To Critics, Trump Remarks Reveal a Billionaire Out of Touch [View all]

[Uncle Joe]

The president has never pretended to be an ordinary American, but a recent “truth bomb” has opened him to criticism that he doesn’t grasp the economic strain of his war with Iran.

(snip)

The costs are ballooning from his renovation, re-decoration and building spree in Washington, D.C., and at the White House. He goes on social media posting frenzies that often focus on his pet projects, gripes and personal triumphs, including a 22-year-old newspaper review of his television show, “The Apprentice.” But perhaps the most striking example came on Tuesday, when Mr. Trump was asked whether the economic hardship Americans are feeling would motivate him to make a deal to end the war.

“Not even a little bit,” he said.

“I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation,” Mr. Trump continued, a stunningly frank admission that came after weeks spent either downplaying the conflict’s economic toll or simply asking Americans to be patient. His only consideration, Mr. Trump said, was preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon: “That’s all.”

That same day, the Labor Department reported that last month, inflation in the United States accelerated at its fastest rate in three years, and gas reached more than $4.50 a gallon.

(snip)

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/17/us/politics/trump-billionaire-iran-war-cost.html