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During the previous race for the White House, the former president courted voters with promises to lower prices immediately upon taking office. However, once his inauguration, there was precious little attention to affordability issues. This shifted after price-fatigued citizens delivered a rebuke at the ballot box. Shortly thereafter, the Trump administration launched a hastily assembled campaign to tackle living costs. Unfortunately, the drive has proven a disorganized endeavor—characterized by illogical claims, inconsistencies, magical thinking, scapegoating, and misleading statements.

Detached Claims and Supermarket Truth

Just two days post-election, the president began his cost-reduction push with a poorly received 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—who frequently mingles with other ultra-rich individuals—demonstrated a lack of empathy for millions of Americans who struggle every time they go the grocery store. Essentially, he dismissed their concerns as unimportant, suggesting they were mistaken about price levels.

This statement that everything was “way down” proved highly misleading and inaccurate. How could all costs be decreasing when his cherished tariffs were pushing up costs? Recent data show banana prices increased nearly 7% over the past year, the price of beef went up almost 15%, and the cost of coffee jumped 18.9%—in part due to punitive tariffs on Brazil’s coffee and beef. Between January and September, costs increased in the majority of main grocery groups monitored by the government’s price index, including meats, poultry, and fish (rising over 4%), drinks (up 2.8%), and fruits and vegetables (up 1.3%).

Inconsistencies and Falsehoods in Financial Claims

In spite of the evidence, Trump continues to push his big lie 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 sleepy Joe Biden.” These statements contradict the reality that prices overall have unarguably risen after the previous administration. At present, inflation is running at a 3% annual rate, that’s 50% higher than the Federal Reserve’s 2% goal. In another falsehood, he claimed that fuel costs had fallen to around two dollars, even though official data show they are over three dollars.

Confronted by reality and lower approval ratings, some Trump aides apparently cautioned that his “prices are down” message portrayed him as dangerously out of touch from typical Americans. Many voters are angry about prices continuing to climb after assurances of decreases. As a result, aides proposed a simple solution: roll back certain import taxes. The logical move clashed with Trump’s absurd assertion that new tariffs wouldn’t raise prices for US consumers.

Proposed Fixes and Their Possible Effects

As certain taxes being rolled back on coffee, beef, tomatoes, and bananas, Trump will probably announce that he has cut prices once those foods start declining in price. That would be like an arsonist taking credit for putting out a blaze that he had started. On another occasion, while speaking fast-food leaders, he declared that “we are in the peak period of America” and assured the audience that “costs are decreasing and all of that stuff.” These comments come naturally for a billionaire to make, but they ring hollow to millions of Americans facing hardships—particularly when millions risk cuts to nutrition assistance or rising insurance costs.

According to a recent poll from October, 74% of Americans think the state of the economy are fair or poor, while only 26% rate them good or excellent. Another poll found that a majority of citizens feel the administration’s actions have “made the economy worse” in the country.

Financial Truth and Proposed Steps

The treasury secretary, Trump’s chief financial officer, lately contradicted claims of a golden age. He stated that instead of thriving, some parts of the US economy “are in recession.” The manufacturing sector—which Trump vowed to save—seems to have shrunk for multiple consecutive months and lost around tens of thousands of positions this year. Pointing to this weakness, Bessent called on the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates—an action that could help affordability.

In response to public dismay about affordability, the president proposed a direct payment of “a dividend of at least $2,000 a person” not for “the wealthy.” For many households in need, this sounds like manna from heaven, but it is unlikely that Congress—already alarmed about large shortfalls—will enact the proposal. This idea would likely increase federal spending, push up interest rates, and potentially fuel inflation by injecting cash into the economy.

Another proposed solution for affordability centered on introducing 50-year mortgages, based on the idea that this would lower housing costs. However, reality is that 50-year mortgages have minimal impact to reduce installments—often reducing them by just $100 or $200 per month. The drawback is that these mortgages could more than double the overall cost borrowers pay and hinder their accumulation of equity.

Blaming the Previous Administration and Financial Prospects

As part of their affordability campaign, the administration have again pointed fingers at the previous president for economic problems, such as rising prices. Spokespeople stated they “inherited a disaster from Joe Biden” and were “addressing the prior administration’s price hikes.” These are absurd and inaccurate claims. In reality, Biden handed over a strong economy, with inflation way down, economic growth strong, and unemployment low. But, Trump’s policies—particularly import taxes—have resulted in an economic mess, pushing up prices and reducing economic output.

Per an economist, lead analyst at Moody’s Analytics, numerous regions are already in recession, with their economies damaged by the administration’s trade policies. He fears that if large states like California and New York enter a downturn, the US could slide into a broad economic slump. During recessions, consumers typically have reduced funds to spend, and inflation often falls. Sadly, with the highly-touted affordability campaign probably ineffective to hold down prices, his most effective “tool” for improving living standards might prove to be pushing the nation into recession—a scenario that hard-pressed households cannot handle.