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During last year's presidential campaign, the former president wooed the electorate with promises to lower prices starting on day one. However, after he assumed office, he seemed to pay precious little attention to affordability issues. This shifted after inflation-weary citizens delivered a rebuke at the polls. Shortly thereafter, his team launched a hastily assembled effort to tackle affordability. Unfortunately, the drive has proven a hot mess—characterized by illogical claims, contradictions, unrealistic expectations, scapegoating, and misleading statements.

Detached Claims and Grocery Store Truth

Merely 48 hours after the election, the president kicked off his affordability drive with a poorly received statement: “Food prices are way down. All items is way down… So I don’t want to hear about the cost of living.” These words from billionaire Trump—often associates with fellow billionaires—demonstrated a lack of empathy for everyday citizens who struggle every time they go the grocery store. Essentially, he dismissed their concerns as trivial, suggesting they had it wrong about actual costs.

His assertion that everything was “way down” proved absurdly obtuse and inaccurate. How could every price be falling when the taxes he imposed were pushing up prices? Official statistics show the cost of bananas rose 6.9% in the last twelve months, beef prices climbed almost 15%, and coffee prices surged by nearly 19%—partly because of import taxes applied to Brazilian products. In the first three quarters, costs increased in five of the six main grocery groups tracked by the government’s price index, including animal proteins (up 4.5%), drinks (up 2.8%), and produce (rising slightly).

Inconsistencies and Falsehoods in Financial Statements

In spite of these numbers, the president persists in repeating his big lie about affordability. After the vote, he has stated there is “virtually no inflation,” insisted “prices are way down,” and asserted “living is cheaper under Trump than it was under his predecessor.” Such remarks contradict the reality that prices overall have unarguably risen since Biden left office. At present, price growth is running at a 3% annual rate, which is half again as much than the central bank’s target of 2 percent. Adding to the inaccuracies, Trump claimed that gas prices had dropped to nearly $2 a gallon, even though official data show they average over three dollars.

Confronted by reality and lower approval ratings, some Trump aides apparently warned that his “costs are falling” rhetoric portrayed him as disconnected from ordinary people. A lot of voters are frustrated about rising costs following promises of reductions. As a result, advisers suggested one quick fix: reduce certain import taxes. This sensible idea clashed with Trump’s absurd assertion that additional taxes would not increase costs for American shoppers.

Suggested Fixes and Their Potential Impact

As some tariffs being rolled back on several food items, Trump will probably claim that he has cut prices once those foods start declining in price. This would be similar to a firestarter taking credit for extinguishing a fire that he had started. On another occasion, while speaking McDonald’s executives, he stated that “we are in the golden age of America” and assured the audience that “costs are decreasing and all of that stuff.” Such statements are easy for a wealthy individual to make, but seem insincere to millions of Americans who are struggling—particularly when millions face losing food stamps or rising insurance costs.

According to a recent poll from October, three-quarters of respondents think the state of the economy are fair or poor, while just a quarter consider them positive. Another poll found that 61% of Americans say Trump’s policies have “made the economy worse” in the country.

Financial Truth and Proposed Measures

Scott Bessent, Trump’s chief financial officer, recently contradicted claims of a golden age. He stated 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 lost around tens of thousands of positions this year. Citing this weakness, the secretary called on 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 payout of at least $2,000 a person” not for “the wealthy.” To numerous households in need, this sounds like manna from heaven, but the prospects are dim that lawmakers—already alarmed about large shortfalls—will approve the proposal. This idea could increase federal spending, push up borrowing costs, and potentially fuel inflation by putting more money into the economy.

A further supposed fix for affordability centered on introducing 50-year mortgages, based on the idea that this would lower housing costs. But, the truth is that such lengthy loans have minimal impact to lower monthly payments—often reducing them by just $100 or $200 per month. The drawback is that these mortgages could more than double the total interest homeowners pay and hinder their accumulation of equity.

Faulting the Previous Administration and Economic Prospects

As part of their cost-cutting effort, the administration have again pointed fingers at the previous president for economic problems, such as rising prices. Officials claimed they “faced a mess from Joe Biden” and were “addressing Biden’s inflation.” This is unfounded and untruthful allegations. Actually, the former president left a strong economy, with low price growth, economic growth strong, and unemployment low. However, Trump’s policies—especially import taxes—have created an difficult situation, driving costs higher and reducing economic output.

Per 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 key regions like California and New York enter a downturn, the US could slide into a widespread recession. In downturns, people typically have less money to spend, and inflation often falls. Sadly, given the highly-touted affordability campaign probably ineffective to control costs, his most effective “tool” for improving living standards might end up pushing the nation into recession—a scenario that hard-pressed households cannot handle.