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Nancy Pelosi Blames Trump’s ‘Illegal’ Iran War, ‘Reckless’ Tariffs for Hot CPI, Says Republicans ‘Rubber-Stamp’ His Agenda
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) slammed President Donald Trump on Wednesday for failing to lower costs, pinning rising prices and a hotter-than-expected inflation report on his war with Iran and tariffs.
Trump ‘Promised Lower Costs’
In a post on X, Pelosi wrote that Trump “promised lower costs” but that “inflation is climbing and working families are struggling to make ends meet.”
She called the Iran war ‘illegal” and the tariffs “reckless,” adding that “spineless Republicans in Congress rubber-stamp his disastrous agenda.”
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf mocked the U.S. Treasury’s claims that sanctions and the blockade are pushing Iran toward economic collapse, pointing to the hotter-than-expected inflation report at home.
Inflation Reaccelerates As the Fed Weighs Another Hike
Consumer prices rose 3.7% year over year in September, up from 3.4% in August and above the 3.6% economists expected, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday.
Core CPI, which excludes food and energy, rose 0.3% on the month against a 0.2% forecast and 2.6% annually against 2.5% expected.
Gasoline did most of the work, jumping 9.1% in September and 34.2% from a year earlier. Energy prices are up 20.4% over the past year, and shelter rose 0.4%.
Prices at the pump are also weighing on Americans, with the war in the Middle East pushing gas prices to a national average of $4.3333 a gallon for regular, up about 41% from $3.0761 a year ago, according to AAA. Diesel is at $6.2997, up about 72% from $3.6574.
The Federal Reserve raised rates by 25 basis points last month, and its median projection pointed to one more increase this year.
Inflation Is Stuck Too High
Economist Justin Wolfers said that the level of inflation is “too high,” adding that the trend “isn’t improving.”
In his blog Platypus Economics, Wolfers wrote that “whatever progress we made in bringing core inflation back to normal seems to have stalled over the past year.”
Chief Market Strategist at Wellington Altus, James Thorne, blamed the Fed’s approach.
“Higher rates raise financing costs, choke construction and deepen the housing shortage,” he said, adding that “‘higher rates cure inflation’ is a slogan, not an analysis.”
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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