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During the previous presidential campaign, the former president courted voters with promises to reduce costs starting on day one. But, after his inauguration, he seemed to pay minimal attention to affordability issues. All that changed after price-fatigued voters delivered a rebuke at the polls. Within days, the Trump administration initiated a slapdash campaign to tackle affordability. Regrettably, this initiative is a disorganized endeavor—characterized by illogical claims, contradictions, unrealistic expectations, scapegoating, and misleading statements.

Detached Claims and Supermarket Reality

Just two days after the election, Trump kicked off his cost-reduction push with a poorly received remark: “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 every time they go supermarkets. Essentially, he ignored their struggles as unimportant, implying they had it wrong about actual costs.

His assertion that everything was “way down” proved highly misleading and dishonest. In what way could all costs be falling when his cherished tariffs were pushing up costs? Recent data indicate banana prices increased 6.9% in the last twelve months, beef prices climbed almost 15%, and the cost of coffee jumped 18.9%—partly due to punitive tariffs on Brazil’s coffee and beef. In the first three quarters, costs increased in five of the six main grocery groups monitored by the government’s price index, including meats, poultry, and fish (rising over 4%), non-alcoholic beverages (increasing nearly 3%), and produce (rising slightly).

Contradictions and Inaccuracies in Financial Claims

In spite of the evidence, the president persists in repeating his misleading narrative about lower costs. After the vote, he has claimed there is “almost no price increases,” declared “costs have fallen significantly,” and asserted “it is far less expensive under Trump than it was under his predecessor.” Such remarks contradict the fact that general costs have clearly increased since Biden left office. Currently, price growth is at a 3% annual rate, that’s half again as much than the Federal Reserve’s 2% goal. In another falsehood, Trump claimed that fuel costs had dropped to nearly $2 a gallon, even though government figures indicate they average $3.19.

Faced with reality and declining opinion polls, some Trump aides evidently cautioned that his “costs are falling” rhetoric made him sound dangerously out of touch from ordinary people. Many voters are frustrated about prices continuing to climb following promises of decreases. As a result, aides proposed a simple solution: roll back some of Trump’s beloved tariffs. The logical move contradicted Trump’s absurd assertion that new tariffs wouldn’t raise prices for American shoppers.

Suggested Solutions and Their Possible Effects

With some tariffs reduced on coffee, beef, tomatoes, and bananas, the administration will likely claim that he has lowered costs once these products begin to fall in price. This would be like an arsonist taking credit for extinguishing a blaze that he ignited. On another occasion, when addressing fast-food leaders, Trump declared that “we are in the peak period 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 who are struggling—particularly when millions face losing food stamps or skyrocketing health premiums.

According to a recent poll conducted last fall, 74% of Americans think the state of the economy are mediocre or bad, while just a quarter rate them positive. Another poll showed that a majority of citizens say the administration’s actions have “made the economy worse” in the country.

Economic Reality and Suggested Measures

Scott Bessent, the president’s top economic official, recently disputed assertions of a golden age. He noted that far from booming, certain sectors of the US economy “have contracted.” Industrial production—a priority for the administration—appears to have contracted for eight months in a row and lost approximately 33,000 jobs since January. Pointing to these challenges, Bessent called on the central bank to reduce borrowing costs—a move that could help affordability.

In response to widespread concern about affordability, Trump proposed a cash handout of “a dividend of at least $2,000 a person” excluding “high income people.” For many 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 could increase federal spending, increase borrowing costs, and potentially drive prices higher by putting more money into consumers’ pockets.

A further supposed fix for cost issues involved introducing half-century home loans, with the notion that they could reduce monthly mortgage payments. But, reality is that such lengthy loans have minimal impact to reduce installments—often reducing them by a small amount per month. The drawback is that these loans could more than double the total interest borrowers pay and slow their accumulation of equity.

Faulting the Previous Administration and Economic Prospects

In their cost-cutting effort, the administration have once more pointed fingers at 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 claims. Actually, the former president handed over a strong economy, with low price growth, solid expansion, and unemployment low. But, Trump’s policies—particularly import taxes—have created an economic mess, pushing up prices and reducing economic output.

Per an economist, lead analyst at a research firm, 22 states are already in recession, with their conditions worsened by the administration’s trade policies. He worries that if large states like California and New York tumble into recession, the nation could face a widespread recession. During recessions, people typically have less money to spend, and price increases often falls. Sadly, with the highly-touted affordability campaign probably ineffective to control costs, his most effective “tool” for achieving increased affordability might prove to be pushing the nation into recession—something that struggling Americans cannot handle.