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During last year's presidential campaign, the former president wooed voters with promises to reduce costs starting on day one. But, once his inauguration, he seemed to pay minimal focus to the cost of living. All that changed after price-fatigued voters delivered a rebuke at the ballot box. Shortly thereafter, his team initiated a slapdash campaign to address living costs. Regrettably, the drive has proven a disorganized endeavor—filled with absurdity, inconsistencies, magical thinking, blame-shifting, and misleading statements.

Out-of-Touch Assertions and Supermarket Truth

Just two days post-election, the president began his affordability drive with a poorly received statement: “Food prices are way down. All items is way down… So I don’t want to hear about affordability.” This comment from the wealthy leader—often mingles with other ultra-rich individuals—demonstrated utter contempt for millions of Americans who struggle when visiting supermarkets. In effect, he ignored their concerns as trivial, suggesting they had it wrong about actual costs.

His assertion about declining prices was highly misleading and inaccurate. How could all costs be decreasing when his cherished tariffs were pushing up costs? Official statistics show the cost of bananas increased nearly 7% in the last twelve months, the price of beef went up 14.7%, and coffee prices surged 18.9%—in part because of punitive tariffs applied to Brazilian products. Between January and September, prices rose in the majority of food categories tracked by the Consumer Price Index, such as meats, poultry, and fish (rising over 4%), drinks (increasing nearly 3%), and fruits and vegetables (up 1.3%).

Contradictions and Falsehoods in Financial Claims

In spite of these numbers, the president persists in repeating his misleading narrative about lower costs. After the vote, he has stated there is “virtually no inflation,” declared “costs have fallen significantly,” and asserted “living is cheaper under Trump than it was under his predecessor.” Such remarks contradict the reality that prices overall have unarguably risen since Biden left office. At present, inflation is at a 3 percent per year, that’s 50% higher than the central bank’s 2% goal. In another falsehood, Trump claimed that fuel costs had dropped to nearly $2 a gallon, despite official data indicate they are over three dollars.

Faced with reality and declining opinion polls, some Trump aides apparently warned that his “costs are falling” rhetoric made him sound dangerously out of touch from typical Americans. Many voters are angry about rising costs following promises of decreases. In response, aides suggested a simple solution: roll back certain import taxes. This sensible idea clashed with Trump’s absurd assertion that additional taxes wouldn’t raise prices for American shoppers.

Suggested Fixes and Their Possible Effects

As some tariffs reduced on coffee, beef, tomatoes, and bananas, the administration will probably claim that he has lowered costs once those foods begin to fall in price. This would be similar to a firestarter boasting for extinguishing a fire that he ignited. In another instance, when addressing fast-food leaders, Trump stated that “this is the golden age 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 seem insincere to countless households who are struggling—particularly when millions face losing food stamps or skyrocketing health premiums.

According to a survey from October, 74% of Americans believe the state of the economy are fair or poor, while just a quarter consider them good or excellent. A separate survey found that 61% of Americans feel Trump’s policies have “made the economy worse” in the country.

Economic Reality and Suggested Measures

The treasury secretary, Trump’s chief financial officer, lately contradicted assertions of a golden age. He noted that far from booming, certain sectors of the American economy “are in recession.” Industrial production—a priority for the administration—appears to have contracted for multiple consecutive months and shed approximately tens of thousands of positions since January. Citing these challenges, Bessent called on the central bank to cut interest rates—an action that could ease financial pressure.

In response to public dismay about living costs, Trump suggested a direct payment of “a payout of at least $2,000 a person” not for “the wealthy.” For many struggling Americans, this sounds like manna from heaven, but it is unlikely that Congress—already alarmed about large shortfalls—will enact such a plan. This idea could raise government expenditure, increase borrowing costs, and potentially drive prices higher by putting more money into the economy.

A further proposed solution for affordability centered on introducing half-century home loans, with the notion that they could reduce monthly mortgage payments. But, the truth is that 50-year mortgages have minimal impact to reduce installments—frequently cutting them by just $100 or $200 each month. The drawback is that these mortgages could significantly increase the overall cost 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 Biden for financial challenges, such as rising prices. Officials claimed they “inherited a disaster from Joe Biden” and were “addressing the prior administration’s price hikes.” These are 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, Trump’s policies—particularly import taxes—have resulted in an difficult situation, driving costs higher and reducing economic output.

According to Mark Zandi, lead analyst at a research firm, 22 states are already in recession, with their economies damaged by Trump’s tariffs. He worries that if key regions such as major economies enter a downturn, the nation could face a broad economic slump. In downturns, people typically have reduced funds to spend, and price increases often falls. Sadly, given the highly-touted affordability campaign probably ineffective to hold down prices, his primary method for achieving increased affordability might end up pushing the nation into recession—something that struggling Americans cannot handle.