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Throughout the previous race for the White House, the former president wooed voters with pledges to lower prices starting on day one. However, once his inauguration, there was precious little focus to the cost of living. This shifted after inflation-weary citizens expressed dissatisfaction at the polls. Within days, the Trump administration launched a slapdash campaign to address affordability. Regrettably, the drive is a hot mess—characterized by illogical claims, inconsistencies, unrealistic expectations, scapegoating, and Trumpian dishonesty.

Out-of-Touch Claims and Grocery Store Truth

Merely 48 hours after the election, the president began 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—often mingles with fellow billionaires—revealed a lack of empathy for everyday citizens who struggle when visiting supermarkets. In effect, he dismissed their struggles as trivial, suggesting they were mistaken about actual costs.

This statement that everything was “way down” proved absurdly obtuse and dishonest. In what way could every price be decreasing when his cherished tariffs were pushing up prices? Recent data indicate the cost of bananas rose nearly 7% over the past year, beef prices climbed 14.7%, and the cost of coffee surged 18.9%—in part because of punitive tariffs on Brazil’s coffee and beef. Between January and September, costs increased in five of the six main grocery groups tracked by the government’s price index, such as animal proteins (rising over 4%), non-alcoholic beverages (increasing nearly 3%), and produce (up 1.3%).

Contradictions and Falsehoods in Financial Statements

In spite of these numbers, the president continues to push his big lie about affordability. After the vote, he has claimed there is “almost no price increases,” declared “costs have fallen significantly,” and argued “living is cheaper under Trump than it was under sleepy Joe Biden.” These statements contradict the fact that prices overall have clearly increased since Biden left office. Currently, price growth is running at a 3 percent per year, which is half again as much than the central bank’s target of 2 percent. Adding to the inaccuracies, he boasted that gas prices had fallen to around two dollars, even though government figures indicate they average over three dollars.

Faced with actual conditions and lower approval ratings, some Trump aides evidently cautioned that his “prices are down” rhetoric portrayed him as disconnected from ordinary people. A lot of citizens are frustrated about rising costs after promises of decreases. As a result, aides proposed a simple solution: roll back certain import taxes. This sensible idea contradicted Trump’s absurd assertion that new tariffs wouldn’t raise prices for American shoppers.

Proposed Solutions and Their Potential Effects

With some tariffs reduced on coffee, beef, tomatoes, and bananas, Trump will probably claim 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, when addressing fast-food leaders, he stated that “we are in the golden age of America” and told listeners that “costs are decreasing 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 millions face cuts to nutrition assistance or skyrocketing health premiums.

Per a survey from October, 74% of Americans think economic conditions are mediocre or bad, while just a quarter consider them positive. A separate survey found that 61% of Americans feel Trump’s policies have “made the economy worse” in the country.

Financial Truth and Proposed Measures

The treasury secretary, the president’s top economic official, lately disputed claims of a golden age. He noted that instead of thriving, certain sectors of the US economy “are in recession.” Industrial production—a priority for the administration—seems to have shrunk for eight months in a row and shed approximately tens of thousands of positions since January. Pointing to this weakness, the secretary called on the central bank to cut interest rates—an action that could help affordability.

Reacting to widespread concern about affordability, the president suggested a direct payment of “a dividend of at least $2,000 a person” not for “high income people.” To numerous struggling Americans, this sounds like a financial lifeline, but the prospects are dim that Congress—already alarmed about huge budget deficits—will approve such a plan. This idea could raise government expenditure, push up interest rates, and possibly fuel inflation by injecting cash into consumers’ pockets.

Another supposed fix for affordability involved introducing 50-year mortgages, with the notion that this would reduce monthly mortgage payments. But, reality is that 50-year mortgages would do little to lower monthly payments—often cutting them by just $100 or $200 each month. The drawback is that these mortgages could significantly increase the total interest borrowers pay and hinder building home value.

Blaming the Past Government and Economic Outlook

As part of their affordability campaign, the administration have once more pointed fingers at Biden for economic problems, such as rising prices. Spokespeople stated they “inherited a disaster from Joe Biden” and were “cleaning up the prior administration’s price hikes.” This is absurd and untruthful allegations. Actually, Biden handed over a robust economic situation, with low price growth, solid expansion, and unemployment low. However, the current administration’s actions—particularly import taxes—have created an difficult situation, pushing up prices and reducing economic output.

Per Mark Zandi, chief economist at a research firm, 22 states are experiencing economic decline, with their economies damaged by the administration’s trade policies. He worries that if key regions like California and New York enter a downturn, the nation could face a broad economic slump. During recessions, people generally possess reduced funds to spend, and inflation often falls. Sadly, with the highly-touted affordability campaign likely to do little to control costs, his most effective “tool” for achieving increased affordability might prove to be triggering an economic contraction—a scenario that hard-pressed households really can’t afford.