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Throughout last year's race for the White House, the former president wooed voters with promises to lower costs immediately upon taking office. However, once he assumed office, he seemed to pay precious little focus to the cost of living. All that changed following inflation-weary citizens expressed dissatisfaction at the ballot box. Within days, his team initiated a slapdash effort to address living costs. Unfortunately, this initiative is a hot mess—filled with illogical claims, inconsistencies, unrealistic expectations, blame-shifting, and Trumpian dishonesty.

Out-of-Touch Assertions and Supermarket Truth

Merely 48 hours post-election, Trump kicked off his affordability drive with a disastrous statement: “Our groceries are way down. Everything is way down… So I don’t want to hear about affordability.” This comment from the wealthy leader—who frequently associates with fellow billionaires—revealed utter contempt for everyday citizens who struggle when visiting the grocery store. In effect, he ignored their struggles as unimportant, implying they had it wrong about price levels.

This statement about declining prices was absurdly obtuse and inaccurate. How could all costs be falling when the taxes he imposed were pushing up prices? Recent data indicate banana prices increased nearly 7% in the last twelve months, the price of beef went up 14.7%, and coffee prices jumped by nearly 19%—partly due to punitive tariffs on Brazil’s coffee and beef. Between January and September, prices rose in the majority of main grocery groups tracked by the government’s price index, such as meats, poultry, and fish (up 4.5%), non-alcoholic beverages (up 2.8%), and fruits and vegetables (up 1.3%).

Contradictions and Inaccuracies in Financial Statements

Despite these numbers, Trump persists in repeating his misleading narrative about affordability. After the vote, he has stated there is “virtually no inflation,” declared “costs have fallen significantly,” and argued “living is cheaper under Trump than it was under his predecessor.” These statements ignore the reality that general costs have unarguably risen after the previous administration. At present, price growth is at a 3 percent per year, which is 50% higher than the Federal Reserve’s 2% goal. In another falsehood, he boasted that fuel costs had fallen to nearly $2 a gallon, even though official data indicate they average over three dollars.

Faced with actual conditions and declining opinion polls, advisers apparently warned that his “prices are down” message portrayed him as disconnected from ordinary people. A lot of voters are frustrated about prices continuing to climb after assurances of reductions. In response, aides suggested a simple solution: reduce some of Trump’s beloved tariffs. This sensible idea contradicted Trump’s absurd assertion that additional taxes wouldn’t raise prices for US consumers.

Proposed Fixes and Their Potential Impact

With some tariffs reduced on several food items, Trump will probably announce that he has cut prices once these products start declining in price. That would be like an arsonist boasting for extinguishing a blaze that he had started. In another instance, when addressing fast-food leaders, Trump declared that “this is the peak period of America” and told listeners that “prices are coming down and all of that stuff.” These comments are easy for a wealthy individual to make, but seem insincere to millions of Americans facing hardships—especially when millions face cuts to nutrition assistance or skyrocketing health premiums.

Per a survey conducted last fall, 74% of Americans believe the state of the economy are fair or poor, while just a quarter consider them positive. A separate survey found that a majority of citizens say the administration’s actions have “worsened economic conditions” in the country.

Economic Reality and Suggested Measures

Scott Bessent, the president’s top economic official, recently disputed assertions of a golden age. He noted that far from booming, some parts of the US economy “have contracted.” The manufacturing sector—which Trump vowed to save—seems to have shrunk for eight months in a row and lost around tens of thousands of positions this year. Pointing to this weakness, the secretary urged the central bank to reduce borrowing costs—a move that could help affordability.

Reacting to public dismay about living costs, Trump suggested a cash handout of “a payout of at least $2,000 a person” excluding “the wealthy.” To numerous struggling Americans, this sounds like manna from heaven, but it is unlikely that lawmakers—concerned about large shortfalls—will enact such a plan. The scheme could increase federal spending, increase borrowing costs, and possibly drive prices higher by putting more money into the economy.

A further proposed solution for cost issues involved creating 50-year mortgages, with the notion that this would reduce monthly mortgage payments. But, the truth is that 50-year mortgages have minimal impact to reduce installments—frequently reducing them by a small amount per month. The drawback is that these mortgages could more than double the overall cost borrowers pay and hinder building home value.

Blaming the Previous Administration and Economic Prospects

As part of their cost-cutting effort, the administration have again blamed the previous president for financial challenges, including rising prices. Spokespeople claimed they “faced a mess from Joe Biden” and were “addressing the prior administration’s price hikes.” This is absurd and inaccurate allegations. In reality, Biden left a strong economy, with inflation way down, economic growth strong, and minimal joblessness. But, the current administration’s actions—especially import taxes—have resulted in an economic mess, driving costs higher and slowing GDP growth.

Per Mark Zandi, lead analyst at Moody’s Analytics, numerous regions are experiencing economic decline, with their conditions worsened by the administration’s trade policies. He fears that if key regions like major economies tumble into recession, the nation could face a broad economic slump. During recessions, people generally possess less money to spend, and inflation often falls. Unfortunately, given Trump’s much-ballyhooed cost initiative likely to do little to control costs, his most effective “tool” for improving living standards might prove to be triggering an economic contraction—something that hard-pressed households cannot handle.