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During last year's race for the White House, Donald Trump wooed the electorate with promises to reduce costs starting on day one. But, after his inauguration, there was precious little focus to affordability issues. All that changed after price-fatigued citizens delivered a rebuke at the ballot box. Shortly thereafter, his team initiated a hastily assembled effort to tackle affordability. Unfortunately, this initiative is a disorganized endeavor—characterized by absurdity, contradictions, magical thinking, blame-shifting, and Trumpian dishonesty.

Out-of-Touch Assertions and Grocery Store Truth

Just two days after the election, Trump began his affordability drive with a poorly received remark: “Our groceries are way down. Everything is way down… So I don’t want to hear about the cost of living.” These words from billionaire Trump—who frequently associates with fellow billionaires—revealed utter contempt for millions of Americans facing difficulties every time they go supermarkets. In effect, he dismissed their concerns as unimportant, implying they were mistaken about actual costs.

His assertion about declining prices proved highly misleading and dishonest. In what way could every price be falling when his cherished tariffs were increasing prices? Recent data indicate the cost of bananas rose 6.9% in the last twelve months, the price of beef went up 14.7%, and coffee prices jumped by nearly 19%—partly due to import taxes on Brazil’s coffee and beef. In the first three quarters, prices rose in five of the six food categories tracked by the government’s price index, such as animal proteins (up 4.5%), non-alcoholic beverages (up 2.8%), and produce (up 1.3%).

Contradictions and Inaccuracies in Financial Claims

Despite the evidence, Trump continues to push his misleading narrative about lower costs. After the vote, he has stated there is “virtually no inflation,” insisted “prices are way down,” and argued “it is far less expensive under Trump than it was under sleepy Joe Biden.” These statements ignore the fact that prices overall have clearly increased after the previous administration. At present, price growth is running at a 3 percent per year, that’s half again as much than the Federal Reserve’s 2% goal. In another falsehood, Trump claimed that fuel costs had fallen to around two dollars, despite official data show they are $3.19.

Confronted by actual conditions and declining opinion polls, some Trump aides apparently warned that his “prices are down” message portrayed him as dangerously out of touch from ordinary people. Many voters are frustrated about prices continuing to climb following assurances of decreases. In response, advisers suggested one quick fix: reduce certain import taxes. The logical move contradicted Trump’s absurd assertion that additional taxes would not increase costs for US consumers.

Suggested Fixes and Their Potential Effects

As some tariffs reduced on several food items, Trump will probably claim that he has cut prices once these products begin to fall in price. That would be like an arsonist taking credit for putting out a fire that he ignited. On another occasion, when addressing McDonald’s executives, he declared that “we are in the peak period of America” and assured the audience that “costs are decreasing and all of that stuff.” Such statements come naturally for a billionaire to make, but seem insincere to countless households who are struggling—especially when millions risk losing food stamps or skyrocketing health premiums.

Per a survey from October, three-quarters of respondents think the state of the economy are mediocre or bad, while only 26% rate them positive. Another poll showed that 61% of Americans feel Trump’s policies have “made the economy worse” in the country.

Economic Reality and Proposed Measures

Scott Bessent, the president’s chief financial officer, recently disputed claims of a prosperous era. He noted that far from booming, some parts of the US economy “have contracted.” Industrial production—a priority for the administration—seems to have shrunk for eight months in a row and shed approximately tens of thousands of positions since January. Pointing to this weakness, the secretary urged the Federal Reserve to reduce borrowing costs—a move that could ease financial pressure.

In response to widespread concern about affordability, Trump proposed a direct payment of “a dividend of at least $2,000 a person” excluding “high income people.” For many struggling Americans, this sounds like a financial lifeline, but the prospects are dim that lawmakers—already alarmed about large shortfalls—will approve the proposal. This idea could raise government expenditure, 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. However, the truth is that such lengthy loans have minimal impact to reduce installments—often reducing them by a small amount per month. The drawback is that these mortgages could more than double the overall cost homeowners pay and slow building home value.

Blaming the Previous Administration and Economic Outlook

In their affordability campaign, Trump and his team have once more pointed fingers at the previous president for financial challenges, including rising prices. Officials claimed they “inherited a disaster from Joe Biden” and were “addressing Biden’s inflation.” This is unfounded and untruthful allegations. Actually, Biden left a strong economy, with low price growth, solid expansion, and unemployment low. However, Trump’s policies—especially his tariffs—have resulted in an difficult situation, pushing up prices and slowing GDP growth.

According to an economist, chief economist at a research firm, 22 states are experiencing economic decline, with their conditions worsened by Trump’s tariffs. He worries that if key regions such as major economies tumble into recession, the US could slide into a broad economic slump. During recessions, people typically have less money to spend, and price increases often falls. Unfortunately, given Trump’s much-ballyhooed cost initiative probably ineffective to control costs, his most effective “tool” for achieving increased affordability might prove to be triggering an economic contraction—a scenario that struggling Americans cannot handle.