WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday showed how he had learned to stop worrying about inflation and simply, in his own words, “love” it. Asked about the new report that the consumer price index in May had jumped 4.2 per cent over the last year, the president took a surprisingly optimistic tack with the challenging news. Trump didn’t dismiss the affordability issue as a “hoax” that was started by Democrats, as he has done previously. Nor did he claim that he was bringing down the cost of living. Instead, after the government said that inflation spiked to the highest level since April 2023, Trump praised the numbers. “You know what I really love?” Trump said. ”I love the inflation.” It was an unexpected take given that voters ahead of the November midterm elections have ranked the economy as a top concern — and have given Trump low marks on that issue. Within minutes of his on-camera comment, Democrats quickly rushed to promote it on social media. Trump had pledged in his 2024 campaign to quickly vanquish inflation, but his argument now is that higher prices are solely a function of rising energy costs because of the Iran war. On Wednesday, he claimed that relief is already on its way because of a secret military operation to ferry what he said was 100 million barrels of oil through the Strait of Hormuz, the primary shipping channel for 20 per cent of the world’s global oil supply that has been effectively closed by the war since late February. “Trump really said, ‘I love the inflation.’ On camera. For all of America to hear,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer quickly posted on X. “His contempt for you knows no bounds.” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said on X that with Trump’s stated love of inflation, “We finally found something that Donald Trump loves as much as he loves himself.” Rep. Emilia Sykes, D-Ohio, quickly pressed Energy Secretary Chris Wright at a hearing about whether he, too, loved inflation. “Do you love inflation?” Sykes asked. “I love ending Iran’s ability to have a nuclear weapon,” Wright answered. He only conceded after being pressed: “No, I would prefer lower inflation.” When asked about Trump’s specific comments, Wright said, “He’s an entertaining, hyperbolic guy who’s done tremendous leadership.” Trump claimed the secretive shipments were why oil prices had fallen below US$90 a barrel, after surpassing US$110 at the start of April. “I’m just announcing today for the first time, but we’ve been taking out millions of barrels of oil, millions of barrels every night,” Trump said. On social media, the president said the mission began last month and had “resulted in more than 100 MILLION Barrels of Oil making its way through the Strait, and into the Open Market. More than 200 Commercial Ships have safely traveled through the Strait.” There was no immediate data available to back up that total, and it was not immediately clear what role the U.S. military had played. To put that figure into context, a daily average of 20 million barrels of oil had gone through the strait before the war, which would mean that Trump’s mission had resulted in the equivalent of five days’ worth of normal oil shipments. Responding to the new inflation report, the White House pointed out that some expenses had dropped in May relative to the previous month: the price of new vehicles, prescription drugs and auto insurance, for example. But when the overall inflation number is paired with the change in hourly wages, there is a bleak sign that people’s spending power relative to their earnings has declined. “President Trump has consistently maintained that oil and gas prices — and thus overall inflation — will plummet once the Iran situation is resolved, and the administration will continue pushing our affordability agenda to enable Americans to keep more of their hard-earned money,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said in an email. But the financial markets were cautious about Trump’s claims that he was lowering prices by getting oil tankers through the strait — claims that came as the United States also launched airstrikes against Iran, and as Tehran fired back at countries in the region. U.S. crude oil futures climbed more than 2.8 per cent in Wednesday afternoon trading to just above US$90 a barrel. --- Josh Boak, The Associated Press
