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During last year's presidential campaign, Donald Trump courted voters with promises to reduce costs starting on day one. But, once his inauguration, he seemed to pay precious little focus to affordability issues. All that changed after inflation-weary citizens delivered a rebuke at the polls. Shortly thereafter, his team launched a slapdash effort to tackle living costs. Unfortunately, this initiative is a disorganized endeavor—characterized by illogical claims, inconsistencies, unrealistic expectations, scapegoating, and misleading statements.

Detached Claims and Supermarket Reality

Merely 48 hours after the election, Trump kicked off his cost-reduction push with a disastrous remark: “Food prices are way down. Everything is way down… So I don’t want to hear about the cost of living.” This comment from billionaire Trump—who frequently mingles with other ultra-rich individuals—revealed a lack of empathy for millions of Americans facing difficulties every time they go the grocery store. In effect, he ignored their struggles as trivial, suggesting they were mistaken about price levels.

This statement about declining prices was highly misleading and inaccurate. In what way could every price be decreasing when his cherished tariffs were pushing up prices? Official statistics show banana prices increased 6.9% in the last twelve months, beef prices went up almost 15%, and coffee prices surged 18.9%—partly because of punitive tariffs on Brazil’s coffee and beef. Between January and September, costs increased in five of the six food categories tracked by the Consumer Price Index, including animal proteins (rising over 4%), non-alcoholic beverages (up 2.8%), and fruits and vegetables (rising slightly).

Contradictions and Inaccuracies in Financial Claims

Despite these numbers, the president continues to push his misleading narrative about affordability. Since election day, he has claimed there is “almost no price increases,” declared “costs have fallen significantly,” and argued “it is far less expensive under Trump than it was under sleepy Joe Biden.” These statements ignore the reality that prices overall have clearly increased since Biden left office. At present, inflation is running at a 3 percent per year, that’s 50% higher than the Federal Reserve’s target of 2 percent. In another falsehood, he boasted that fuel costs had fallen to around two dollars, despite official data show they average $3.19.

Confronted by reality and declining opinion polls, advisers evidently warned that his “costs are falling” message made him sound dangerously out of touch from typical Americans. Many voters are angry about prices continuing to climb after assurances of decreases. In response, advisers proposed one quick fix: reduce certain import taxes. The logical move clashed with Trump’s absurd assertion that additional taxes wouldn’t raise prices for US consumers.

Proposed Solutions and Their Potential Impact

With certain taxes being rolled back on coffee, beef, tomatoes, and bananas, the administration 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 extinguishing a fire that he had started. On another occasion, when addressing fast-food leaders, he declared that “we are in the peak period of America” and told the audience that “costs are decreasing and all of that stuff.” Such statements are easy for a billionaire to make, but they ring hollow to countless households facing hardships—especially when many face cuts to nutrition assistance or rising insurance costs.

According to a survey conducted last fall, three-quarters of respondents think economic conditions are fair or poor, while just a quarter consider them good or excellent. A separate survey showed that a majority of citizens feel Trump’s policies have “worsened economic conditions” in the country.

Financial Truth and Proposed Measures

The treasury secretary, the president’s chief financial officer, lately contradicted assertions of a golden age. He noted that instead of thriving, some parts of the American economy “have contracted.” The manufacturing sector—which Trump vowed to save—seems to have shrunk for multiple consecutive months and shed around 33,000 jobs this year. Pointing to this weakness, Bessent urged the central bank to reduce borrowing costs—a move that could ease financial pressure.

Reacting to widespread concern about living costs, Trump suggested a cash handout of “a payout of at least $2,000 a person” excluding “high income people.” For many households in need, it seems like manna from heaven, but it is unlikely that lawmakers—already alarmed about huge budget deficits—will approve the proposal. The scheme would likely increase federal spending, push up interest rates, and potentially drive prices higher by injecting cash into consumers’ pockets.

A further proposed solution for cost issues involved introducing half-century home loans, with the notion that this would lower housing costs. But, the truth is that such lengthy loans have minimal impact to lower monthly payments—frequently cutting them by a small amount per month. The drawback is that these loans could significantly increase the total interest homeowners pay and slow their accumulation of equity.

Blaming the Past Government and Financial Outlook

As part of their cost-cutting effort, Trump and his team have again pointed fingers at the previous president for economic problems, including increasing costs. Officials stated they “inherited a disaster from Joe Biden” and were “addressing the prior administration’s price hikes.” These are unfounded and inaccurate allegations. Actually, Biden handed over a strong economy, with low price growth, economic growth strong, and minimal joblessness. But, Trump’s policies—especially his tariffs—have created an difficult situation, pushing up prices and slowing GDP growth.

Per Mark Zandi, lead analyst at Moody’s Analytics, numerous regions are already in recession, with their economies damaged by the administration’s trade policies. He worries that if large states such as major economies enter a downturn, the US could slide into a widespread recession. During recessions, people typically have reduced funds to spend, and price increases usually declines. Unfortunately, with the highly-touted affordability campaign probably ineffective to control costs, his primary method for achieving increased affordability might prove to be triggering an economic contraction—a scenario that struggling Americans cannot handle.