Appearing on the White House lawn Tuesday afternoon, Trump was asked by a reporter to what extent Americans' financial situation was motivating him to make a deal with Iran. 'Not even a little bit,' Trump replied, before elaborating: 'I don't think about Americans' financial situation. I don't think about anybody.' Trump was probably trying to lie here'he likely wanted to reject the premise that the economic pain caused by his war of choice is putting pressure on him to end it. The premise is obvious, but he has fervently denied it, in part to retain some leverage over Iran. But his denial revealed a deeper truth: Trump has treated the public's economic well-being as an afterthought. The thing he admitted so casually is the primary reason his popularity has cratered. Trump was elected to tackle inflation, and instead has made it worse. Trump won the 2024 election in large part because the post-pandemic inflation shock doomed both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, and Trump promised,...
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