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During the previous race for the White House, the former president courted the electorate with promises to reduce prices starting on day one. However, once his inauguration, he seemed to pay precious little focus to the cost of living. All that changed following price-fatigued citizens expressed dissatisfaction at the polls. Shortly thereafter, his team launched a hastily assembled campaign to tackle affordability. Unfortunately, the drive has proven a disorganized endeavor—characterized by illogical claims, contradictions, unrealistic expectations, scapegoating, and misleading statements.

Detached Claims and Grocery Store Truth

Merely 48 hours post-election, the president began his affordability drive with a poorly received statement: “Our groceries are way down. All items is way down… So I don’t want to hear about the cost of living.” These words from the wealthy leader—often mingles with fellow billionaires—revealed a lack of empathy for millions of Americans who struggle every time they go supermarkets. In effect, he dismissed their struggles as unimportant, implying they were mistaken about price levels.

This statement about declining prices was highly misleading and dishonest. In what way could all costs be decreasing when the taxes he imposed were increasing prices? Official statistics indicate the cost of bananas rose 6.9% over the past year, the price of beef went up almost 15%, and the cost of coffee surged 18.9%—partly because of punitive tariffs 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 (up 4.5%), drinks (up 2.8%), and fruits and vegetables (up 1.3%).

Contradictions and Falsehoods in Economic Statements

Despite the evidence, the president continues to push his big lie about lower costs. Since election day, he has claimed there is “almost no price increases,” declared “prices are way down,” and argued “living is cheaper under Trump than it was under sleepy Joe Biden.” Such remarks contradict the fact that prices overall have unarguably risen after the previous administration. At present, inflation is running at a 3 percent per year, which is half again as much than the Federal Reserve’s 2% goal. In another falsehood, he boasted that gas prices had fallen to nearly $2 a gallon, despite official data indicate they average over three dollars.

Confronted by actual conditions and lower approval ratings, some Trump aides evidently cautioned that his “prices are down” message made him sound dangerously out of touch from typical Americans. A lot of voters are frustrated about rising costs following assurances of decreases. In response, advisers proposed one quick fix: reduce some of Trump’s beloved tariffs. This sensible idea clashed with Trump’s absurd assertion that additional taxes wouldn’t raise prices for American shoppers.

Suggested Solutions and Their Potential Effects

With some tariffs reduced on coffee, beef, tomatoes, and bananas, Trump will likely claim that he has cut prices once these products begin to fall in price. That would be similar to a firestarter taking credit for putting out a fire that he had started. On another occasion, while speaking McDonald’s executives, he stated that “we are in the golden age of America” and assured the audience that “prices are coming down and all of that stuff.” These comments are easy for a wealthy individual to make, but seem insincere to millions of Americans facing hardships—especially when many face cuts to nutrition assistance or rising insurance costs.

According to a recent poll from October, 74% of Americans believe the state of the economy are mediocre or bad, while just a quarter consider them positive. Another poll found that a majority of citizens say Trump’s policies have “made the economy worse” in the country.

Economic Reality and Proposed Steps

Scott Bessent, the president’s top economic official, lately contradicted assertions of a golden age. He noted that far from booming, certain sectors of the American economy “are in recession.” The manufacturing sector—a priority for the administration—appears to have contracted for eight months in a row and shed around tens of thousands of positions since January. Pointing to these challenges, Bessent called on the Federal Reserve to reduce borrowing costs—an action that could ease financial pressure.

Reacting to widespread concern about affordability, Trump proposed a cash handout of “a dividend of at least $2,000 a person” not for “high income people.” To numerous struggling Americans, this sounds like manna from heaven, but it is unlikely that Congress—concerned about large shortfalls—will approve such a plan. This idea would likely increase federal spending, push up interest rates, and possibly drive prices higher by injecting cash into the economy.

A further supposed fix for cost issues involved creating 50-year mortgages, with the notion that this would lower housing costs. However, the truth is that 50-year mortgages would do little to reduce installments—frequently cutting them by a small amount per month. The downside is that these loans could significantly increase the total interest borrowers pay and slow building home value.

Faulting the Previous Administration and Financial Prospects

In their affordability campaign, the administration have again pointed fingers at the previous president for economic problems, such as increasing costs. Officials stated they “inherited a disaster from Joe Biden” and were “addressing Biden’s inflation.” This is absurd and untruthful claims. In reality, Biden handed over a robust economic situation, with inflation way down, economic growth strong, and minimal joblessness. But, the current administration’s actions—especially his tariffs—have created an difficult situation, driving costs higher and slowing GDP growth.

According to an economist, lead analyst at Moody’s Analytics, 22 states are already in recession, with their economies damaged by the administration’s trade policies. He worries that if large states like California and New York enter a downturn, the US could face a broad economic slump. During recessions, people generally possess reduced funds to spend, and price increases often falls. Sadly, given the highly-touted cost initiative probably ineffective to hold down prices, his primary method for improving living standards might prove to be pushing the nation into recession—something that struggling Americans really can’t afford.