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Throughout last year's race for the White House, the former president courted voters with pledges to reduce costs immediately upon taking office. But, once his inauguration, there was precious little attention 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 campaign to address affordability. Regrettably, the drive is a disorganized endeavor—filled with illogical claims, inconsistencies, unrealistic expectations, blame-shifting, and misleading statements.

Detached Claims and Grocery Store Truth

Just two days after the 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 mingles with other ultra-rich individuals—revealed utter contempt for everyday citizens who struggle every time they go the grocery store. Essentially, he ignored their concerns as trivial, suggesting they had it wrong about actual costs.

This statement about declining prices proved absurdly obtuse and inaccurate. In what way could all costs be decreasing when his cherished tariffs were increasing costs? Official statistics indicate banana prices rose 6.9% over the past year, beef prices climbed 14.7%, and the cost of coffee jumped by nearly 19%—in part due to import taxes applied to Brazilian products. In the first three quarters, costs increased in the majority of main grocery groups monitored by the Consumer Price Index, such as meats, poultry, and fish (up 4.5%), non-alcoholic beverages (increasing nearly 3%), and produce (up 1.3%).

Contradictions and Falsehoods in Financial Claims

Despite these numbers, the president persists in repeating his misleading narrative about lower costs. Since election day, he has stated there is “almost no price increases,” insisted “prices are way down,” and argued “it is far less expensive under Trump than it was under sleepy Joe Biden.” Such remarks ignore the fact that prices overall have clearly increased after the previous administration. Currently, inflation is at a 3% annual rate, that’s half again as much than the Federal Reserve’s 2% goal. In another falsehood, he boasted that gas prices had dropped to nearly $2 a gallon, despite government figures show they are over three dollars.

Confronted by actual conditions and lower approval ratings, some Trump aides apparently warned that his “prices are down” rhetoric portrayed him as disconnected from typical Americans. Many voters are angry about rising costs following assurances of decreases. As a result, advisers suggested a simple solution: reduce certain import taxes. This sensible idea clashed with Trump’s absurd assertion that new tariffs wouldn’t raise prices for American shoppers.

Proposed Fixes and Their Possible Impact

As some tariffs being rolled back on coffee, beef, tomatoes, and bananas, Trump will likely claim that he has lowered costs once these products start declining in price. That would be like an arsonist taking credit for extinguishing a fire that he had started. On another occasion, while speaking fast-food leaders, he declared that “this is the peak period of America” and assured listeners that “costs are decreasing and all of that stuff.” These comments come naturally for a wealthy individual to make, but seem insincere to millions of Americans facing hardships—particularly when millions face cuts to nutrition assistance or rising insurance costs.

According to a recent poll conducted last fall, three-quarters of respondents believe economic conditions are mediocre or bad, while just a quarter consider them positive. Another poll found that 61% of Americans feel the administration’s actions have “made the economy worse” in the country.

Financial Reality and Proposed Measures

The treasury secretary, the president’s chief financial officer, lately disputed claims of a golden age. He stated that instead of thriving, certain sectors of the US economy “have contracted.” The manufacturing sector—which Trump vowed to save—appears to have contracted for eight months in a row and shed around 33,000 jobs this year. Citing this weakness, Bessent called on the Federal Reserve to reduce borrowing costs—an action that could ease financial pressure.

Reacting to widespread concern about affordability, Trump suggested a cash handout of “a dividend 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—already alarmed about large shortfalls—will enact the proposal. The scheme would likely raise government expenditure, push up borrowing costs, and possibly fuel inflation by putting more money into consumers’ pockets.

Another proposed solution for affordability involved introducing 50-year mortgages, with the notion that this would reduce monthly mortgage payments. But, the truth is that such lengthy loans would do little to lower monthly payments—frequently reducing them by just $100 or $200 per month. The drawback is that these mortgages could significantly increase the total interest homeowners pay and slow building home value.

Faulting the Previous Administration and Financial Prospects

In their affordability campaign, Trump and his team have once more pointed fingers at Biden for financial challenges, such as increasing costs. Officials stated they “inherited a disaster from Joe Biden” and were “cleaning up Biden’s inflation.” This is absurd and untruthful allegations. In reality, the former president handed over a robust economic situation, with low price growth, economic growth strong, and unemployment low. But, the current administration’s actions—particularly his tariffs—have resulted in an economic mess, pushing up prices and slowing GDP growth.

According to Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, 22 states are already in recession, with their economies damaged by Trump’s tariffs. Zandi worries that if key regions like major economies tumble into recession, the US could face a broad economic slump. In downturns, people typically have reduced funds to spend, and inflation often falls. Unfortunately, with Trump’s much-ballyhooed cost initiative likely to do little to control costs, his primary method for achieving increased affordability might prove to be pushing the nation into recession—something that struggling Americans really can’t afford.