Former President Donald Trump pledged that his Cabinet would lower inflation in the first 100 days of his second term during a rally Wednesday.
The Republican presidential nominee was visiting Asheville, North Carolina, when he said he already had an expectation for his Cabinet—to get inflation down in the first few months of his presidency.
“On my first day back in the Oval Office, I will sign an executive order directing every Cabinet secretary and agency head to use every tool and authority at their disposal to defeat inflation and bring consumer prices rapidly down,” Trump said. “I will instruct my Cabinet that I expect results within the first 100 days, or much sooner.”
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Trump said the Biden-Harris administration turned the economy Americans experienced during his presidency into an “economic nightmare.”
Inflation stood at 2.9 percent in July but reached a record high of 9.1 percent two years ago.
“A lot of people are very devastated by what’s happened with inflation,” Trump said. “I gave Harris and Biden an economic miracle and they quickly turned it into an economic nightmare.”
Trump also promised to preserve the Affordable Care Act and keep Social Security and Medicare in place.
“We are going to defeat Kamala Harris, we are going to win back the White House in a historic landslide, and we are going to take back our country,” Trump said.
Trump also said that Harris would not be able to improve the economy because of her current involvement in President Joe Biden‘s administration.
“Kamala Harris won’t end the economic crisis, she will only make it worse. Why hasn’t she done it?” Trump said. “You don’t have to imagine what a Harris presidency would look like. You are living through that misery right now, except it will only get worse.”
Trump also claimed that price hikes during the Biden administration cost the average American household $28,000.
“From the day I take the oath of office, we will rapidly drive prices down and make America affordable again,” Trump said.
Earlier this year, Trump also pledged to end taxes on tips for workers as well as on Social Security payments.
“To help seniors on fixed incomes who are suffering the ravages of inflation, there will be no tax on Social Security,” Trump said. “With this vote, I will end this injustice.”
Trump has repeatedly promised a better economic future for Americans if reelected and said four years with Biden or Harris would see a worse economy.
“With four more years of Harris, your finances will never recover. Our country will never recover,” Trump said. “Vote Trump and your incomes will soar, your savings will grow, young people will be able to afford a home, and we will bring back the American dream bigger, better and stronger than ever before.”
Alex Beene, a financial literacy instructor for the University of Tennessee at Martin, said Trump’s pledge to lower inflation with 100 days might be a “worthwhile goal,” but it could be difficult to enact.
“The sad reality is despite promises by either current presidential campaign, the effects of inflation over the past few years aren’t going to vanish anytime soon,” Beene told Newsweek. “Federal and state governments are doing their best through rebates, additional coverage in Medicare, and interest rate regulation to soften the blow already, and while they’ve helped, prices still remain stubbornly high.”
Beene said there are current signs of price stabilization, but true change might take longer than just a few months.
“Given history, though, it’s fair to say improving market conditions through changing consumer behavior and more inventory prompting price reductions will give more help to the problem than any short-term fix regulators could propose, and that includes a second Trump term’s proposals,” Beene said.
Michael Ryan, a finance expert and founder of michaelryanmoney.com, echoed Beene’s doubts that Trump could get inflation under control that rapidly.
“Trump’s pledge to slash inflation in 100 days reminds me of when I ran for fifth-grade class president and my opponent promised no homework and straight A’s for everyone. It sounds great, but the reality is far more complex,” Ryan told Newsweek.
“Inflation doesn’t respond to a magic wand. It’s influenced by a tangled web of factors, from global supply chains to energy prices. Trump’s plan to sign an executive order on day one feels like trying to solve a Rubik’s cube blindfolded.”
Two months ago, a group of Nobel Prize-winning economists came together to warn that a second Trump presidency could worsen economic conditions rather than improve the inflation Americans have seen on goods and services.
“We the undersigned are deeply concerned about the risks of a second Trump administration for the US economy,” the 16 economists wrote in a letter led by well-known economist Joseph Stiglitz.
“The outcome of this election will have economic repercussions for years, and possibly decades, to come. We believe that a second Trump term would have a negative impact on the US’s economic standing in the world and a destabilizing effect on the US’s domestic economy.”