Trump's 'affordability' efforts are a mess of absurdity and magical thinking | Steven Greenhouse

Trump's efforts to address affordability have devolved into a farce, with the former president relying on magical thinking and scapegoating to divert attention from his own policies. The latest attempt at reform was launched in the aftermath of the midterm elections, when Trump announced that "prices are down" โ€“ a claim that is patently false.

The administration's strategy involves making cosmetic changes, such as rolling back some tariffs, while continuing to implement policies that drive up prices for everyday Americans. This approach is akin to treating the symptoms rather than addressing the underlying causes of inflation.

Trump's assertion that every price has decreased is absurd and ignores the fact that his tariffs have contributed to rising costs for goods like coffee, beef, and bananas. The reality is that many American households are struggling to make ends meet, with 42 million people facing food insecurity and 24 million facing skyrocketing health premiums.

The administration's proposed solution of issuing a $2,000 dividend per person would only serve to exacerbate the problem by increasing federal spending and inflation. This move would further erode trust in Trump's ability to address economic issues.

The President's claims that the economy is booming are also unfounded, with Scott Bessent, his treasury secretary, contradicting him on this point. The manufacturing sector has contracted for eight consecutive months, with 33,000 jobs lost since January, and many parts of the US economy are indeed in recession.

Trump's efforts to address affordability have become a PR stunt, designed to placate an electorate that is growing increasingly frustrated with rising prices. By blaming Biden for the country's economic problems and proposing hare-brained schemes like 50-year mortgages, Trump is further alienating himself from the very people he claims to be trying to help.

Ultimately, Trump's approach to affordability has been nothing more than a masterclass in magical thinking, where the solution to one problem (inflation) is simply ignored or papered over with half-baked solutions that do little to address the underlying causes.
 
๐Ÿ™„ I'm so sick of these economic "solutions" that just shift the blame and don't actually tackle the real issues. Like, come on, $2k dividend? That's not a solution, that's just throwing more money around ๐Ÿค‘. And 50-year mortgages? Are you kidding me? That's just delaying the inevitable ๐Ÿ“‰. Can't we just have some real, substance-filled conversations about how to make things affordable for regular people instead of these PR stunts? ๐Ÿ˜’
 
I'm so done with trump's antics ๐Ÿ™„. He's like trying to put out a fire with gasoline ๐Ÿš’. He says prices are down, but nobody believes him ๐Ÿ˜‚. The truth is, his tariffs have raised costs for everyday stuff like coffee and beef ๐Ÿƒ๐Ÿฎ. And now he wants us to believe that giving people $2k ๐Ÿ’ธ will solve everything? Please ๐Ÿ™„. That just means more debt and inflation โš ๏ธ. Meanwhile, 42 million ppl are struggling with food insecurity ๐Ÿ”๐Ÿ˜“ and his manufacturing sector is contracting ๐Ÿ˜”. Trump's approach is all PR ๐Ÿ“บ, trying to distract us from the real issues while alienating people who need help most ๐Ÿ‘Ž. It's like he thinks we're all clueless ๐Ÿ™„. Newsflash, trump: your "solutions" are nothing but magic tricks โœจ.
 
man... trump's whole thing about affordability just feels like he's not getting it... like, what's really going on here? we're talking about a huge chunk of ppl who can't afford the basics โ€“ food, healthcare, housing... and his solution is basically just making some cosmetic changes while ignoring all the real issues. ๐Ÿค”

i mean, come on, 42 million people struggling to get by because of food insecurity? that's not something you can just 'fix' with a $2k dividend... what about the actual policies that are causing these problems in the first place? does trump really think he can just wave his magic wand and make everything better without addressing the root causes?

and honestly, it feels like he's more concerned with being re-elected than actually helping ppl... by blaming obama for the economic problems and proposing stuff like 50-year mortgages that are basically just a scam... ๐Ÿค‘

i guess what i'm saying is that trump's whole approach to affordability just feels really... off. like, where's the real solution?
 
I'm so done with Trump's antics ๐Ÿคฏ. He's always coming up with these half-baked ideas and expecting everyone to believe them without a fact-checking ๐Ÿ“ฐ. I mean, 42 million people struggling to get food? That's not something you can just 'price out' of existence ๐Ÿ”. And now he wants us to trust him on the economy after his treasury secretary says otherwise? ๐Ÿค‘ Not buying it (no pun intended) ๐Ÿ˜’. His solution of a $2,000 dividend is just gonna make things worse - more debt and inflation = not what we need right now ๐Ÿ’ธ. And can we please stop blaming Biden for everything? It's like Trump thinks the economy is still 2016 ๐Ÿคฃ. We deserve better than this PR stunt ๐Ÿ“บ.
 
The guy's completely out of touch ๐Ÿคฏ...like, come on, 42 million people struggling to afford food and he's trying to blame it on Biden? That's just not right ๐Ÿ˜”. And his plan to give everyone a $2,000 dividend is just gonna make things worse - more inflation, more debt...it's like he's not even thinking about the consequences ๐Ÿคฆโ€โ™‚๏ธ. And what's with all these tariffs anyway? It's just gonna drive up prices and hurt everyday people ๐Ÿ’ธ. The dude needs to get back in the lab and actually come up with some real solutions instead of just making stuff up ๐Ÿงฌ.
 
I'm telling you, this whole thing is like a classic case of "blame the victim" ๐Ÿ™„. Trump's trying to shift attention from his own policies failing to deliver on affordability by scapegoating Biden and making outlandish claims about the economy. Newsflash: just because prices haven't gone up as fast as they did under Obama doesn't mean it's because of Biden's policies ๐Ÿ˜’. And let's be real, who benefits from Trump's tariffs? Not everyday Americans, that's for sure ๐Ÿค‘. By now, even his own treasury secretary is contradicting him on the state of the economy... that's gotta count for something ๐Ÿ‘€!
 
I'm just so done with this whole thing ๐Ÿคฏ. Trump's trying to make it seem like he's doing something about prices, but really he's just throwing some Band-Aids on the problem. Like, rolling back tariffs is a tiny fix that doesn't even address the real issue here - his policies are still driving up costs for everyday people.

And can we talk about how absurd it is for him to say every price has decreased? That's not even close to true ๐Ÿ™„. I mean, have you seen what's going on with coffee and beef prices lately? It's like he's just trying to convince us that everything is okay when it's clearly not.

It's also super suspicious that his whole plan for a $2,000 dividend seems to be just a way to blow more cash at the government without actually fixing anything. And don't even get me started on the manufacturing sector - 8 straight months of contraction? That's not boomtime, that's disaster mode ๐Ÿ˜ฌ.

Trump's approach is all about distracting us from his own failures and blaming everyone else for the problems he created. It's like, dude, you can't just ignore the fact that your policies are killing people ๐Ÿคทโ€โ™€๏ธ. This whole thing feels like a PR stunt to me - Trump trying to placate voters who are getting frustrated with rising prices without actually doing anything about it.
 
I mean, come on... 42 million people struggling to get food and 24 mil facing sky-high health premiums? That's not exactly a boom economy if you ask me ๐Ÿ˜”. And now they're proposing a $2k dividend per person like that's gonna fix everything? It just sounds like more of the same old Trump-style PR stunt ๐Ÿ“ฃ. I swear, it feels like we're stuck in some kind of bad '80s economic dรฉjร  vu ๐Ÿ’ธ. Remember when Reagan was all about trickle-down economics? Yeah, this is kinda like that, but with a few more fancy words and some dodgy math ๐Ÿค”.
 
man this guy is totally wrong about trump's plan ๐Ÿ™„ his tariffs did cause prices to rise but they also helped small farmers and brought in new business for american companies like apple ๐ŸŽ not to mention it was meant to stop china from dumping cheap stuff on us which hurt our economy big time let's focus on solutions rather than just trashing the guy
 
I'm so late to this thread ๐Ÿคฆโ€โ™‚๏ธ, but I gotta say, Trump's whole affordability thing has been a joke from the start. I mean, who tries to make $2k dividend work? That just sounds like more bailouts for the rich and corporations ๐Ÿ’ธ. And don't even get me started on his whole "prices are down" claim ๐Ÿ™„... please. The guy can't be serious.

I'm not surprised he's trying to distract us from his own policies, though. I mean, we all know he's not exactly known for being honest about the economy ๐Ÿค‘. And honestly, 50-year mortgages? That's just crazy talk ๐Ÿ˜‚. It's like he's trying to make the economy even worse on purpose.

I do think it's pretty sad that he's so out of touch with everyday Americans. I mean, have you seen those numbers for food insecurity and health premiums? ๐Ÿคฏ We're struggling, dude. We need real solutions, not just PR stunts and magical thinking ๐Ÿ’”.
 
Ugh, can't believe this guy's still at it ๐Ÿคฆโ€โ™‚๏ธ. He thinks he can just wave his magic wand and make prices disappear? Like, hello, tariffs are still hurting people and you're too busy trying to spin this nonsense. And a $2k dividend per person? Give me a break! That's just gonna add more to the deficit and make inflation worse... it's like trying to put out a fire with gasoline ๐Ÿš’๐Ÿ’ฆ. And what about all those folks struggling to afford healthcare and food? Just ignored, as usual... so tired of this guy's PR stunts ๐Ÿ˜’.
 
Ugh, this guy can't even be real ๐Ÿ™„. Like, who comes up with these numbers? 42 million people facing food insecurity? That's wild. And a $2k dividend per person? Are you kidding me? That just sounds like another way for him to print money and blow the budget. And btw, where's the data on that? Just some arbitrary claim from an admin that's not even saying it's going to be implemented ๐Ÿคทโ€โ™€๏ธ. It's all just a big PR circus at this point.
 
Ugh, I'm so done with Trump's latest attempt at addressing affordability ๐Ÿ™„. It's clear he's just trying to spin a narrative and distract us from his own failures. I mean, how can you say "prices are down" when tariffs on everyday goods have skyrocketed? ๐Ÿค”

And don't even get me started on the $2,000 dividend per person idea... that's just going to fuel inflation and add to our national debt ๐Ÿ’ธ. It's like he thinks we're all just a bunch of clueless sheep who won't notice if prices keep going up and up.

Newsflash: 42 million people are struggling with food insecurity right now ๐Ÿ”๐Ÿฅ—, and you're trying to solve this problem by handing out some arbitrary cash? That's not a solution, that's just more broken promises.

Trump needs to stop blaming others (aka Biden) for our economic problems and start taking actual responsibility for his own policies. We deserve better than magical thinking and PR stunts ๐Ÿ™„๐Ÿ’ฅ
 
man this guy trumps economic strategy is straight out of a bad joke ๐Ÿคฃ like he thinks just because he says its true doesnt make it true? and those tariffs on coffee beef bananas? come on, does he really think we dont see whats going on here? inflation is real folks and its hurting normal people not the wealthy elite who are still rolling in cash ๐Ÿ’ธ meanwhile 42 million ppl can't afford food and 24 million have skyrocketing health premiums? that's not economics thats just plain cruel ๐Ÿ˜”
 
I'm so done with Trump's antics on this one ๐Ÿคฏ... like, come on, 42 million people struggling with food insecurity? That's not something you can just 'make prices down' for and expect it to magically fix itself ๐Ÿ’ธ. And what's up with these $2,000 dividend payouts? Just more cash to blow through the government's coffers without any real plan to help people ๐Ÿค‘...
 
Ugh ๐Ÿ˜ฉ this guy is killing me... like seriously, can't he just be honest for once? ๐Ÿคฏ Trump's trying to spin a $2k dividend as a solution and I'm just not buying it ๐Ÿ’ธ. It's gonna make inflation worse and hurt even more people who are already struggling to make ends meet ๐Ÿคทโ€โ™€๏ธ. And don't even get me started on the tariffs, dude... coffee is way up in price here ๐Ÿ˜ฉ. We need real solutions, not just PR stunts ๐Ÿ“ฐ. The economy is literally contracting and he's over there talking about how great it is? ๐Ÿšซ Scott Bessent said the opposite, come on man! ๐Ÿ™„
 
lol can't believe trump is trying to spin this ๐Ÿคฆโ€โ™‚๏ธ like he's actually done something about affordability... 42 million people struggling to eat, and he's giving them a $2k dividend like that's gonna make a difference? ๐Ÿค‘ meanwhile tariffs are making coffee more expensive than ever and he's just gonna roll back some tariffs without addressing the actual problems ๐Ÿ™„. what a joke.
 
๐Ÿคฆโ€โ™‚๏ธ This guy can't stop lying ๐Ÿšจ๐Ÿ’ธ Trump's got some serious 'splainin' to do ๐Ÿ˜ณ His policies are like a bad joke, only makin' things worse for regular folks ๐Ÿ‘ฅ 42 million people strugglin' to eat ๐Ÿด and 24 million with sky-high healthcare bills ๐Ÿ’Š What a scam! ๐Ÿค‘ The $2,000 dividend? More like a $2,000 increase in inflation ๐Ÿ˜ณ Give me a break! ๐Ÿ™„
 
๐Ÿค”๐Ÿ’ธ so like trump is trying to say the economy is good and prices are down but lets make a simple graph ๐Ÿ“ˆ๐Ÿ‘‰๐Ÿšซ

+---------------+
| Trump's claim |
+---------------+
|
|
v
+---------------+
| Tariffs |
| (cause inflation)|
+---------------+
|
|
v
+---------------+
| Prices go up |
| for coffee, beef, |
| and bananas |
+---------------+

and then he says every price is down ๐Ÿคฆโ€โ™‚๏ธ๐Ÿ‘Ž like does he even know what's going on? ๐Ÿ™ƒ

and the thing about the $2k dividend? ๐Ÿค‘ that just means more debt for the gov ๐Ÿ“Š๐Ÿ˜ฌ and inflation will just get worse ๐Ÿ’ธ๐Ÿ˜ฉ
 
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