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During last year's presidential campaign, Donald Trump wooed the electorate with pledges to reduce prices starting on day one. However, once he assumed office, there was precious little focus to the cost of living. This shifted after inflation-weary citizens delivered a rebuke at the ballot box. Within days, the Trump administration launched a hastily assembled campaign to address affordability. Unfortunately, this initiative has proven a hot mess—filled with absurdity, contradictions, magical thinking, scapegoating, and Trumpian dishonesty.

Out-of-Touch Assertions and Supermarket Reality

Merely 48 hours after the election, the president began his affordability drive with a poorly received 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 the wealthy leader—often associates with fellow billionaires—demonstrated utter contempt for millions of Americans facing difficulties every time they go supermarkets. In effect, he dismissed their struggles as unimportant, suggesting they had it wrong about price levels.

His assertion about declining prices proved absurdly obtuse and inaccurate. How could all costs be decreasing when the taxes he imposed were pushing up prices? Official statistics show the cost of bananas increased nearly 7% over the past year, beef prices went up almost 15%, and the cost of coffee jumped by nearly 19%—in part due to import taxes applied to Brazilian products. Between January and September, costs increased in five of the six main grocery groups monitored by the Consumer Price Index, including animal proteins (rising over 4%), drinks (up 2.8%), and fruits and vegetables (up 1.3%).

Inconsistencies and Inaccuracies in Economic Claims

Despite the evidence, the president persists in repeating his misleading narrative about affordability. After the vote, he has claimed there is “virtually no inflation,” declared “prices are way down,” and argued “living is cheaper under Trump than it was under sleepy Joe Biden.” These statements contradict the reality that prices overall have clearly increased since Biden left office. Currently, inflation is running at a 3% annual rate, which is 50% higher than the central bank’s 2% goal. In another falsehood, Trump boasted that gas prices had fallen to around two dollars, even though official data show they are 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 citizens are angry about prices continuing to climb following assurances of reductions. As a result, aides proposed one quick fix: roll back some of Trump’s beloved tariffs. The logical move clashed with Trump’s absurd assertion that additional taxes wouldn’t raise prices for American shoppers.

Proposed Solutions and Their Potential Impact

As certain taxes being rolled back on several food items, the administration will likely announce that he has lowered costs once these products begin to fall in price. That would be like an arsonist boasting for putting out a fire that he had started. On another occasion, while speaking fast-food leaders, he declared that “this is the golden age of America” and assured the audience that “prices are coming down and all of that stuff.” Such statements are easy for a wealthy individual to make, but they ring hollow to millions of Americans who are struggling—particularly when millions risk losing food stamps or skyrocketing health premiums.

According to a recent poll from October, three-quarters of respondents believe the state of the economy are fair or poor, while just a quarter consider them positive. Another poll found that a majority of citizens say the administration’s actions have “made the economy worse” in the country.

Economic Truth and Suggested Steps

The treasury secretary, Trump’s top economic official, recently contradicted claims of a prosperous era. He noted that instead of thriving, some parts of the American economy “are in recession.” Industrial production—which Trump vowed to save—seems to have shrunk for multiple consecutive months and lost around tens of thousands of positions this year. Citing this weakness, the secretary called on the Federal Reserve to reduce borrowing costs—an action that could ease financial pressure.

In response to public dismay about living costs, the president suggested a direct payment of “a dividend of at least $2,000 a person” excluding “high income people.” To numerous struggling Americans, this sounds like a financial lifeline, but it is unlikely that Congress—concerned about large shortfalls—will enact such a plan. The scheme could raise government expenditure, increase interest rates, and potentially 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 would do little to lower monthly payments—frequently reducing them by a small amount per month. The drawback is that these loans could significantly increase the overall cost borrowers pay and hinder their accumulation of equity.

Blaming the Previous Administration and Financial Outlook

In their cost-cutting effort, Trump and his team have once more pointed fingers at Biden for financial challenges, such as increasing costs. Officials stated they “inherited a disaster from Joe Biden” and were “cleaning up Biden’s inflation.” These are absurd and untruthful allegations. Actually, Biden left a strong economy, with low price growth, economic growth strong, and unemployment low. However, Trump’s policies—especially import taxes—have created an difficult situation, driving costs higher and reducing economic output.

According to an economist, chief economist at a research firm, numerous regions are already in recession, with their economies damaged by Trump’s tariffs. Zandi worries that if large states like California and New York enter a downturn, the nation could slide into a widespread recession. In downturns, people generally possess less money to spend, and price increases usually declines. Unfortunately, given Trump’s much-ballyhooed affordability campaign likely to do little to hold down prices, his primary method for achieving increased affordability might prove to be triggering an economic contraction—a scenario that struggling Americans cannot handle.