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During last year's race for the White House, Donald Trump courted the electorate with pledges to lower prices starting on day one. But, after he assumed office, he seemed to pay minimal attention to affordability issues. This shifted after inflation-weary voters expressed dissatisfaction at the ballot box. Within days, his team launched a slapdash campaign to tackle affordability. Unfortunately, this initiative has proven a hot mess—filled with absurdity, inconsistencies, unrealistic expectations, blame-shifting, and misleading statements.

Detached Assertions and Supermarket Reality

Just two days post-election, Trump kicked off his affordability drive with a poorly received statement: “Food prices are way down. Everything is way down… So I don’t want to hear about affordability.” This comment from the wealthy leader—who frequently associates with fellow billionaires—demonstrated utter contempt for everyday citizens who struggle every time they go supermarkets. In effect, he dismissed their struggles as unimportant, implying they had it wrong about actual costs.

This statement about declining prices proved absurdly obtuse and inaccurate. In what way could every price be falling when the taxes he imposed were increasing costs? Recent data indicate the cost of bananas increased nearly 7% over the past year, beef prices went up almost 15%, and the cost of coffee jumped 18.9%—in part due to import taxes 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, including meats, poultry, and fish (up 4.5%), non-alcoholic beverages (increasing nearly 3%), and fruits and vegetables (up 1.3%).

Inconsistencies and Falsehoods in Economic Statements

In spite of the evidence, Trump continues to push his big lie about affordability. After the vote, he has claimed there is “virtually no inflation,” insisted “prices are way down,” and asserted “living is cheaper under Trump than it was under his predecessor.” Such remarks contradict the fact that general costs have unarguably risen after the previous administration. Currently, price growth is running at a 3% annual rate, that’s 50% higher than the Federal Reserve’s target of 2 percent. Adding to the inaccuracies, he claimed that gas prices had fallen to nearly $2 a gallon, even though government figures show they are over three dollars.

Confronted by reality and lower approval ratings, advisers evidently cautioned that his “costs are falling” message made him sound disconnected from ordinary people. Many voters are angry about rising costs after promises of reductions. As a result, aides proposed a simple solution: roll back certain import taxes. The logical move contradicted the president’s unrealistic claim that additional taxes would not increase costs for American shoppers.

Proposed Fixes and Their Possible Impact

With certain taxes being rolled back on coffee, beef, tomatoes, and bananas, the administration will likely announce that he has cut prices once those foods begin to fall in price. That would be similar to a firestarter boasting for extinguishing a fire that he had started. On another occasion, while speaking fast-food leaders, he declared that “this is the golden age of America” and assured the audience that “costs are decreasing and all of that stuff.” These comments are easy for a billionaire to make, but seem insincere to millions of Americans who are struggling—especially when many risk losing food stamps or rising insurance costs.

According to a recent poll conducted last fall, 74% of Americans believe economic conditions are mediocre or bad, while just a quarter consider them positive. A separate survey showed that 61% of Americans say the administration’s actions have “made the economy worse” in the country.

Economic Truth and Proposed Steps

Scott Bessent, the president’s top economic official, recently contradicted assertions of a prosperous era. He noted that far from booming, some parts of the American economy “have contracted.” The manufacturing sector—which Trump vowed to save—appears to have contracted for eight months in a row and lost approximately 33,000 jobs this year. Pointing to this weakness, the secretary urged the Federal Reserve to reduce borrowing costs—a move that could help affordability.

Reacting to public dismay about living costs, Trump proposed a direct payment of “a dividend of at least $2,000 a person” excluding “the wealthy.” To numerous struggling Americans, it seems like manna from heaven, but the prospects are dim that lawmakers—already alarmed about large shortfalls—will enact the proposal. The scheme would likely raise government expenditure, push up borrowing costs, and potentially fuel inflation by injecting cash into consumers’ pockets.

Another supposed fix for cost issues centered on creating 50-year mortgages, with the notion that they could lower housing costs. But, reality is that 50-year mortgages have minimal impact 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 their accumulation of equity.

Blaming the Previous Administration and Financial Outlook

In their cost-cutting effort, Trump and his team have once more blamed the previous president for financial challenges, including rising prices. Spokespeople stated they “faced a mess from Joe Biden” and were “addressing Biden’s inflation.” This is unfounded and untruthful claims. Actually, Biden handed over a strong economy, with low price growth, solid expansion, and unemployment low. But, Trump’s policies—especially import taxes—have resulted in an difficult situation, pushing up prices and slowing GDP growth.

According to Mark Zandi, lead analyst at Moody’s Analytics, numerous regions are experiencing economic decline, with their economies damaged by the administration’s trade policies. Zandi worries that if key regions such as major economies tumble into recession, the nation could slide into a broad economic slump. In downturns, consumers generally possess less money to spend, and price increases often falls. Unfortunately, with the highly-touted affordability campaign likely to do little to control costs, his primary method for improving living standards might prove to be triggering an economic contraction—something that hard-pressed households really can’t afford.