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Throughout the previous race for the White House, the former president courted voters with pledges to reduce prices starting on day one. But, after he assumed office, there was minimal focus to affordability issues. This shifted following price-fatigued citizens delivered a rebuke at the polls. Shortly thereafter, the Trump administration initiated a hastily assembled campaign to address living costs. Unfortunately, this initiative is a hot mess—filled with absurdity, inconsistencies, magical thinking, blame-shifting, and misleading statements.

Detached Assertions and Grocery Store Truth

Merely 48 hours after the election, the president began his affordability drive with a disastrous remark: “Food prices are way down. All items is way down… So I don’t want to hear about affordability.” These words from billionaire Trump—often mingles with fellow billionaires—revealed utter contempt for everyday citizens who struggle when visiting supermarkets. In effect, he dismissed their struggles as unimportant, implying they were mistaken about actual costs.

This statement about declining prices proved absurdly obtuse and inaccurate. In what way could every price be decreasing when the taxes he imposed were increasing prices? Recent data indicate banana prices increased 6.9% in the last twelve months, the price of beef went up almost 15%, and coffee prices surged by nearly 19%—in part because of import taxes on Brazil’s coffee and beef. In the first three quarters, costs increased in five of the six food categories monitored by the government’s price index, such as meats, poultry, and fish (rising over 4%), non-alcoholic beverages (up 2.8%), and fruits and vegetables (rising slightly).

Contradictions and Falsehoods in Financial Claims

In spite of the evidence, the president persists in repeating his misleading narrative about affordability. Since election day, he has claimed there is “virtually no inflation,” declared “costs have fallen significantly,” and argued “living is cheaper under Trump than it was under his predecessor.” These statements contradict the fact that general costs have clearly increased after the previous administration. Currently, price growth is at a 3% annual rate, which is half again as much than the Federal Reserve’s target of 2 percent. In another falsehood, he boasted that gas prices had fallen to around two dollars, even though official data show they average over three dollars.

Faced with reality and lower approval ratings, some Trump aides apparently cautioned that his “costs are falling” message made him sound dangerously out of touch from ordinary people. A lot of citizens are frustrated about prices continuing to climb following promises of decreases. As a result, aides proposed a simple solution: reduce some of Trump’s beloved tariffs. The logical move contradicted the president’s unrealistic claim that additional taxes wouldn’t raise prices for American shoppers.

Suggested Fixes and Their Possible Impact

As some tariffs reduced on coffee, beef, tomatoes, and bananas, the administration will likely announce that he has lowered costs once those foods start declining in price. This would be similar to a firestarter taking credit for putting out a fire that he ignited. In another instance, while speaking fast-food leaders, Trump declared that “we are in the golden age of America” and told the audience that “costs are decreasing and all of that stuff.” Such statements come naturally for a wealthy individual to make, but seem insincere to countless households facing hardships—especially when many face cuts to nutrition assistance or rising insurance costs.

Per a recent poll from October, 74% of Americans think the state of the economy are mediocre or bad, while only 26% rate them positive. A separate survey showed that a majority of citizens say Trump’s policies have “worsened economic conditions” in the country.

Financial Reality and Proposed Steps

The treasury secretary, Trump’s top economic official, recently disputed claims of a prosperous era. He noted that instead of thriving, certain sectors of the American economy “are in recession.” The manufacturing sector—a priority for the administration—seems to have shrunk for multiple consecutive months and lost around 33,000 jobs since January. Citing this weakness, the secretary called on the Federal Reserve to reduce borrowing costs—an action that could help affordability.

Reacting to widespread concern about affordability, Trump proposed a direct payment of “a payout of at least $2,000 a person” not for “the wealthy.” To numerous households in need, this sounds like manna from heaven, but it is unlikely that Congress—concerned about huge budget deficits—will enact such a plan. This idea could increase federal spending, increase borrowing costs, and potentially fuel inflation by putting more money into the economy.

Another supposed fix for cost issues involved creating 50-year mortgages, based on the idea that this would lower housing costs. But, reality is that 50-year mortgages would do little to lower monthly payments—frequently reducing them by a small amount each month. The downside is that these mortgages could more than double the overall cost borrowers pay and slow their accumulation of equity.

Faulting the Previous Administration and Financial Outlook

As part of their affordability campaign, Trump and his team have once more pointed fingers at Biden for financial challenges, including increasing costs. Spokespeople claimed they “inherited a disaster from Joe Biden” and were “cleaning up Biden’s inflation.” This is unfounded and inaccurate allegations. Actually, the former president left a robust economic situation, with low price growth, solid expansion, and unemployment low. But, the current administration’s actions—especially his tariffs—have created an economic mess, driving costs higher and slowing GDP growth.

Per Mark Zandi, chief economist at a research firm, numerous regions are already in recession, with their conditions worsened by the administration’s trade policies. He worries that if large states like major economies enter a downturn, the nation could face a widespread recession. During recessions, people typically have reduced funds to spend, and inflation often falls. Unfortunately, with the highly-touted cost initiative probably ineffective to control costs, his most effective “tool” for improving living standards might prove to be triggering an economic contraction—a scenario that hard-pressed households cannot handle.