Trump trips on affordability with remark on Iran, to GOP’s chagrin

A comment from President Trump dismissing the pocketbook concerns of millions of Americans is threatening to upend his party’s midterm messaging on affordability.

Trump told reporters on Tuesday that he does “not even a little bit” think about Americans’ financial situation when dealing with Iran, saying he only thinks about not letting Tehran have a nuclear weapon. 

The comments could not come at a more politically inconvenient time for Trump.

The Labor Department reported Wednesday that wholesale inflation spiked to 6 percent in April, up from 4 percent in March, as a result of the Iran war.

That data came after the department reported Tuesday that the consumer price index increased 3.8 percent over the past 12 months. 

The economic indicators are forcing Republicans battling to hold on to their House and Senate majorities to answer for the Trump economy, while more and more Americans grow frustrated over rising costs.

Trump and Republicans at times have sought to blame inflation and bad economic news on the president’s inheriting an economy they argue was run into the ground by former President Biden.

But now that Trump has been president for nearly a year and a half, it is more difficult to make that case.

“Well, whoever is president’s going to take it on the chin with respect to inflation and affordability,” Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) said Tuesday on “The Hill on NewsNation” with Blake Burman.

“President Trump’s been president for a year and a half now, so it’s his economy, even though he inherited a bad one from the Biden administration with respect to rising prices and inflation.”

Comer went on to defend Trump’s comments on Iran, saying the reason we’re engaged in the conflict is to prevent the country from obtaining a nuclear weapon. 

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Wednesday acknowledged “the conflict with Iran has put a little........

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