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During the previous presidential campaign, the former president courted the electorate with promises to reduce costs starting on day one. However, once he assumed office, there was minimal focus to affordability issues. All that changed after price-fatigued citizens expressed dissatisfaction at the ballot box. Within days, his team initiated a hastily assembled effort to address living costs. Regrettably, this initiative has proven a hot mess—characterized by illogical claims, contradictions, unrealistic expectations, blame-shifting, and misleading statements.

Detached Claims and Supermarket Truth

Merely 48 hours post-election, Trump began 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 affordability.” These words from the wealthy leader—often mingles with fellow billionaires—demonstrated a lack of empathy for millions of Americans facing difficulties every time they go supermarkets. Essentially, he dismissed their struggles as trivial, suggesting they were mistaken about actual costs.

This statement that everything was “way down” was absurdly obtuse and dishonest. How could every price be decreasing when the taxes he imposed were pushing up costs? Official statistics show the cost of bananas increased nearly 7% over the past year, beef prices went up 14.7%, and the cost of coffee surged 18.9%—in part because of punitive tariffs on Brazil’s coffee and beef. Between January and September, prices rose in the majority of food categories tracked by the Consumer Price Index, such as meats, poultry, and fish (rising over 4%), non-alcoholic beverages (increasing nearly 3%), and produce (rising slightly).

Inconsistencies and Inaccuracies in Economic Claims

In spite of these numbers, the president continues to push his big lie about lower costs. Since election day, he has stated there is “virtually no inflation,” declared “costs have fallen significantly,” and argued “it is far less expensive under Trump than it was under his predecessor.” Such remarks ignore the fact that general costs have clearly increased after the previous administration. At present, price growth is running at a 3% annual rate, that’s 50% higher than the central bank’s target of 2 percent. In another falsehood, Trump boasted that gas prices had fallen to around two dollars, even though government figures show they average $3.19.

Confronted by reality and lower approval ratings, some Trump aides apparently cautioned that his “prices are down” message portrayed him as disconnected from ordinary people. Many voters are angry about rising costs after assurances of reductions. As a result, aides proposed a simple solution: roll back certain import taxes. The logical move contradicted Trump’s absurd assertion that new tariffs wouldn’t raise prices for US consumers.

Suggested Fixes and Their Possible Impact

As some tariffs reduced on several food items, the administration will likely claim that he has lowered costs once these products start declining in price. This would be similar to a firestarter boasting for extinguishing a blaze that he had started. In another instance, when addressing fast-food leaders, 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 come naturally for a wealthy individual to make, but they ring hollow to countless households who are struggling—especially when many face cuts to nutrition assistance or skyrocketing health premiums.

Per a survey conducted last fall, 74% of Americans think economic conditions are mediocre or bad, while just a quarter consider them positive. A separate survey showed that a majority of citizens feel the administration’s actions have “made the economy worse” in the country.

Economic Truth and Suggested Measures

The treasury secretary, Trump’s chief financial officer, lately disputed claims of a prosperous era. He noted that instead of thriving, some parts of the American economy “are in recession.” Industrial production—a priority for the administration—appears to have contracted for eight months in a row and lost approximately tens of thousands of positions this year. Pointing to these challenges, Bessent urged the central bank to reduce borrowing costs—a move that could help affordability.

Reacting to widespread concern about affordability, the president proposed a direct payment of “a dividend of at least $2,000 a person” not for “high income people.” For many struggling Americans, it seems like manna from heaven, but it is unlikely that lawmakers—already alarmed about huge budget deficits—will approve the proposal. This idea would likely increase federal spending, push up borrowing costs, and potentially fuel inflation by putting more money into the economy.

A further proposed solution for cost issues centered on creating half-century home loans, with the notion that they could reduce monthly mortgage payments. However, reality is that such lengthy loans have minimal impact to reduce installments—often reducing them by a small amount per month. The downside is that these loans could more than double the total interest borrowers pay and hinder building home value.

Faulting the Past Government and Financial Outlook

As part of their affordability campaign, Trump and his team have again pointed fingers at the previous president for financial challenges, including rising prices. Spokespeople claimed they “faced a mess from Joe Biden” and were “cleaning up Biden’s inflation.” These are unfounded and untruthful allegations. In reality, Biden handed over a robust economic situation, with inflation way down, solid expansion, and unemployment low. However, Trump’s policies—especially import taxes—have created an economic mess, driving costs higher and slowing GDP growth.

According to Mark Zandi, chief economist at a research firm, numerous regions are already in recession, with their economies damaged by the administration’s trade policies. Zandi fears that if large states such as California and New York tumble into recession, the US could face a widespread recession. In downturns, consumers generally possess reduced funds to spend, and price increases usually declines. Sadly, with Trump’s much-ballyhooed cost initiative likely to do little to hold down prices, his primary method for improving living standards might end up triggering an economic contraction—a scenario that hard-pressed households really can’t afford.