Trump goes to war with his own economic agenda

When Donald Trump was on the campaign trail in 2024, he hammered the Biden Administration relentlessly over the economy — including then-Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee. Trump blamed Harris and then-President Joe Biden for high prices, promising to bring them down "on Day 1" if he won the election. And he focused heavily on grocery prices as well as the cost of gas.

But 13 and one-half months into Trump's second presidency, inflation is still a major concern for many Americans. And New York Magazine's Ed Kilgore, in an article published early Monday afternoon, March 9, argues that Trump is now at odds with his own cost-of-living messages — especially when it comes to energy prices.

"Donald Trump's 'war of choice' against Iran is a big departure from his administration's alleged determination to focus on improving the domestic economy and addressing concerns about affordability before crucial midterm elections this November," Kilgore explains. "But aside from the president's spectacular failure to stay on message, there is a more specific problem with the sudden lurch into a regional war in the Middle East. To the extent Trump had an actual affordability agenda, other than calling concerns about living costs 'a hoax,' a central pillar was keeping energy prices low by demolishing any obstacles to maximum exploitation of fossil-fuel resources."

Kilgore continues, "Aside from the beneficial effect this might have on prices for other goods and services influenced by energy costs, the 'drill baby drill' mentality was designed to reduce gasoline pump prices — one of the most visible inflation indicators from the perspective of regular folks. Suddenly, the United States has produced an energy-price crisis for itself and for the whole world, Reuters reports."

According to Kilgore, "American motorists could soon pay more at the pump amid spiking oil prices due to the U.S.-Israel attacks on Iran, with experts predicting gasoline prices could rise sharply this week."

Trump, Kilgore notes, made a "decision to subordinate economic policy to another presidential military adventure."

According to Fortune's Jim Edwards, the war in Iran is going badly from both an economic standpoint and a national security standpoint.

Edwards, in a March 9 article, reports, "It's day 10 of the war with Iran. The price of oil briefly hit $119 per barrel this morning, and stock markets fell sharply around the world as it became clear that the war would become worse before it got better: Iran appointed Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of its recently killed leader, as its new supreme leader. He's a hardliner who will likely seek revenge for the death of his father…. Fortune’s Jason Ma reported that, when asked in the Oval Office last week for the worst-case scenario in Iran, Trump replied, 'I guess the worst case would be we do this and then somebody takes over who’s as bad as the previous person, right? That could happen.' That is exactly where we are right now."

Kilgore points out that rising energy prices could be a major problem for Republicans in the 2026 midterms.

"Shortly before the 2024 presidential election," Kilgore notes, "I was filling up my car with gas in California, and someone had placed on the pump a little decal of Trump pointing at the per-gallon prices and saying, Biden did this! If pump prices continue to go up in 2026, it will be even easier to show that Trump did this! And the price will be paid not just by consumers but by Republican candidates whose affordability arguments have been blown up by the explosions in Iran."

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