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During last year's race for the White House, the former president wooed voters with pledges to lower costs starting on day one. However, after he assumed office, he seemed to pay precious little focus to affordability issues. This shifted after price-fatigued voters delivered a rebuke at the ballot box. Within days, his team launched a slapdash campaign to tackle affordability. Regrettably, the drive has proven a disorganized endeavor—filled with illogical claims, contradictions, magical thinking, scapegoating, and misleading statements.

Out-of-Touch Assertions and Grocery Store Truth

Merely 48 hours post-election, Trump kicked off his affordability drive with a poorly received remark: “Food prices are way down. Everything is way down… So I don’t want to hear about affordability.” These words from billionaire Trump—who frequently associates with other ultra-rich individuals—revealed utter contempt for millions of Americans who struggle every time they go supermarkets. In effect, he ignored their struggles as unimportant, suggesting they had it wrong about price levels.

This statement about declining prices was absurdly obtuse and dishonest. In what way could every price be falling when his cherished tariffs were pushing up prices? Recent data show banana prices rose nearly 7% in the last twelve months, the price of beef went up 14.7%, and coffee prices surged by nearly 19%—partly due to punitive tariffs applied to Brazilian products. In the first three quarters, costs increased in five of the six main grocery groups monitored by the Consumer Price Index, including meats, poultry, and fish (rising over 4%), non-alcoholic beverages (up 2.8%), and produce (rising slightly).

Contradictions and Inaccuracies in Financial Claims

In spite of these numbers, the president continues to push his big lie about affordability. Since election day, he has stated there is “virtually no inflation,” insisted “prices are way down,” and argued “living is cheaper under Trump than it was under his predecessor.” These statements contradict the reality that general costs have unarguably risen after the previous administration. Currently, price growth is running at a 3 percent per year, which is half again as much than the central bank’s target of 2 percent. In another falsehood, Trump claimed that fuel costs had fallen to nearly $2 a gallon, despite official data show they are $3.19.

Confronted by actual conditions and declining opinion polls, some Trump aides evidently warned that his “costs are falling” message made him sound dangerously out of touch from ordinary people. Many citizens are angry about prices continuing to climb after promises of decreases. In response, advisers proposed a simple solution: reduce some of Trump’s beloved tariffs. The logical move contradicted Trump’s absurd assertion that new tariffs would not increase costs for American shoppers.

Suggested Solutions and Their Possible Impact

As some tariffs being rolled back on coffee, beef, tomatoes, and bananas, Trump will likely announce that he has cut prices once these products start declining in price. That would be similar to a firestarter boasting for extinguishing a blaze that he had started. On another occasion, when addressing McDonald’s executives, Trump stated that “we are in the peak period of America” and told the audience that “prices are coming down and all of that stuff.” Such statements come naturally for a billionaire to make, but seem insincere to countless households facing hardships—particularly when millions risk cuts to nutrition assistance or skyrocketing health premiums.

Per a recent poll from October, three-quarters of respondents believe the state of the economy are fair or poor, while only 26% rate them good or excellent. Another poll found that 61% of Americans say Trump’s policies have “worsened economic conditions” in the country.

Economic Reality and Proposed Measures

The treasury secretary, Trump’s top economic official, lately contradicted assertions of a golden age. He noted that instead of thriving, some parts of the American economy “have contracted.” Industrial production—which Trump vowed to save—appears to have contracted for multiple consecutive months and shed around 33,000 jobs since January. Citing these challenges, Bessent urged the Federal Reserve to reduce borrowing costs—an action that could help affordability.

In response to widespread concern about living costs, the president suggested a cash handout of “a dividend of at least $2,000 a person” excluding “high income people.” To numerous households in need, this sounds like manna from heaven, but the prospects are dim that Congress—concerned about large shortfalls—will enact such a plan. This idea would likely increase federal spending, increase borrowing costs, and possibly drive prices higher by putting more money into consumers’ pockets.

Another supposed fix for affordability centered on creating half-century home loans, with the notion that this would lower housing costs. However, reality is that 50-year mortgages have minimal impact to lower monthly payments—often cutting them by a small amount each month. The downside is that these mortgages could more than double the overall cost homeowners pay and slow their accumulation of equity.

Blaming the Previous Administration and Economic Prospects

As part of their affordability campaign, Trump and his team have once more pointed fingers at the previous president for financial challenges, including rising prices. Spokespeople claimed they “inherited a disaster from Joe Biden” and were “cleaning up the prior administration’s price hikes.” These are absurd and inaccurate claims. Actually, the former president handed over a robust economic situation, with inflation way down, economic growth strong, and unemployment low. However, Trump’s policies—particularly his tariffs—have resulted in an difficult situation, driving costs higher and reducing economic output.

Per an economist, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, 22 states are experiencing economic decline, with their conditions worsened by Trump’s tariffs. Zandi fears that if large states such as major economies tumble into recession, the nation could slide into a broad economic slump. During recessions, consumers typically have less money to spend, and price increases usually declines. Sadly, with the highly-touted affordability campaign probably ineffective to control costs, his primary method for improving living standards might prove to be pushing the nation into recession—something that struggling Americans really can’t afford.