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Throughout last year's race for the White House, Donald Trump wooed voters with promises to lower prices starting on day one. But, after his inauguration, he seemed to pay minimal attention to affordability issues. This shifted following price-fatigued voters expressed dissatisfaction at the ballot box. Within days, his team launched a hastily assembled campaign to tackle affordability. Regrettably, the drive is a hot mess—characterized by absurdity, inconsistencies, magical thinking, scapegoating, and misleading statements.

Out-of-Touch Claims and Supermarket Truth

Merely 48 hours after the election, the president kicked off his affordability drive with a disastrous statement: “Food prices are way down. All items is way down… So I don’t want to hear about the cost of living.” This comment from billionaire Trump—who frequently associates with other ultra-rich individuals—revealed a lack of empathy for everyday citizens who struggle every time they go supermarkets. Essentially, he ignored their struggles as trivial, implying they had it wrong about actual costs.

This statement that everything was “way down” was highly misleading and inaccurate. How could all costs be decreasing when his cherished tariffs were increasing costs? Official statistics indicate the cost of bananas rose nearly 7% in the last twelve months, the price of beef went up 14.7%, and the cost of coffee jumped by nearly 19%—partly due to import taxes on Brazil’s coffee and beef. 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 (up 2.8%), and produce (rising slightly).

Contradictions and Inaccuracies in Economic Statements

In spite of these numbers, the president continues to push his big lie about lower costs. Since election day, he has claimed there is “almost no price increases,” insisted “prices are way down,” and asserted “living is cheaper under Trump than it was under his predecessor.” Such remarks ignore the fact that prices overall have unarguably risen since Biden left office. Currently, price growth is at a 3% annual rate, which is 50% higher than the Federal Reserve’s 2% goal. In another falsehood, Trump boasted that gas prices had dropped to nearly $2 a gallon, despite official data show they are $3.19.

Faced with actual conditions and lower approval ratings, some Trump aides evidently cautioned that his “costs are falling” message made him sound disconnected from ordinary people. A lot of citizens are frustrated about rising costs after promises of decreases. In response, aides suggested a simple solution: reduce certain import taxes. This sensible idea contradicted Trump’s absurd assertion that new tariffs would not increase costs for US consumers.

Proposed Solutions and Their Possible Impact

With certain taxes being rolled back on several food items, the administration will likely claim that he has lowered costs once these products start declining in price. This would be like an arsonist boasting for extinguishing a fire that he ignited. On another occasion, while speaking fast-food leaders, he 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 billionaire to make, but they ring hollow to millions of Americans who are struggling—particularly when millions risk cuts to nutrition assistance or skyrocketing health premiums.

Per a survey from October, three-quarters of respondents think economic conditions are mediocre or bad, while only 26% rate them good or excellent. A separate survey showed that 61% of Americans say Trump’s policies have “made the economy worse” in the country.

Economic Truth and Proposed Steps

The treasury secretary, Trump’s top economic official, lately contradicted assertions of a prosperous era. He noted that instead of thriving, some parts of the American economy “are in recession.” The manufacturing sector—a priority for the administration—appears to have contracted for eight months in a row and shed approximately tens of thousands of positions this year. Citing this weakness, Bessent urged the Federal Reserve to reduce borrowing costs—an action that could ease financial pressure.

In response to public dismay about living costs, Trump suggested a direct payment 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 Congress—already alarmed about huge budget deficits—will enact the proposal. The scheme could raise government expenditure, push up borrowing costs, and possibly fuel inflation by putting more money into the economy.

Another supposed fix for affordability involved introducing half-century home loans, with the notion that this would lower housing costs. However, reality is that 50-year mortgages would do little to reduce installments—frequently reducing them by a small amount per month. The drawback is that these mortgages could more than double the total interest homeowners pay and hinder building home value.

Faulting the Previous Administration and Financial Outlook

In their affordability campaign, the administration have again pointed fingers at the previous president for economic problems, including increasing costs. Officials stated they “faced a mess from Joe Biden” and were “cleaning up the prior administration’s price hikes.” This is unfounded and inaccurate allegations. In reality, Biden left a robust economic situation, with inflation way down, economic growth strong, and unemployment low. But, Trump’s policies—particularly his tariffs—have created an difficult situation, driving costs higher and slowing GDP growth.

According to Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, numerous regions are already in recession, with their conditions worsened by the administration’s trade policies. Zandi fears that if large states like major economies enter a downturn, the nation could face a widespread recession. In downturns, people generally possess reduced funds to spend, and price increases usually declines. Sadly, with the highly-touted affordability campaign likely to do little to control costs, his primary method for achieving increased affordability might prove to be triggering an economic contraction—a scenario that struggling Americans really can’t afford.