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Throughout the previous presidential campaign, Donald Trump courted the electorate with promises to lower prices immediately upon taking office. But, once his inauguration, there was precious little focus to affordability issues. This shifted following inflation-weary citizens expressed dissatisfaction at the ballot box. Shortly thereafter, the Trump administration launched a hastily assembled campaign to tackle affordability. Regrettably, the drive is a disorganized endeavor—characterized by illogical claims, inconsistencies, unrealistic expectations, blame-shifting, and Trumpian dishonesty.

Detached Assertions and Supermarket Reality

Merely 48 hours post-election, the president began his affordability drive with a disastrous statement: “Food prices are way down. All items is way down… So I don’t want to hear about affordability.” This comment from the wealthy leader—who frequently associates with fellow billionaires—demonstrated a lack of empathy for millions of Americans who struggle every time they go supermarkets. In effect, he dismissed their concerns as trivial, suggesting they were mistaken about price levels.

This statement that everything was “way down” proved highly misleading and inaccurate. In what way could every price be decreasing when his cherished tariffs were pushing up prices? Recent data indicate banana prices increased nearly 7% over the past year, the price of beef climbed almost 15%, and the cost of coffee jumped 18.9%—partly due to punitive tariffs applied to Brazilian products. In the first three quarters, costs increased in the majority of food categories monitored by the Consumer Price Index, such as meats, poultry, and fish (rising over 4%), non-alcoholic beverages (up 2.8%), and fruits and vegetables (up 1.3%).

Inconsistencies and Inaccuracies in Economic Claims

In spite of the evidence, Trump persists in repeating his big lie about lower costs. After the vote, he has stated there is “almost no price increases,” insisted “prices are way down,” and argued “living is cheaper under Trump than it was under sleepy Joe Biden.” Such remarks contradict the reality that prices overall have unarguably risen since Biden left office. Currently, price growth 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, he boasted that gas prices had dropped to around two dollars, even though official data show they are $3.19.

Faced with actual conditions and declining opinion polls, advisers evidently warned that his “costs are falling” rhetoric made him sound dangerously out of touch from typical Americans. A lot of voters are angry about prices continuing to climb following promises of decreases. In response, aides proposed one quick fix: reduce some of Trump’s beloved tariffs. The logical move clashed with Trump’s absurd assertion that additional taxes would not increase costs for US consumers.

Suggested Fixes and Their Possible Effects

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. This would be similar to a firestarter taking credit for putting out a blaze that he ignited. On another occasion, while speaking McDonald’s executives, Trump declared that “we are in the golden age of America” and assured the audience that “costs are decreasing and all of that stuff.” These comments come naturally for a wealthy individual to make, but they ring hollow to millions of Americans facing hardships—especially when millions risk cuts to nutrition assistance or rising insurance costs.

According to a recent poll conducted last fall, 74% of Americans think the state of the economy are mediocre or bad, while only 26% rate them positive. A separate survey showed that a majority of citizens feel the administration’s actions have “made the economy worse” in the country.

Financial Reality and Suggested Measures

Scott Bessent, Trump’s chief financial officer, lately disputed assertions of a golden age. He noted that instead of thriving, certain sectors of the US economy “have contracted.” The manufacturing sector—a priority for the administration—appears to have contracted for eight months in a row and shed approximately tens of thousands of positions this year. Pointing to these challenges, the secretary urged the Federal Reserve to reduce borrowing costs—an action that could ease financial pressure.

Reacting to widespread concern about living costs, the president proposed a cash handout of “a payout of at least $2,000 a person” excluding “high income people.” To numerous struggling Americans, it seems like manna from heaven, but it is unlikely that lawmakers—concerned about large shortfalls—will enact the proposal. This idea could increase federal spending, push up borrowing costs, and possibly fuel inflation by injecting cash into consumers’ pockets.

A further supposed fix for affordability centered on introducing half-century home loans, based on the idea that they could lower housing costs. But, reality is that 50-year mortgages have minimal impact to reduce installments—often reducing them by just $100 or $200 each month. The downside is that these mortgages could more than double the total interest homeowners pay and slow building home value.

Faulting the Previous Administration and Economic Outlook

As part of their affordability campaign, Trump and his team have again pointed fingers at the previous president for economic problems, such as increasing costs. Spokespeople stated they “faced a mess from Joe Biden” and were “cleaning up Biden’s inflation.” This is unfounded and inaccurate claims. In reality, Biden left a robust economic situation, with low price growth, solid expansion, and unemployment low. But, Trump’s policies—particularly his tariffs—have resulted in an economic mess, pushing up prices and slowing GDP growth.

Per an economist, lead analyst at Moody’s Analytics, 22 states are already in recession, with their economies damaged by Trump’s tariffs. Zandi worries that if large states like California and New York tumble into recession, the nation could face a broad economic slump. During recessions, people typically have reduced funds to spend, and price increases often falls. Unfortunately, given Trump’s much-ballyhooed cost initiative probably ineffective to hold down prices, his primary method for improving living standards might end up pushing the nation into recession—a scenario that hard-pressed households cannot handle.