When asked at the White House on Tuesday if Americans’ financial situations were motivating him to strike a deal with Iran, Trump said, “Not even a little bit.”
Major shipping disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz have already hurt Americans’ wallets. Last month, inflation posted the largest gain since May 2023, according to a Labor Department report released Tuesday. Prices of energy and other commodities have surged around the world since Iran effectively closed the Strait at the start of the war. Tensions have continued to rise since the U.S. blockaded Iranian ports beginning April 13, with both parties trading attacks around the narrow waterway in recent days despite a cease-fire that took effect on April 8.
Sen. Mark Kelly (D, Ariz.) said this week that the U.S. is running short of munitions due to the war, citing a Department of Defense briefing he had received. Hegseth accused Kelly of leaking classified information and insisted that the U.S. has “plenty of what we need.”
As midterm elections approach, the rising cost-of-living is threatening Trump’s promises to “make America affordable again.” Over the past year, Democrats have won a number of closely-watched elections on affordability platforms.
As war costs rise and trade disruptions rattle the global economy, Trump has shirked concerns that everyday expenses are becoming out-of-reach for Americans.
Read More: What U.S. Spending on the War in Iran Could Fund Instead
Still, the Trump Administration appears anxious to rein in soaring gas prices as Americans grow weary of the war. Trump said he was “going to” suspend the 18.4-cent-per-gallon federal gas tax to alleviate prices at the pump, although any pause would require congressional approval.
The cease-fire in early April failed to restore shipping through the Strait, and it remains to be seen when maritime trade will return to normal. Last week, Trump launched, and then paused a day later, an effort to “guide” stranded ships out of the area. European countries are weighing a naval mission to escort ships through the Strait, and South Korea is considering providing phased support to secure the waterway after a South Korean cargo ship was attacked last week. Iran denied involvement in the attack. Analysts previously told TIME that fears of renewed attacks could make shippers and shipping insurers reluctant to sail through the Strait after the war ends, which could keep oil and gas prices elevated for some time.
No war, no peace
The U.S. and Iran appear to have strayed further from what U.S. officials had reportedly hoped would be an imminent deal. Earlier this week, Trump said the cease-fire with Iran is on “massive life support.”
“There are clearly continued lower-level hostilities, which makes it difficult to take seriously the administration’s claims that the war has ended,” William Figueroa, an assistant professor of international relations at the University of Groningen, told TIME last week.
Iran has maintained that it never sought to build a nuclear weapon and that its nuclear program is for civilian purposes. Iranian officials have said they are wary of making a nuclear agreement with the U.S. after the U.S.-Israeli attacks twice disrupted earlier talks. Trump pulled the U.S. out of an Obama-era nuclear deal with Iran in 2019.
Trump has repeatedly said that the U.S. has militarily “defeated” Iran. But critics have argued that it is unclear to what extent Trump has achieved his aims in the war despite its heavy economic, military, and human costs. Secret U.S. intelligence assessments indicate that Iran still has operational access to 30 of its 33 missile sites along the Strait of Hormuz, the New York Times reported.
“The war has already been hitting Americans in their wallets from the first day. Gas prices have spiked, mortgage rates are climbing due to fears of increased inflation, and the conflict has driven up the cost of oil and shipping, which risks a global recession,” Figueroa told TIME in March.
“And what has Trump achieved for the billions of dollars spent and countless lives lost, mostly innocent Iranians?” Figueroa added. “He has replaced Ayatollah Khamenei with Ayatollah Khamenei.”
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