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Throughout last year's presidential campaign, the former president wooed the electorate with pledges to reduce costs immediately upon taking office. However, once he assumed office, he seemed to pay minimal attention to affordability issues. All that changed after price-fatigued voters delivered a rebuke at the ballot box. Shortly thereafter, the Trump administration initiated a slapdash effort to tackle affordability. Regrettably, this initiative has proven a hot mess—filled with illogical claims, contradictions, unrealistic expectations, blame-shifting, and misleading statements.

Out-of-Touch Assertions and Grocery Store Truth

Just two days after the election, Trump kicked off his cost-reduction push with a poorly received remark: “Food prices 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 mingles with fellow billionaires—demonstrated utter contempt for millions of Americans facing difficulties every time they go the grocery store. In effect, he dismissed their struggles as trivial, suggesting they had it wrong about actual costs.

His assertion about declining prices was absurdly obtuse and inaccurate. In what way could every price be decreasing when the taxes he imposed were pushing up prices? Recent data indicate banana prices increased 6.9% in the last twelve months, beef prices climbed 14.7%, and coffee prices jumped 18.9%—in part due to punitive tariffs applied to Brazilian products. In the first three quarters, prices rose in five of the six food categories monitored by the government’s price index, such as animal proteins (rising over 4%), non-alcoholic beverages (up 2.8%), and produce (up 1.3%).

Contradictions and Inaccuracies in Financial Claims

In spite of the evidence, Trump continues to push his misleading narrative about affordability. After the vote, he has stated there is “virtually no inflation,” declared “costs have fallen significantly,” and argued “it is far less expensive under Trump than it was under his predecessor.” Such remarks contradict the fact that general costs have clearly increased after the previous administration. At present, price growth is at a 3% annual rate, which is 50% higher than the Federal Reserve’s target of 2 percent. In another falsehood, he boasted that fuel costs had dropped to nearly $2 a gallon, despite government figures show they average $3.19.

Confronted by reality and declining opinion polls, some Trump aides evidently cautioned that his “prices are down” message portrayed him as dangerously out of touch from ordinary people. Many citizens are angry about prices continuing to climb following promises of decreases. In response, aides proposed one quick fix: reduce some of Trump’s beloved tariffs. This sensible idea clashed with the president’s unrealistic claim that new tariffs wouldn’t raise prices for American shoppers.

Proposed Solutions and Their Potential Impact

As some tariffs reduced on coffee, beef, tomatoes, and bananas, the administration will likely claim that he has cut prices once these products begin to fall in price. That would be similar to a firestarter boasting for extinguishing a blaze that he ignited. In another instance, while speaking fast-food leaders, he declared that “this is the golden age of America” and assured the audience that “prices are coming down and all of that stuff.” These comments come naturally for a wealthy individual to make, but seem insincere to countless households who are struggling—especially when millions face cuts to nutrition assistance or skyrocketing health premiums.

Per a recent poll conducted last fall, three-quarters of respondents believe economic conditions are fair or poor, while only 26% consider them good or excellent. Another poll found that 61% of Americans say the administration’s actions have “worsened economic conditions” in the country.

Financial Reality and Proposed Measures

The treasury secretary, Trump’s chief financial officer, recently contradicted claims of a prosperous era. He noted that instead of thriving, some parts of the American economy “are in recession.” The manufacturing sector—a priority for the administration—seems to have shrunk for eight months in a row and lost around 33,000 jobs since January. Citing this weakness, Bessent urged the Federal Reserve to reduce borrowing costs—an action that could ease financial pressure.

Reacting to public dismay about affordability, the president suggested a cash handout of “a payout of at least $2,000 a person” not for “the wealthy.” To numerous struggling Americans, this sounds like manna from heaven, but it is unlikely that Congress—concerned about large shortfalls—will approve the proposal. This idea could increase federal spending, increase borrowing costs, and potentially drive prices higher by injecting cash into consumers’ pockets.

A further proposed solution for affordability centered on introducing 50-year mortgages, with the notion that this would reduce monthly mortgage payments. However, the truth is that 50-year mortgages would do little to lower monthly payments—frequently cutting them by a small amount each month. The downside is that these loans could more than double the total interest homeowners pay and slow their accumulation of equity.

Blaming the Previous Administration and Financial Outlook

In their cost-cutting effort, the administration have again blamed the previous president for financial challenges, including increasing costs. Spokespeople claimed they “faced a mess from Joe Biden” and were “addressing the prior administration’s price hikes.” This is unfounded and inaccurate allegations. Actually, the former president handed over a strong economy, with low price growth, economic growth strong, and unemployment low. However, Trump’s policies—especially import taxes—have created an economic mess, pushing up prices and reducing economic output.

Per Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, numerous regions are experiencing economic decline, with their economies damaged by Trump’s tariffs. Zandi worries that if key regions like major economies tumble into recession, the nation could slide into a widespread recession. In downturns, people generally possess reduced funds to spend, and price increases often falls. Unfortunately, with the highly-touted affordability campaign probably ineffective to control costs, his most effective “tool” for improving living standards might prove to be pushing the nation into recession—a scenario that hard-pressed households cannot handle.