Trump tones down his rhetoric on campaign promises - The Hill
Kyiv • UNN
Donald Trump toned down his rhetoric on key campaign promises after winning the election. The president-elect recognized the difficulty of lowering prices and quickly ending the war in Ukraine.
During his election campaign, US President-elect Donald Trump promised to cut spending quickly, end the war in Ukraine before he took office, and use tariffs to strengthen the US economy and manufacturing. Since winning the election in November, Trump has shown that fulfilling these promises may not be as easy as advertised. This was reported by The Hill, according to UNN.
In a recent interview on Meet the Press, Trump said that he could not guarantee that tariffs would not lead to higher consumer prices.
In an interview with Time magazine dedicated to the Man of the Year award, he admitted that it is difficult to reduce the cost of products after they have risen in price.
At his first press conference after the election from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, Trump suggested that ending the war in Ukraine would be more difficult than easing tensions in the Middle East.
As The Hill writes, while Democrats and critics have accused Trump of lowering expectations or making it clear that he will not fulfill his campaign promises, his team and other allies have argued that the president-elect is moving from the high-flying campaign rhetoric to the nuances and realities of governing.
“The American people re-elected President Trump in a landslide, giving him a mandate to fulfill the promises he made on the campaign trail. He will fulfill them,” the future White House press secretary said in a statement.
One of Trump's allies argues that the president-elect is not contradicting his campaign promises, but rather departing from the rhetoric typical of election campaigns.
Trump has made improving the economy, and inflation in particular, a major part of his campaign for the White House in 2024. He frequently lashed out at the Biden White House for the high cost of food and often told supporters that he would bring prices down by increasing energy supplies, which would affect overall prices.
“Prices will go down. Just watch. They will go down, and they will go down fast. Not just for insurance, for everything,” Trump told supporters in North Carolina in August.
At a rally in Pennsylvania on the eve of Election Day, Trump said that voting for him meant that “your groceries will be cheaper.
But in comments to Time on November 25, Trump was more circumspect about his ability to bring down the cost of food. Asked whether his presidency would be a failure if prices did not come down, Trump said he did not think so. “Look, they raised them. I would like to bring them down. It's hard to bring prices down when they're already up. You know, it's very difficult,” Trump said. “But I think they will do it. I think energy will help bring them down. I think a better supply chain will bring them down. You know, the supply chain is still broken.
Democrats were quick to respond to Trump's comments, saying it was tantamount to an unfulfilled campaign promise before he even took office.
“Candidate Trump promised to lower food prices, but now it looks like he's not even going to try,” Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote on the social platform X.
The president-elect also took a defiant tone on tariffs throughout the campaign, pushing back against anyone who suggested they would raise consumer prices, undermine the economy, or alienate allies who would be hit by tariffs, The Hill notes.
