Donald Trump successfully campaigned for his second term two years ago promising to reduce prices on day one, but ever since he returned to the White House, he has done little to fight inflation or reduce prices.
asserted
he → campaign → prices
Instead, some of his most important policy decisions – most notably his war against Iran and his tariff wars – have increased inflation instead of reducing it.
asserted
some → increase → it
This helps explain why more than one-in-five Americans who voted for Trump now disapprove of the job he’s doing.
asserted
he → help → job
Even though economists warned that tariffs would be inflationary, Trump has enthusiastically embraced them during his second term.
asserted
Trump → warn → term
Indeed, the “liberation day” tariffs he imposed soon after returning to office increased the price of hundreds of goods, including citrus fruits, steel, bananas, beef and auto parts.
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he → impose → fruits
When the supreme court overturned those tariffs as illegal, Trump immediately imposed new 10% across-the-board tariffs that again helped push up prices (a lower court found those tariffs unlawful, too).
asserted
tariffs → overturn → prices
Time and again, Trump has slapped on new tariffs even though they inherently push up prices because tariffs are a tax on imported goods.
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tariffs → slap → goods
Little wonder that a Fox News poll this month found that 77% of Americans disapprove of how Trump has handled tariffs.
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Trump → find → tariffs
Candidate Trump pledged to slash “energy and electricity prices by half”, to get “gasoline below $2 a gallon”, and to bring down “airfares and housing costs”.
asserted
Trump → pledge → airfares
He has failed to do any of those things.
asserted
He → fail → things
Gas now averages $4.28 a gallon nationally, according to AAA.
uncertain
Gas → average → AAA
Yale Budget Lab says Trump’s tariffs will cost the average household $1,100 this year, while Moody’s Analytics says the war with Iran has already cost US households around $2,000 from higher energy, fuel and transportation costs and from higher interest rates.
asserted
war → say → rates
Worsening Americans’ affordability problems, prices have been rising faster than workers’ wages in recent months.
asserted
prices → worsen → months
As a result, Americans have seen no real wage growth on average since Trump returned to office – both average hourly pay and prices have risen by 5.4% since January 2025.
asserted
pay → see → January
Matthew Middleton, a White House spokesman, defended Trump’s record on inflation and critiqued Joe Biden’s, saying: “President Trump has implemented an aggressive, pro-growth economic agenda that has blunted Biden’s historic 40-year high inflation crisis, driven economic growth, increased wages and created private-sector jobs in areas that had been hollowed out and shipped overseas.”
asserted
that → defend → areas
After returning to the White House, Trump helped push up electricity prices by ending federal subsidies for low-cost renewable energy.
asserted
Trump → return → energy
His gung-ho cheerleading for datacenters, along with his speeding up of federal permitting to build them, has helped fuel a datacenter construction boom that is expected to increase electricity costs to consumers by more than $6bn.
asserted
that → build → 6bn
Trump and the Republican-led Congress further hit consumers by raising the cost of many electric vehicles by $7,500 when they ended EV subsidies.
asserted
they → lead → subsidies
When Trump plunged into war against Iran eight months ago, he showed little concern about what that war would mean for inflation back home.
asserted
war → plunge → inflation
He ignored warnings that the war would cause Iran to close the strait of Hormuz, which in turn would cause oil and gas prices to soar.
asserted
prices → ignore → turn
Since the war began, US gas prices have risen by over 40%, diesel prices by nearly 70%, and some fertilizer prices by 20%.
asserted
prices → begin → %
Record diesel prices have pushed airfares skyward, while soaring diesel and fertilizer prices have created a sea of red ink for US farmers.
asserted
prices → push → farmers
In one tiff over inflation, after Trump said last June “I love the inflation,” senator Bernie Sanders responded, “You know who doesn’t love inflation, Mr. President?
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who → say → inflation
Further defending Trump’s record on inflation, White House spokesman Middleton said: “The President has always been clear about temporary disruptions as a result of the Iran conflict, but this administration will continue to deliver economic wins for the American people over the next two years.
asserted
administration → defend → years
While Democrats pretend to care about ‘affordability’, this administration has delivered tangible wins to make life more affordable for American families: President Trump signed the largest working-class tax cuts in history, cut the cost of prescription drugs, added more than one million private-sector jobs, locked in nearly 20 trade deals and will continue to put American workers first.”
asserted
Trump → pretend → workers
A White House official added that Trump’s policies “have created an environment for sustained increase in energy supply and lower costs for American households and businesses”.
asserted
policies → add → households
Those policies have included making it easier to drill for oil and reducing business and environmental regulations.
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it → include → regulations
Trump’s moves have further worsened Americans’ affordability woes by pushing up interest rates.
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moves → worsen → rates
By the time Biden left office, inflation, which had soared to a painful 9% during the pandemic, had slid to 3.0% and was heading lower.
asserted
which → leave → %
But Trump’s policies have played a major role in pushing inflation back up to 3.7%.
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policies → play → %
That has caused the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates, while also pushing mortgage rates higher.
asserted
Reserve → cause → rates
Thirty-year fixed mortgage rates have climbed to 7.4%, making it considerably harder for young and non-affluent Americans to buy homes.
asserted
Americans → fix → homes
(As for Trump’s 2024 promise to reduce housing costs, he refused to sign a bipartisan bill that sought to speed housing construction with the aim of making housing more affordable.)
asserted
housing → reduce → aim
Under Trump, not only has the national debt climbed above $40trn, but this year’s federal budget deficit will reach $2tn.
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deficit → climb → 2tn
That worsening fiscal picture has worried bond investors and pushed up interest rates.
asserted
picture → worsen → rates
(In 2019, Trump promised to eliminate the entire national debt within eight years.)
asserted
Trump → promise → years
Trump’s policies have increased healthcare costs for millions of Americans.
asserted
policies → increase → Americans
By pushing Congress to cut Medicaid by $1tn and to not extend Obamacare subsidies, Trump helped cause more than 20 million people to lose health coverage or pay more out-of-pocket for healthcare.
asserted
people → push → healthcare
Americans who pay for their own health insurance saw their premiums jump by 25% this year, with many households paying not just hundreds of dollars more, but thousands more.
asserted
households → pay → more
To be sure, Trump has taken several steps to fight inflation, but most have been minor.
asserted
most → take → inflation
…and 11 more, not listed.
The Aporia
