Donald Trump as a candidate for president back in the 2016 race promised to do a lot of things which, once he was actually in the White House, many of those promises just did not come true. Like building the wall and making Mexico pay for it. Paying the national debt off in eight years, and then adding over 25% to it in his first four years. He promised not only to create a national healthcare system that would be affordable and would cover everybody, but then said it would be easy. But as president, he did not lift a finger to actually create such a system. He said that he would bring back the coal mining jobs, but they did not come back. Another promise which Trump made at the time was that the United States under him would be very well respected, and nobody would be laughing at us. But he was literally laughed at in front of world leaders assembled at the United Nations.
There are other promises which he made back then, and which he failed to produce on. That is not unique to him, of course. Politicians make a career out of doing such things. But where he is unique is in portraying himself as something other than a politician, even though by now, he clearly is one. He is also unique in the extent to which he gets away with these things.
Now, not yet in the White House again after winning the 2024 presidential election, Trump is already backing off from one of his major campaign promises: lowering the price of groceries.
Indeed, he and his campaign relentlessly attacked the Joe Biden White House, holding them responsible for inflation. The general consensus was that if you wanted to see lower prices for gas, or pay less for eggs at the local supermarket, you should vote for Trump. Indeed, that was one of the running themes of his campaign.
Below is a snippet of a speech he gave in North Carolina just a few months before Election Day, when he specifically promised that, under him, the prices of groceries would indeed go significantly down, and quickly at that ((taken from the article by Sarah Fortinsky of The Hill - see link below):
In a speech in August in North Carolina, Trump told voters, “From the day I take the oath of office, we will rapidly drive prices down and make America affordable again.”
“Prices will come down. You just watch,” he continued. “They’ll come down, and they’ll come down fast. Not only with insurance, with everything.”
What he is saying now, however, sounds very different. Now, after having secured a second term in the Oval Office, Trump was asked if failing to lower food prices would leave a stain or mar his presidency in a significant way:
But asked if his presidency will be a failure if food prices don’t come down, Trump replied, “I don’t think so.”
“Look, they got them up. I’d like to bring them down. It’s hard to bring things down once they’re up. You know, it’s very hard. But I think that they will. I think that energy is going to bring them down. I think a better supply chain is going to bring them down,” Trump said, noting the supply chain is “still broken.”
This from the man who once attacked President Obama and claimed that the president's authority is total, and so a president should be held completely accountable for all things that go wrong.
Once again, it seems that this is a perfect illustration of how different it is once you actually rule a country, as opposed to merely making promises to put yourself in a position of power.
Also, it feels like more of the same from Trump. For all the talk and opinions that he is so different from other politicians, or that he even isn't a politician, it sure seems like he has grown used to playing that particular politican's game of adjusting his answers now to excuse not being able to follow up on his numerous campaign promises once he actually obtains the office that he clearly wanted so badly.
Below are the links to the two articles I used in writing this particular blog entry. The quotes used in the above were both taken from the first article, the article by Sarah Fortinsky of The Hill:
Trump says slashing grocery prices will be ‘very hard’ by Sarah Fortinsky - 12/12/24 5:
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5038002-trump-food-prices-lowered/
When it comes to grocery prices, Trump suddenly changes his tune by Steve Benen, Dec. 12, 2024:
Is Donald Trump going to succeed in lowering grocery prices? In successive weeks, the president-elect answered the question in two very different ways.
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/comes-grocery-prices-trump-suddenly-changes-tune-rcna183958
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