🔗 Share this article

During the previous presidential campaign, the former president wooed the electorate with pledges to lower prices starting on day one. However, after his inauguration, he seemed to pay precious little focus to the cost of living. This shifted after price-fatigued voters expressed dissatisfaction at the polls. Shortly thereafter, his team launched a hastily assembled campaign to tackle living costs. Unfortunately, this initiative has proven a hot mess—filled with illogical claims, contradictions, magical thinking, blame-shifting, and Trumpian dishonesty.

Detached Assertions and Supermarket Reality

Just two days after the election, Trump 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 affordability.” These words from billionaire Trump—who frequently mingles with other ultra-rich individuals—demonstrated a lack of empathy for millions of Americans facing difficulties when visiting supermarkets. In effect, he dismissed their struggles as trivial, implying they had it wrong about price levels.

This statement that everything was “way down” proved highly misleading and inaccurate. In what way could every price be falling when his cherished tariffs were pushing up costs? Recent data indicate the cost of bananas increased nearly 7% in the last twelve months, beef prices climbed almost 15%, and coffee prices surged by nearly 19%—in part due to punitive tariffs applied to Brazilian products. Between January and September, costs increased in five of the six food categories monitored by the Consumer Price Index, including animal proteins (rising over 4%), non-alcoholic beverages (increasing nearly 3%), and fruits and vegetables (rising slightly).

Inconsistencies and Inaccuracies in Economic Statements

Despite these numbers, the president persists in repeating his misleading narrative about affordability. Since election day, he has claimed there is “virtually no inflation,” insisted “costs have fallen significantly,” and asserted “living is cheaper under Trump than it was under his predecessor.” Such remarks contradict the reality that general costs 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 2% goal. In another falsehood, Trump boasted that gas prices had dropped to around two dollars, despite government figures show they average $3.19.

Faced with reality and declining opinion polls, advisers apparently cautioned that his “prices are down” rhetoric made him sound dangerously out of touch from typical Americans. Many voters are angry about prices continuing to climb after promises of decreases. As a result, aides proposed one quick fix: roll back certain import taxes. This sensible idea contradicted the president’s unrealistic claim that new tariffs would not increase costs for US consumers.

Proposed Fixes and Their Potential Effects

As some tariffs being rolled back on several food items, Trump will probably announce that he has lowered costs once these products start declining in price. That would be like an arsonist boasting for extinguishing a fire that he ignited. In another instance, when addressing McDonald’s executives, he stated that “this is the peak period of America” and told listeners that “costs are decreasing and all of that stuff.” These comments are easy for a billionaire to make, but they ring hollow to millions of Americans who are struggling—especially when many face cuts to nutrition assistance or rising insurance costs.

Per a survey from October, three-quarters of respondents believe economic conditions are fair or poor, while only 26% rate them positive. A separate survey found that a majority of citizens say Trump’s policies have “made the economy worse” in the country.

Financial Reality and Suggested Steps

Scott Bessent, Trump’s chief financial officer, recently disputed claims of a golden age. He stated that instead of thriving, some parts of the American economy “are in recession.” Industrial production—which Trump vowed to save—appears to have contracted for multiple consecutive months and shed around 33,000 jobs since January. Pointing to this weakness, the secretary urged the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates—a move that could help affordability.

In response to public dismay about affordability, Trump proposed a cash handout of “a dividend of at least $2,000 a person” excluding “high income people.” For many households in need, it seems like manna from heaven, but it is unlikely that Congress—already alarmed about large shortfalls—will approve the proposal. The scheme could raise government expenditure, increase interest rates, and potentially fuel inflation by putting more money into consumers’ pockets.

A further proposed solution for cost issues involved introducing 50-year mortgages, based on the idea that this would lower housing costs. However, reality is that such lengthy loans would do little to reduce installments—often reducing them by a small amount per month. The drawback is that these mortgages could significantly increase the overall cost homeowners pay and slow building home value.

Blaming the Previous Administration and Financial Outlook

As part of their cost-cutting effort, the administration have once more blamed the previous president for economic problems, such as increasing costs. Spokespeople claimed they “inherited a disaster from Joe Biden” and were “cleaning up Biden’s inflation.” These are unfounded and inaccurate allegations. In reality, Biden left a strong economy, with inflation way down, solid expansion, and unemployment low. However, Trump’s policies—particularly import taxes—have resulted in an economic mess, pushing up prices and reducing economic output.

According to Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, numerous regions are already in recession, with their economies damaged by Trump’s tariffs. He fears that if key regions like California and New York tumble into recession, the US could face a broad economic slump. In downturns, people typically have less money to spend, and inflation usually declines. Sadly, given Trump’s much-ballyhooed cost initiative 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 struggling Americans really can’t afford.