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During last year's race for the White House, Donald Trump wooed voters with promises to reduce costs immediately upon taking office. However, once he assumed office, he seemed to pay precious little attention to affordability issues. All that changed after price-fatigued voters expressed dissatisfaction at the ballot box. Within days, his team initiated a hastily assembled campaign to address affordability. Regrettably, this initiative is a hot mess—filled with illogical claims, contradictions, magical thinking, blame-shifting, and misleading statements.

Out-of-Touch Claims and Grocery Store Reality

Just two days post-election, the president kicked off his cost-reduction push with a disastrous statement: “Our groceries are way down. Everything is way down… So I don’t want to hear about affordability.” This comment from the wealthy leader—often associates with other ultra-rich individuals—demonstrated utter contempt for millions of Americans facing difficulties every time they go supermarkets. Essentially, he dismissed their struggles as trivial, implying they had it wrong about price levels.

This statement about declining prices proved absurdly obtuse and inaccurate. How could all costs be decreasing when the taxes he imposed were pushing up costs? Official statistics show banana prices increased nearly 7% in the last twelve months, beef prices went up almost 15%, and the cost of coffee surged 18.9%—in part because of punitive tariffs on Brazil’s coffee and beef. In the first three quarters, costs increased in the majority of food categories monitored by the government’s price index, including animal proteins (rising over 4%), non-alcoholic beverages (increasing nearly 3%), and produce (rising slightly).

Inconsistencies and Falsehoods in Economic Statements

Despite these numbers, Trump continues to push his misleading narrative about affordability. Since election day, he has claimed there is “virtually no inflation,” declared “prices are way down,” and argued “it is far less expensive under Trump than it was under sleepy Joe Biden.” These statements ignore the reality that general costs have unarguably risen since Biden left office. Currently, inflation is running at a 3 percent per year, which is half again as much than the Federal Reserve’s 2% goal. Adding to the inaccuracies, Trump boasted that gas prices had fallen to nearly $2 a gallon, despite government figures show they are over three dollars.

Faced with actual conditions and lower approval ratings, some Trump aides apparently warned that his “costs are falling” message made him sound dangerously out of touch from ordinary people. A lot of voters are frustrated about rising costs following promises of decreases. As a result, advisers suggested a simple solution: reduce certain import taxes. The logical move clashed with Trump’s absurd assertion that new tariffs would not increase costs for American shoppers.

Suggested Fixes and Their Possible Effects

With some tariffs reduced on coffee, beef, tomatoes, and bananas, Trump will likely announce that he has lowered costs once those foods start declining in price. This would be like an arsonist boasting for putting out a fire that he had started. On another occasion, while speaking McDonald’s executives, Trump stated that “we are in the peak period of America” and assured listeners that “costs are decreasing and all of that stuff.” Such statements come naturally for a billionaire to make, but seem insincere to millions of Americans who are struggling—particularly when millions risk cuts to nutrition assistance or skyrocketing health premiums.

According to a survey from October, 74% of Americans think economic conditions are mediocre or bad, while just a quarter consider them good or excellent. Another poll found that a majority of citizens feel Trump’s policies have “made the economy worse” in the country.

Economic Truth and Proposed Steps

Scott Bessent, Trump’s top economic official, 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—a priority for the administration—seems to have shrunk for eight months in a row and shed approximately 33,000 jobs this year. Citing these challenges, Bessent called on the Federal Reserve to reduce borrowing costs—a move that could ease financial pressure.

Reacting to widespread concern about affordability, the president proposed a cash handout of “a dividend of at least $2,000 a person” excluding “the wealthy.” To numerous households in need, this sounds like a financial lifeline, but it is unlikely that lawmakers—already alarmed about huge budget deficits—will approve such a plan. This idea would likely increase federal spending, push up borrowing costs, and possibly fuel inflation by injecting cash into the economy.

Another proposed solution for cost issues centered on creating half-century home loans, based on the idea that they could lower housing costs. However, the truth is that such lengthy loans have minimal impact to reduce installments—often reducing them by just $100 or $200 each month. The drawback is that these loans could significantly increase the overall cost homeowners pay and hinder building home value.

Blaming the Previous Administration and Economic Prospects

In their cost-cutting effort, Trump and his team have once more pointed fingers at the previous president for economic problems, including rising prices. Spokespeople stated they “inherited a disaster from Joe Biden” and were “addressing the prior administration’s price hikes.” This is unfounded and inaccurate claims. Actually, Biden left a strong economy, with inflation way down, solid expansion, and minimal joblessness. But, Trump’s policies—especially his tariffs—have created an economic mess, pushing up prices and slowing GDP growth.

According to Mark Zandi, chief economist at a research firm, numerous regions are already in recession, with their conditions worsened by the administration’s trade policies. He worries that if key regions like California and New York enter a downturn, the nation could slide into a widespread recession. In downturns, people generally possess reduced funds 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 end up triggering an economic contraction—a scenario that hard-pressed households cannot handle.