Not long ago, President Trump seemed simply to be following the Joe Biden playbook on the affordability crisis: Deny Americans’ lived experience. Despite poll after poll, and a mountain of bad economic indicators, he’s called the affordability problem a “hoax” and a “con job” by Democrats, even mocking the concept in a speech in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania, in early December—just days after yet another poll showed that his own voters were fed up and struggling to pay their bills.

Still, Trump has begun to address the issue a bit more—rhetorically, that is. He’s never fully acknowledged that the affordability problem has continued into his administration, nor how his own policies—from tariffs raising prices on myriad goods to the chaotic interruptions in crucial benefits like food stamps—have contributed to Americans’ economic sufferings. But he has been making more claims about what he’s supposedly doing to bring down the cost of living, a tacit nod to the polling.

He says inflation has “stopped.” He says his policies will cut drug prices by “400, 500, even 600 percent.” He says he has brought down the price of food and gas. He says that electricity costs “will fall dramatically.” He says that wages are up and that manufacturing jobs are flooding back to the United States.

Trouble is, none of that is true.

Inflation has not........

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