the wealthy leader—who frequently associates with fellow billionaires—demonstrated utter contempt for everyday citizens facing difficulties when visiting supermarkets. Essentially, he ignored their struggles as trivial, implying they had it wrong about price levels.

This statement about declining prices was highly misleading and inaccurate. How could every price be decreasing when his cherished tariffs were pushing up prices? Recent data show the cost of bananas increased 6.9% in the last twelve months, beef prices climbed 14.7%, and coffee prices jumped 18.9%—partly due to import taxes on Brazil’s coffee and beef. Between January and September, prices rose in the majority of main grocery groups tracked by the government’s price index, including animal proteins (up 4.5%), drinks (increasing nearly 3%), and fruits and vegetables (rising slightly).

Inconsistencies and Inaccuracies in Financial Claims

Despite the evidence, the president persists in repeating his big lie about lower costs. After the vote, 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. At present, price growth is running at a 3 percent per year, that’s 50% higher than the central bank’s 2% goal. In another falsehood, Trump boasted that fuel costs had dropped to around two dollars, even though official data indicate they are $3.19.

Faced with actual conditions and lower approval ratings, advisers apparently warned that his “prices are down” message made him sound disconnected from ordinary people. Many voters are frustrated about prices continuing to climb after assurances of reductions. As a result, aides proposed a simple solution: reduce certain import taxes. The logical move contradicted the president’s unrealistic claim that new tariffs would not increase costs for American shoppers.

Suggested Fixes and Their Potential Impact

With some tariffs reduced on several food items, Trump will probably claim that he has lowered costs once those foods begin to fall in price. This would be similar to a firestarter boasting for extinguishing a fire that he had started. On another occasion, while speaking fast-food leaders, Trump stated that “this is the peak period of America” and assured listeners that “prices are coming down and all of that stuff.” These comments come naturally for a wealthy individual to make, but seem insincere to countless households who are struggling—especially when many risk losing food stamps or skyrocketing health premiums.

According to a survey from October, 74% of Americans believe the state of the economy are fair or poor, while just a quarter rate them positive. A separate survey found that 61% of Americans feel Trump’s policies have “made the economy worse” in the country.

Economic Truth and Proposed Steps

Scott Bessent, Trump’s chief financial officer, recently disputed assertions of a prosperous era. He noted that far from booming, certain sectors of the US economy “have contracted.” Industrial production—a priority for the administration—seems to have shrunk for multiple consecutive months and shed around 33,000 jobs since January. Pointing to this weakness, Bessent called on the central bank to reduce borrowing costs—a move that could help affordability.

In response to public dismay about living costs, the president suggested a cash handout of “a dividend of at least $2,000 a person” excluding “high income people.” To numerous struggling Americans, it seems like manna from heaven, but the prospects are dim that Congress—concerned about large shortfalls—will approve the proposal. This idea could raise government expenditure, push up interest rates, and possibly fuel inflation by injecting cash into consumers’ pockets.

A further supposed fix for cost issues involved introducing half-century home loans, based on the idea that this would lower housing costs. However, the truth is that such lengthy loans would do little to lower monthly payments—often reducing them by just $100 or $200 per month. The drawback is that these loans could more than double the total interest homeowners pay and hinder building home value.

Blaming the Past Government and Financial Prospects

As part of their affordability campaign, the administration have again pointed fingers at the previous president for economic problems, including rising prices. Spokespeople stated they “inherited a disaster from Joe Biden” and were “cleaning up Biden’s inflation.” This is absurd and untruthful claims. In reality, Biden handed over a robust economic situation, with inflation way down, solid expansion, and unemployment low. However, Trump’s policies—particularly his tariffs—have resulted in an difficult situation, pushing up prices and slowing GDP growth.

Per 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 widespread recession. During recessions, people generally possess reduced funds to spend, and price increases often falls. Sadly, with Trump’s much-ballyhooed cost initiative likely to do little to hold down prices, his primary method for achieving increased affordability might prove to be pushing the nation into recession—a scenario that hard-pressed households cannot handle.