President Donald Trump said Wednesday, “I love inflation” when asked if he was concerned about new consumer price index data that showed the annual inflation rate at 4.2%, the highest level in three years.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump also predicted that inflation is “going to come down like a rock” after the United States’ war against Iran ends.
The president linked that prediction to a confusing statement about the U.S. “taking” the oil and ships.
When a reporter asked him about it, Trump said, “No, I like it, the numbers were great.” CPI The number issued by in the morning itself Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“You know what I really like? I love inflation. You know why?” Trump said. “Because as soon as this war ends, you know I can say it now… you know we’re going to be pumping out millions of barrels of oil.”
Trump said, “Nobody knows about it. You know who doesn’t know about it? Iran, yet.”
“We took out 22 ships the other night, late at night, with no lights on, because they had no radar, because we blew the crap out of them,” the president said. “That’s why oil is at $85 a barrel.”
“We’re pumping out millions of barrels of oil every night,” Trump said.
It was not immediately clear what Trump meant by “taking out” the oil and ships, and how it relates to consumer prices.
CNBC has requested comment from the White House and the Energy Department.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright, who was testifying at a congressional hearing on Wednesday, said he was not aware of the US moving millions of barrels from Iran, Reuters news agency reports.
Wright said the U.S. military had helped some oil tankers transit through the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway between Iran and Oman, and there had been a “very meaningful” increase in oil traffic through the strait in the past week, Reuters reported.
While CPI showed annual inflation hit a three-year high on Wednesday, core inflation, which excludes food and energy costs, stood at 2.9% year-on-year. This is in line with economists’ forecasts.
But Trump’s comments on inflation come as his fellow Republicans fear consumer anger over rising prices will harm GOP lawmakers’ chances of maintaining their slim majorities in both houses of Congress in the November elections.
Trump raised eyebrows in May when he told reporters, “I don’t care about the financial situation of Americans” as he argued that his focus in the war on Iran was to ensure that the Islamic Republic could not obtain nuclear weapons.
Many Democrats immediately posted a video on social media of Trump’s latest comments on inflation.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker wrote on Twitter, “People can’t feed their families. Your struggle is a joke to them.”
Senator Andy Kim, a New Jersey Democrat, also tweeted the video with the message: “‘I love inflation’-Donald Trump.”
“The ads write themselves,” Democratic strategist John Cooper said in his X post about the video.
— CNBC’s Megan Casella contributed to this article.
