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During last year's presidential campaign, Donald Trump wooed the electorate with promises to lower costs starting on day one. However, after he assumed office, there was precious little focus to the cost of living. All that changed after inflation-weary citizens delivered a rebuke at the ballot box. Within days, his team initiated a slapdash campaign to address affordability. Regrettably, the drive has proven a hot mess—filled with illogical claims, contradictions, magical thinking, blame-shifting, and misleading statements.

Detached Assertions and Supermarket Truth

Merely 48 hours post-election, Trump kicked off his affordability drive with a disastrous remark: “Food prices are way down. All items is way down… So I don’t want to hear about affordability.” This comment from billionaire Trump—who frequently associates with fellow billionaires—demonstrated utter contempt for millions of Americans facing difficulties when visiting the grocery store. In effect, he ignored their concerns as unimportant, implying they were mistaken about price levels.

This statement that everything was “way down” proved absurdly obtuse and inaccurate. In what way could every price be decreasing when the taxes he imposed were pushing up prices? Recent data indicate banana prices rose 6.9% in the last twelve months, the price of beef went up almost 15%, and the cost of coffee jumped 18.9%—partly due to import taxes applied to Brazilian products. In the first three quarters, prices rose in five of the six main grocery groups monitored by the Consumer Price Index, such as meats, poultry, and fish (rising over 4%), drinks (up 2.8%), and fruits and vegetables (rising slightly).

Inconsistencies and Falsehoods in Financial Statements

Despite these numbers, the president persists in repeating his misleading narrative about lower costs. Since election day, he has claimed there is “almost no price increases,” insisted “costs have fallen significantly,” and argued “living is cheaper under Trump than it was under sleepy Joe Biden.” Such remarks ignore the reality that general costs have clearly increased after the previous administration. At present, price growth is at a 3 percent per year, that’s 50% higher than the central bank’s target of 2 percent. Adding to the inaccuracies, Trump claimed that gas prices had dropped to around two dollars, despite government figures indicate they are over three dollars.

Confronted by reality and lower approval ratings, some Trump aides evidently cautioned that his “prices are down” rhetoric portrayed him as disconnected from typical Americans. Many citizens are frustrated about rising costs after promises of reductions. In response, aides suggested a simple solution: roll back certain import taxes. This sensible idea contradicted the president’s unrealistic claim that additional taxes would not increase costs for American shoppers.

Proposed Fixes and Their Potential Effects

As certain taxes being rolled back on coffee, beef, tomatoes, and bananas, Trump will likely claim that he has cut prices once these products start declining in price. That would be like an arsonist taking credit for extinguishing a fire that he ignited. In another instance, when addressing McDonald’s executives, Trump stated that “we are in the golden age of America” and told the audience that “prices are coming down and all of that stuff.” These comments come naturally for a wealthy individual to make, but they ring hollow to millions of Americans facing hardships—especially when many face cuts to nutrition assistance or rising insurance costs.

Per a survey conducted last fall, three-quarters of respondents believe economic conditions are fair or poor, while just a quarter rate them positive. Another poll found that a majority of citizens say Trump’s policies have “made the economy worse” in the country.

Financial Truth and Suggested Steps

Scott Bessent, Trump’s chief financial officer, recently contradicted assertions of a golden age. He stated that instead of thriving, certain sectors of the American economy “are in recession.” The manufacturing sector—a priority for the administration—appears to have contracted for multiple consecutive months and shed approximately 33,000 jobs this year. Pointing to this weakness, Bessent called on the central bank to reduce borrowing costs—a move that could ease financial pressure.

Reacting to widespread concern about affordability, the president suggested a cash handout of “a payout of at least $2,000 a person” excluding “high income people.” For many households in need, this sounds like a financial lifeline, but it is unlikely that lawmakers—concerned about large shortfalls—will enact such a plan. This idea would likely increase federal spending, increase borrowing costs, and possibly fuel inflation by injecting cash into consumers’ pockets.

Another supposed fix for cost issues centered on introducing 50-year mortgages, with the notion that they could reduce monthly mortgage payments. But, reality is that such lengthy loans have minimal impact to lower monthly payments—frequently cutting them by a small amount per month. The drawback is that these loans could significantly increase the overall cost borrowers pay and hinder their accumulation of equity.

Faulting the Past Government and Financial Outlook

As part of their cost-cutting effort, Trump and his team have again blamed Biden for financial challenges, including rising prices. Spokespeople claimed they “faced a mess from Joe Biden” and were “cleaning up Biden’s inflation.” This is unfounded and untruthful claims. Actually, the former president handed over a strong economy, with low price growth, solid expansion, and minimal joblessness. However, Trump’s policies—especially import taxes—have resulted in an economic mess, driving costs higher and slowing GDP growth.

Per an economist, lead analyst at Moody’s Analytics, 22 states are already in recession, with their conditions worsened by Trump’s tariffs. Zandi fears that if key regions such as California and New York enter a downturn, the US could face a broad economic slump. In downturns, consumers typically have less money to spend, and price increases usually declines. Unfortunately, given Trump’s much-ballyhooed 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 struggling Americans cannot handle.