To the editor:
One of Donald Trump’s key campaign promises was to bring down inflation, specifically the cost of groceries. He assured voters this would be a Day 1 priority. Has this been abandoned? Inflation is now rising. The cost of eggs, a key indicator he often referenced, has skyrocketed. He typically blames DEI, immigration, or Biden’s policies for any and all issues, yet Trump is now the one in charge. What concrete actions has he taken to address cost-of-living issues like food and housing? What Executive Orders or policy changes can we point to? It seems that
diversionary issues like banning paper straws, renaming the Gulf of Mexico, and threatening to take over the Panama Canal, Greenland, and Gaza (potentially with military force) have taken precedence. Are these the priorities we voted for? He claimed he’d end the Ukrainian war on Day 1 but now appears to be doing so by
granting concessions to Russia from Ukraine without their involvement. He similarly planned directly with the Taliban on withdrawing troops from Afghanistan without Afghan involvement. That did not go well.
Other actions are equally baffling. How is dismantling federal agencies designed to protect the public (you and I) and allowing unauthorized access to Treasury Department data (yours and mine) in the public interest? Claims of fraud are made without evidence. Despite denying knowledge of the hard-right Project 2025 blueprint before the election, many of Trump’s Executive Orders, particularly those dismantling regulatory agencies, align closely with
its agenda.
Most troubling…is the public's even aware of these developments? The Economist called the US economy “the envy of the world” before the election. However, a Harris Poll several months before the election showed that over half of Americans believed we were in a recession (we were not), and nearly half thought the stock market was down for the year (it was up 12%) and that unemployment was at a 50-year high (it was actually near a 50-year low). From where are these people getting their viewpoints? How can this epidemic of misinformation be fixed? Is
it elitist to wish for a factually informed public?
James Hill
Hastings