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Throughout last year's race for the White House, Donald Trump courted voters with pledges to lower prices immediately upon taking office. However, after his inauguration, he seemed to pay precious little focus to affordability issues. All that changed after inflation-weary voters delivered a rebuke at the ballot box. Shortly thereafter, his team launched a hastily assembled effort to tackle living costs. Unfortunately, the drive has proven a disorganized endeavor—characterized by absurdity, inconsistencies, magical thinking, scapegoating, and misleading statements.

Out-of-Touch Assertions and Supermarket Truth

Just two days post-election, Trump kicked off his cost-reduction push with a disastrous 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 billionaire Trump—who frequently associates with fellow billionaires—revealed a lack of empathy for millions of Americans who struggle when visiting the grocery store. In effect, he ignored their concerns as trivial, suggesting they had it wrong about price levels.

This statement about declining prices proved absurdly obtuse and dishonest. How could every price be falling when his cherished tariffs were increasing costs? Recent data show banana prices rose nearly 7% over the past year, the price of beef went up almost 15%, and the cost of coffee surged 18.9%—partly due to punitive tariffs on Brazil’s coffee and beef. Between January and September, prices rose in the majority of main grocery groups monitored by the government’s price index, including meats, poultry, and fish (rising over 4%), drinks (up 2.8%), and produce (up 1.3%).

Inconsistencies and Falsehoods in Financial Statements

In spite of the evidence, the president persists in repeating his big lie about affordability. After the vote, he has stated there is “almost no price increases,” insisted “prices are way down,” and argued “living is cheaper under Trump than it was under his predecessor.” These statements contradict the fact that general costs have unarguably risen after the previous administration. At present, price growth is at a 3 percent per year, that’s half again as much than the Federal Reserve’s 2% goal. Adding to the inaccuracies, he boasted that fuel costs had dropped to nearly $2 a gallon, despite official data indicate they average over three dollars.

Faced with actual conditions and declining opinion polls, advisers evidently warned that his “prices are down” message made him sound dangerously out of touch from ordinary people. Many citizens are angry about prices continuing to climb following promises of reductions. In response, advisers suggested a simple solution: roll back some of Trump’s beloved tariffs. The logical move contradicted the president’s unrealistic claim that additional taxes would not increase costs for American shoppers.

Suggested Fixes and Their Possible Effects

With some tariffs being rolled back on several food items, Trump will likely claim that he has cut prices once these products begin to fall in price. This would be similar to a firestarter taking credit for putting out a blaze that he had started. On another occasion, while speaking fast-food leaders, Trump stated that “we are in the golden age of America” and assured listeners that “prices are coming down and all of that stuff.” These comments come naturally for a wealthy individual to make, but seem insincere to countless households facing hardships—especially when millions face losing food stamps or skyrocketing health premiums.

Per a survey from October, 74% of Americans think the state of the economy are fair or poor, while only 26% rate them positive. A separate survey showed that a majority of citizens say Trump’s policies have “made the economy worse” in the country.

Financial Truth and Suggested Measures

The treasury secretary, Trump’s chief financial officer, recently disputed claims of a prosperous era. He noted that far from booming, certain sectors of the US economy “are in recession.” The manufacturing sector—which Trump vowed to save—seems to have shrunk for multiple consecutive months and shed approximately 33,000 jobs this year. Pointing to these challenges, the secretary urged the central bank to cut interest rates—a move that could help affordability.

In response to public dismay about living costs, Trump proposed a cash handout of “a dividend of at least $2,000 a person” excluding “the wealthy.” To numerous struggling Americans, it seems like a financial lifeline, but it is unlikely that lawmakers—already alarmed about large shortfalls—will approve such a plan. The scheme could increase federal spending, increase borrowing costs, and possibly drive prices higher by injecting cash into consumers’ pockets.

Another proposed solution for cost issues centered on creating 50-year mortgages, based on the idea that they could lower housing costs. However, reality is that such lengthy loans have minimal impact to reduce installments—often cutting them by a small amount each month. The drawback is that these mortgages could more than double the overall cost homeowners pay and slow building home value.

Blaming the Previous Administration and Economic Prospects

In their affordability campaign, Trump and his team have again pointed fingers at Biden for financial challenges, such as rising prices. Spokespeople stated they “inherited a disaster from Joe Biden” and were “cleaning up Biden’s inflation.” This is unfounded and inaccurate allegations. In reality, the former president left a strong economy, with inflation way down, solid expansion, and minimal joblessness. But, Trump’s policies—especially import taxes—have resulted in an difficult situation, pushing up prices and reducing economic output.

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. Zandi fears that if large states like California and New York enter a downturn, the US could face a broad economic slump. In downturns, people generally possess reduced funds to spend, and inflation usually declines. Sadly, with the highly-touted cost initiative likely to do little to hold down prices, his primary method for achieving increased affordability might prove to be triggering an economic contraction—a scenario that struggling Americans cannot handle.