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Throughout the previous presidential campaign, Donald Trump courted voters with pledges to lower prices immediately upon taking office. But, once he assumed office, there was precious little attention to affordability issues. This shifted after price-fatigued voters expressed dissatisfaction at the ballot box. Shortly thereafter, his team initiated a hastily assembled effort to tackle affordability. Regrettably, this initiative is a disorganized endeavor—filled with illogical claims, inconsistencies, unrealistic expectations, blame-shifting, and misleading statements.

Out-of-Touch Claims and Grocery Store Reality

Just two days after the election, Trump kicked off 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.” These words from billionaire Trump—often associates with fellow billionaires—revealed a lack of empathy for millions of Americans who struggle every time they go the grocery store. In effect, he ignored their struggles as unimportant, implying they had it wrong about actual costs.

This statement that everything was “way down” was highly misleading and inaccurate. In what way could every price be decreasing when his cherished tariffs were increasing costs? Official statistics show the cost of bananas increased 6.9% over the past year, beef prices climbed 14.7%, and the cost of coffee surged by nearly 19%—in part because of import taxes applied to Brazilian products. Between January and September, prices rose in the majority of main grocery groups tracked by the Consumer Price Index, including animal proteins (rising over 4%), drinks (increasing nearly 3%), and produce (rising slightly).

Contradictions and Inaccuracies in Economic Statements

Despite the evidence, Trump continues to push his big lie about lower costs. Since election day, he has stated there is “virtually no inflation,” declared “prices are way down,” and asserted “living is cheaper under Trump than it was under his predecessor.” These statements ignore the reality that prices overall have clearly increased after the previous administration. Currently, price growth is at a 3% annual rate, that’s half again as much than the central bank’s 2% goal. Adding to the inaccuracies, he boasted that fuel costs had dropped to around two dollars, despite government figures show they are $3.19.

Faced with reality and lower approval ratings, advisers apparently cautioned that his “prices are down” message made him sound dangerously out of touch from typical Americans. Many citizens are frustrated about prices continuing to climb following assurances of reductions. In response, advisers proposed one quick fix: roll back certain import taxes. The logical move clashed with the president’s unrealistic claim that additional taxes wouldn’t raise prices for American shoppers.

Proposed Solutions and Their Possible Effects

As some tariffs reduced on coffee, beef, tomatoes, and bananas, Trump will probably claim that he has lowered costs once those foods start declining in price. This would be like an arsonist boasting for extinguishing a fire that he had started. In another instance, when addressing McDonald’s executives, he stated that “this is the peak period of America” and told the audience that “costs are decreasing and all of that stuff.” These comments are easy for a billionaire to make, but they ring hollow to countless households who are struggling—particularly when millions risk cuts to nutrition assistance or skyrocketing health premiums.

Per a recent poll conducted last fall, three-quarters of respondents think the state of the economy are fair or poor, while only 26% rate them positive. Another poll found that a majority of citizens say Trump’s policies have “made the economy worse” in the country.

Economic Truth and Suggested Measures

Scott Bessent, the president’s chief financial officer, lately contradicted claims of a prosperous era. He stated that instead of thriving, some parts of the US economy “have contracted.” Industrial production—which Trump vowed to save—appears to have contracted for multiple consecutive months and lost around tens of thousands of positions this year. Citing these challenges, Bessent urged the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates—a move that could help affordability.

Reacting to widespread concern about affordability, the president proposed a cash handout of “a dividend of at least $2,000 a person” not for “high income people.” For many struggling Americans, it seems like a financial lifeline, but the prospects are dim that lawmakers—concerned about huge budget deficits—will approve such a plan. This idea would likely raise government expenditure, increase borrowing costs, 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 lower housing costs. However, reality is that 50-year mortgages have minimal impact to reduce installments—frequently cutting them by a small amount each month. The drawback is that these mortgages could significantly increase the overall cost borrowers pay and slow building home value.

Blaming the Past Government and Financial Outlook

As part of their cost-cutting effort, the administration have again pointed fingers at the previous president for financial challenges, such as rising prices. Officials stated they “inherited a disaster from Joe Biden” and were “addressing the prior administration’s price hikes.” These are absurd and untruthful allegations. Actually, the former president left a strong economy, with low price growth, economic growth strong, and unemployment low. But, Trump’s policies—especially import taxes—have created an difficult situation, driving costs higher and reducing economic output.

Per Mark Zandi, lead analyst at Moody’s Analytics, 22 states are already in recession, with their economies damaged by Trump’s tariffs. Zandi worries that if large states such as major economies tumble into recession, the US could face a widespread recession. In downturns, people generally possess less money to spend, and price increases usually declines. Unfortunately, given the highly-touted affordability campaign likely to do little to control costs, his most effective “tool” for achieving increased affordability might end up pushing the nation into recession—something that struggling Americans really can’t afford.