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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. However, after his inauguration, he seemed to pay minimal focus to affordability issues. This shifted following inflation-weary voters delivered a rebuke at the polls. Within days, his team initiated a slapdash campaign to address living costs. Unfortunately, the drive has proven a disorganized endeavor—characterized by illogical claims, inconsistencies, magical thinking, scapegoating, and misleading statements.

Detached Claims and Supermarket Truth

Merely 48 hours post-election, Trump kicked off his cost-reduction push with a poorly received statement: “Our groceries are way down. Everything is way down… So I don’t want to hear about affordability.” This comment from billionaire Trump—often mingles with fellow billionaires—revealed utter contempt for millions of Americans who struggle when visiting the grocery store. In effect, he ignored their concerns as unimportant, implying they were mistaken about actual costs.

This statement that everything was “way down” was absurdly obtuse and dishonest. In what way could all costs be decreasing when the taxes he imposed were increasing costs? Official statistics indicate the cost of bananas increased nearly 7% over the past year, the price of beef climbed almost 15%, and the cost of coffee surged by nearly 19%—in part due to import taxes on Brazil’s coffee and beef. Between January and September, prices rose in the majority of main grocery groups monitored by the Consumer Price Index, including animal proteins (up 4.5%), non-alcoholic beverages (increasing nearly 3%), and fruits and vegetables (rising slightly).

Inconsistencies and Inaccuracies in Economic Statements

Despite these numbers, Trump persists in repeating his big lie about lower costs. After the vote, he has claimed there is “virtually no inflation,” declared “costs have fallen significantly,” and argued “living is cheaper under Trump than it was under sleepy Joe Biden.” Such remarks contradict the reality that general costs have clearly increased since Biden left office. At present, inflation is at a 3% annual rate, which is half again as much than the central bank’s 2% goal. In another falsehood, Trump boasted that gas prices had fallen to nearly $2 a gallon, despite government figures show they are over three dollars.

Confronted by actual conditions and declining opinion polls, advisers evidently cautioned that his “costs are falling” rhetoric made him sound dangerously out of touch from typical Americans. Many citizens are angry about prices continuing to climb after assurances of reductions. In response, aides proposed a simple solution: reduce certain import taxes. The logical move clashed with the president’s unrealistic claim that additional taxes would not increase costs for American shoppers.

Proposed Solutions and Their Possible Effects

As some tariffs being rolled back on coffee, beef, tomatoes, and bananas, the administration will likely announce that he has lowered costs once these products begin to fall in price. That would be like an arsonist boasting for putting out a blaze that he ignited. On another occasion, when addressing McDonald’s executives, Trump stated 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 they ring hollow to countless households facing hardships—particularly when many risk cuts to nutrition assistance or rising insurance costs.

Per a recent poll from October, three-quarters of respondents think economic conditions are fair or poor, while only 26% rate them positive. Another poll found that a majority of citizens feel Trump’s policies have “made the economy worse” in the country.

Financial Reality and Suggested Steps

Scott Bessent, Trump’s chief financial officer, recently contradicted assertions of a golden age. He noted that instead of thriving, some parts of the American economy “have contracted.” The manufacturing sector—which Trump vowed to save—appears to have contracted for multiple consecutive months and lost approximately 33,000 jobs this year. Pointing to this weakness, the secretary called on the Federal Reserve 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” not for “the wealthy.” To numerous struggling Americans, this sounds like manna from heaven, but the prospects are dim that lawmakers—concerned about large shortfalls—will enact such a plan. This idea would likely increase federal spending, push up borrowing costs, and possibly drive prices higher by injecting cash into the economy.

Another supposed fix for cost issues centered on introducing 50-year mortgages, with the notion that they could lower housing costs. However, the truth is that such lengthy loans would do little to lower monthly payments—often reducing them by just $100 or $200 each month. The drawback is that these mortgages could more than double the overall cost borrowers pay and slow building home value.

Blaming the Previous Administration and Economic Prospects

As part of their affordability campaign, the administration have again blamed the previous president for financial challenges, including increasing costs. Officials stated they “faced a mess from Joe Biden” and were “cleaning up Biden’s inflation.” This is absurd and untruthful allegations. Actually, Biden left a strong economy, with low price growth, solid expansion, and unemployment low. But, Trump’s policies—especially import taxes—have created an economic mess, pushing up prices and reducing economic output.

Per an economist, lead analyst at a research firm, numerous regions are experiencing economic decline, with their conditions worsened by Trump’s tariffs. He fears that if key regions like major economies enter a downturn, the US could face a broad economic slump. In downturns, consumers typically have less money to spend, and inflation usually declines. Sadly, given the highly-touted cost initiative 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.