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During last year's presidential campaign, Donald Trump wooed voters with pledges to lower prices starting on day one. But, once his inauguration, there was minimal attention to the cost of living. All that changed following inflation-weary voters expressed dissatisfaction at the polls. Within days, his team launched a slapdash effort to address living costs. Unfortunately, this initiative is a disorganized endeavor—filled with illogical claims, inconsistencies, unrealistic expectations, blame-shifting, and misleading statements.

Detached Assertions and Grocery Store Truth

Just two days after the election, Trump kicked off his cost-reduction push with a poorly received statement: “Food prices are way down. Everything is way down… So I don’t want to hear about affordability.” These words from the wealthy leader—often mingles with fellow billionaires—demonstrated utter contempt for everyday citizens who struggle when visiting supermarkets. Essentially, he ignored their concerns as trivial, implying they had it wrong about actual costs.

His assertion about declining prices proved absurdly obtuse and inaccurate. In what way could every price be falling when his cherished tariffs were pushing up costs? Recent data show the cost of bananas rose 6.9% over the past year, beef prices went up 14.7%, and the cost of coffee jumped by nearly 19%—in part due to import taxes on Brazil’s coffee and beef. In the first three quarters, costs increased in five of the six food categories tracked by the Consumer Price Index, including animal proteins (rising over 4%), drinks (up 2.8%), and produce (rising slightly).

Contradictions and Falsehoods in Economic Claims

In spite of the evidence, Trump continues to push his big lie about lower costs. After the vote, he has claimed there is “almost no price increases,” declared “costs have fallen significantly,” and asserted “living is cheaper under Trump than it was under his predecessor.” These statements contradict the reality that general costs have unarguably risen since Biden left office. At present, inflation is at a 3 percent per year, which is half again as much than the central bank’s 2% goal. Adding to the inaccuracies, he boasted that gas prices had fallen to around two dollars, even though government figures indicate they are over three dollars.

Faced with reality and lower approval ratings, advisers evidently warned that his “costs are falling” rhetoric made him sound dangerously out of touch from typical Americans. Many voters are frustrated about prices continuing to climb after promises of reductions. In response, advisers proposed one quick fix: reduce some of Trump’s beloved tariffs. This sensible idea contradicted Trump’s absurd assertion that new tariffs wouldn’t raise prices for US consumers.

Proposed Fixes and Their Potential Effects

As certain taxes being rolled back on coffee, beef, tomatoes, and bananas, the administration will likely announce that he has cut prices once these products start declining in price. That would be similar to a firestarter taking credit for extinguishing a blaze that he ignited. In another instance, while speaking McDonald’s executives, Trump stated that “we are in the golden age of America” and assured listeners 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 risk losing food stamps or skyrocketing health premiums.

According to a recent poll conducted last fall, three-quarters of respondents believe the state of the economy are fair or poor, while only 26% consider them positive. Another poll found that a majority of citizens say the administration’s actions have “worsened economic conditions” in the country.

Financial Reality and Suggested Steps

Scott Bessent, the president’s chief financial officer, lately contradicted assertions of a prosperous era. He stated that instead of thriving, certain sectors of the American economy “are in recession.” Industrial production—which Trump vowed to save—seems to have shrunk for eight months in a row and shed approximately 33,000 jobs since January. Pointing to this weakness, Bessent urged the Federal Reserve to reduce borrowing costs—an action that could help affordability.

Reacting to widespread concern about living costs, the president suggested a cash handout of “a payout of at least $2,000 a person” excluding “the wealthy.” To numerous struggling Americans, this sounds like a financial lifeline, but the prospects are dim that lawmakers—already alarmed about large shortfalls—will enact the proposal. This idea would likely increase federal spending, increase interest rates, and possibly fuel inflation by putting more money into the economy.

A further proposed solution for affordability centered on introducing half-century home loans, based on the idea that this would reduce monthly mortgage payments. However, reality is that 50-year mortgages would do little to lower monthly payments—frequently cutting them by just $100 or $200 per month. The downside is that these mortgages could more than double the total interest borrowers pay and slow their accumulation of equity.

Faulting the Past Government and Economic Outlook

As part of their cost-cutting effort, Trump and his team have again pointed fingers at Biden for economic problems, including increasing costs. Officials stated they “faced a mess from Joe Biden” and were “cleaning up Biden’s inflation.” These are absurd and inaccurate allegations. In reality, the former president handed over a robust economic situation, with low price growth, solid expansion, and minimal joblessness. However, Trump’s policies—especially his tariffs—have resulted in an economic mess, pushing up prices and slowing GDP growth.

Per Mark Zandi, lead analyst at Moody’s Analytics, 22 states are experiencing economic decline, with their economies damaged by Trump’s tariffs. He fears that if key regions such as California and New York enter a downturn, the US could face a widespread recession. In downturns, consumers generally possess less money to spend, and price increases usually declines. Sadly, with the highly-touted affordability campaign likely to do little to control costs, his primary method for achieving increased affordability might end up pushing the nation into recession—a scenario that hard-pressed households cannot handle.