President Donald Trump has doubled down on his controversial remark about not considering the financial plight of everyday Americans when shaping foreign policy, insisting that what he said was a “perfect statement.”
Trump Defends Controversial Comment
“I’d make it again,” the president told Fox News’ Bret Baier in an interview that aired Friday evening following his two-day summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The comment came after Baier pressed Trump on his earlier statement that he does not think about Americans’ financial situations.
Shortly before departing for Beijing, Trump was asked to what extent “Americans’ financial situations” motivated him to strike a deal with Iran and open the Strait of Hormuz. “Not even a little bit, I don’t think about the Americans’ financial situation, I don’t think about anybody,” he had replied.
In the Fox News interview, Trump defended the remark, arguing that Americans would face “short-term pain” regarding gas prices, which have more than doubled and remained consistently high since the start of the war in February.
Gas Prices and Economic Concerns
The current national average price for regular gasoline in the U.S. is about $4.53 per gallon, according to GasBuddy. This represents an increase of roughly $0.40 from last month and more than $1.30 higher than the same time last year.
Baier also read statements from several Trump supporters who complained the president had “broken promises” of keeping the U.S. out of foreign wars and keeping costs low. Trump responded, “It’s going to come down very fast,” before boasting about the stock market.
“You say to [supporters], look, we’ve got a problem. We just hit the highest stock market price ever, by the way then, when I went in, now again with the war it’s higher now. There are more people working right now in the United States of America than at any point ever in the history of our country,” the president said.
Inflation and Blame
Earlier this week, the Labor Department released inflation data showing the Consumer Price Index spiking 3.8 percent from the same point last year, including a 0.6 percent jump last month. Gasoline prices surged by 5.4 percent last month alone as the ongoing standoff between the U.S. and Iran continues and the Strait of Hormuz, which controls 20 percent of the world’s oil supply transit, remains blocked.
A separate survey released this week showed that Americans overwhelmingly blame the president for the record-high gas prices and rising mortgage rates and food costs that have followed.
