Trump’s dismissal of Americans’ inflation concerns fuels Democrats’ midterm campaigns

U.S. President Donald Trump spoke, and the Democratic Party quickly responded, in what could be a preview of their midterm campaign messaging until early November.

Before departing the White House on Tuesday for his highly anticipated trip to China for talks with President Xi Jinping, Trump took questions from reporters. He was asked if the economic struggles of some Americans ‌were a factor in his calculations on the two-and-half-month conflict with Iran.

“I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation … I think about one thing: We cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon,” he said. “That’s all. That’s the only thing that motivates me.”

In response to the U.S.-Israeli attacks starting Feb. 28, which killed several religious and political leaders while targeting military installations, Tehran blocked transit through the Strait of Hormuz for most commercial ships.

Significant amounts of oil, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and fertilizer are transported through the waterway during peaceful times, and Iran’s clampdown has contributed to rising prices for businesses and consumers across the world.

The Democratic Party took to social media late Tuesday with a new ad it said it would be rolling out, mixing Trump’s comments from earlier in the day with an excerpt from a White House speech last month in which he appeared to suggest it was untenable for the federal government to continue funding assistance programs for child care, as well as Medicare and Medicaid.

Diesel prices at all-time highs in some states

Trump’s seemingly dismissive comments came on a day in which new data showed that U.S. consumer inflation accelerated in April, with the annual rate posting its largest gain in three years as food, rent and airfares rose.

WATCH | Tariffs and geopolitical conflict among inflation factors in U.S.:

The U.S. Labor Department’s consumer price index rose 3.8 per cent from the same time a year ago. Gasoline prices rose 5.4 per cent, and non-gas prices rose 0.6 per cent.

The department then reported on Wednesday that its producer price index — which can presage inflation that hits consumers — shot up six per cent from the same time last year. It was the biggest monthly gain since March 2022, the first weeks of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Excluding volatile food and energy costs, so-called core producer prices rose 5.2 per cent from April 2025.

With respect to gas prices, the AAA motor club listed the average regular price this week at $4.50 US per gallon, about 44 per cent more than it cost last year at this time.

“If the Strait [of Hormuz] doesn’t re-open soon, I believe we could see the [U.S.] national average price of gasoline reaching $5/gal as early as sometime in June,” Patrick De Haan head of petroleum analysis for Gas Buddy, posted on social media on Tuesday. Gas Buddy also said diesel prices in four Midwestern states are at an all-time high.

In comments to Fox News, Kevin Hassett, the White House economic adviser, said Tuesday’s CPI report reflected a “temporary energy shock.”

Trump said on Monday he was planning to pause the federal gas tax to alleviate some of the pain, but it would require congressional approval.

In the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump hammered the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris administration for its inability to curb inflation in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a message that appeared to resonate with many voters.

It appears it will payback time for Democrats in terms of campaign messaging this midterm year, as the party looks to take back control of the House of Representatives and the Senate on Nov. 3.

Individual Democrats also took notice of Trump’s comments dismissing the concerns of cash-strapped Americans on Tuesday, in posts on social media.

“No shit,” responded New York House Rep. Yvette Clarke, while Ted Lieu, her California colleague, dropped a Game of Thrones reference: “November is coming.”

“To Trump, it doesn’t matter that the working class is struggling economically. What matters to Trump is that his family got $4 billion richer since he was elected,” said Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, referencing allegations that Trump’s adult children are flouting conflict-of-interest concerns with their business ventures, some of which involve bidding for government contracts.

More pain could be coming

The full impact of rising energy costs on food likely has not hit retail grocery prices yet in the U.S., Purdue University economists Ken Foster and Bernhard Dalheimer told the Associated Press. Higher costs to produce, process, store and transport food can take three to six months to show up on supermarket shelves, they said.

In addition, while many farmers have fertilizer supplies in place for this season, a prolonged supply disruption could change the equation.

“I expect the Iran conflict to impact the coming years’ food prices through a couple of channels. One, the energy costs and transportation handling. The other would be through packaging costs,” Foster said. “If the conflict were to last longer, then we might see more coming online as fertilizer prices start to impact longer-term planting decisions and cropping decisions.”

Trump’s comments also came on a day in which lawmakers of both parties asked Pentagon officials to justify a military budget proposal that calls for a historic allocation of $1.5 trillion. The war with Iran so far has cost the U.S. an estimated $29 billion, the lawmakers heard in committee hearings.

Separately on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, even some Republicans are reportedly balking at the inclusion of significant money toward a new White House ballroom in proposed legislation. The ballroom, a pet Trump project, could be seen as an unnecessary taxpayer expense in a time when more Americans are feeling the pinch from inflation.