Trump Blew Up the Economy—and Bragged About It!

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Bulwark Takes

Episode: "Trump Blew Up the Economy—and Bragged About It!"

Host: Will Saletan (The Bulwark)
Date: May 16, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode examines how former President Donald Trump openly admitted to taking actions—specifically triggering a war with Iran—that led to a sharp rise in gas prices and economic pain for Americans, even stating that he doesn't care about their financial situation. Will Saletan methodically unpacks Trump's recent public statements, highlighting the economic impact of Trump's Iran policy, contradictions in his rhetoric, and the resulting political implications for the 2026 midterms.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Trump Admits to Deliberately Upsetting the Economy

• Trump recounts initiating military actions against Iran despite a strong economy.
  • At the time, oil was under $70 a barrel, and gas was $1.85–$2.00 per gallon.
  • Trump says he "upset the apple cart" and started the Iran war despite the economic risks.
  • Quote:

    "Congratulations. Now I'm going to upset the apple cart for you because we have to take a little journey down to a beautiful country known as Iran."
    (Donald Trump, 01:47)

Gas and Oil Prices Skyrocket

• Trump highlights the dramatic rise in oil prices ("up 50%") since the conflict began.

  • Says he’s "very happy" it didn’t go even higher.
  • Saletan notes Trump's casual attitude toward potential disaster (e.g., $300/barrel oil).
  • Quote:

    "Oil prices are up 50%... If you told me that we were going to be at only 92 a barrel... I would have been very surprised. All right? And you know what? I'm very happy."
    (Donald Trump, 02:40)

• Will Saletan contextualizes the economic cost:

  • $300/barrel oil would translate to $10+ per gallon gasoline.
  • Current average: $4.50/gallon.

Trump's Role in Closing the Strait of Hormuz

• Trump boasts about intentionally keeping the vital oil passage closed to hurt Iran economically.
  • He directly admits to refusing offers to reopen it, prolonging high prices globally.
  • Quote:

    "We have total control of the strait... All my people are happy. Everybody was happy except me. I said, wait a minute. If we open the strait... I don't want them to make $500 million a day until they settle this thing. So I'm the one that kept it closed."
    (Donald Trump, 04:31)

Contradictory Claims on Iran's Nuclear Program

• Trump repeatedly claims he already destroyed Iran’s nuclear capability, yet insists high gas prices are necessary to prevent Iran from getting nukes.

  • On April 15, says Iran can't rebuild; a week later, argues the war must continue.
  • Earlier, credited "B2 bombers" with wiping out sites last year.

• Will Saletan points out the inconsistency and questions Trump's honesty:

  • "Do you get the feeling maybe he's lying to you?" (06:05)

U.S. Oil Exports Benefit Corporations, Not Consumers

• Trump: Foreign countries now buy more U.S. oil, which he frames as good for America.

  • But Saletan explains: that means less oil for American consumers, higher prices domestically.
  • Quote:

    "Our country is getting stronger and stronger. This has been amazing. The amount of oil and gas that we're selling now is at a level that nobody's ever seen."
    (Donald Trump, 08:31)

• Host’s counterpoint:

  • "When other countries buy up our oil, that leaves less oil for you. It drives up prices for you. That is basic supply and demand." (08:48)

Misleading Claims on Inflation

• Trump claims inflation, groceries, car prices, and rents are down—only gas is up.

  • Quote:

    "Core inflation has dropped. Grocery prices are down. Used car prices are down. Rent is down. The only thing that is up is the gasoline and that's coming down. Grocery prices are way down. Used car prices are way down. Look at eggs."
    (Donald Trump, 09:24)

• News reality check:

  • Inflation report shows a three-year high.
  • Price hikes in gas, electricity, food, medical care, airfare—all up.
  • Quote:

    "...for the first time in three years, inflation is wiping out all wage gains."
    (SpinQuest Advertiser reading news, 10:17)

War Costs and the Military Budget

• War with Iran already cost the government nearly $30 billion (as of mid-May 2026).
• Trump increases defense budget from $1T to $1.5T—a 50% jump.
  • Per-capita, that's over $4,000 for every American—just for DoD spending.
  • Quote:

    "...the $1.5 trillion budget request put forward by the President will build upon the historic $1 trillion FY26 top line. That is a 50% increase."
    (Will Saletan, 11:04)

Open Admission: Trump Doesn't Care About Americans' Financial Pain

• Reporter asks if Americans’ finances motivate negotiating with Iran. Trump responds:

  • Quote:

    "Not even a little bit. The only thing that matters when I'm talking about Iran, they can't have a nuclear weapon. I don't think about Americans' financial situation. I don't think about anybody. I think about one thing. We cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon. That's all."
    (Donald Trump, 12:15)

• Will Saletan’s reaction:

  • "He doesn't care about you. He already got your vote. He got to be president... if it cost you a little more money, what you gonna do? You can't vote against him anymore. He's not even running this year. But there is one thing you can do: you can show up in November and make sure that his party loses control of Congress." (12:32–13:24)

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Memorable Quotes

• Trump on starting the Iran war despite economic risks:

  "Congratulations. Now I’m going to upset the apple cart for you... we have to take a little journey down to a beautiful country known as Iran." (01:47)

• Trump on ignoring Americans’ financial suffering:

  "Not even a little bit. I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation. I don’t think about anybody." (12:15)

• Will Saletan on who pays the price:

  "He doesn't care about you. He already got your vote. ...if it cost you a little more money, what you gonna do? You can't vote against him anymore." (12:32)

• Saletan’s closing call to action:

  "...you can show up in November and make sure that his party loses control of Congress. And maybe, just maybe, you'll start to get a government that actually cares about you." (13:13)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [00:59] Will Saletan opens: The midterms, Trump’s self-defeating campaign
• [01:47] Trump admits to deliberately risking the economy by attacking Iran
• [02:40] Trump outlines how much oil prices spiked after war began
• [04:31] Trump claims credit for shutting down the Strait of Hormuz
• [05:18] Gas price question—Trump justifies it with nuclear threat
• [05:49] Contradiction: Trump claims Iran's nuclear program destroyed
• [07:46] Trump: U.S. doesn’t need foreign oil, closure mainly hurts other countries
• [08:31] U.S. exports up—Trump calls it “amazing,” Saletan points out negative effects for consumers
• [09:24] Trump’s misleading claims about falling inflation
• [09:45–10:26] Actual inflation and cost-of-living data
• [10:54–11:04] War costs: $30B and a $1.5T defense budget request
• [12:12–12:32] Trump openly says he doesn’t care about Americans’ finances
• [13:13–13:24] Will’s closing remarks and midterm voter call to action

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Tone and Language

• Saletan’s tone is incredulous, direct, and factual.
  He repeatedly contrasts Trump’s words with real economic data, often expressing disbelief at the disconnect (“Do you get the feeling maybe he’s lying to you?”).

• Trump’s tone in clips is boastful, indifferent to economic pain, and fixated on strategic goals.

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Summary Takeaway

The episode spotlights how Trump has openly admitted to wrecking the U.S. economy to pursue his Iran policy, refused to consider Americans’ financial hardship, and even bragged about actions that led to higher gas prices and inflation. Saletan frames these admissions as politically damaging, urging listeners to vote in the midterms for lawmakers who put Americans' interests first.

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Transcript

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[Narrator/Host]

from rebel.com hey, it's will Salatan from the Bulwark. So the midterm elections are coming up, and there's one person who's working really, really hard to make sure that Donald Trump and the Republicans lose, and that person is Donald Trump. Seriously, for weeks, this guy has been publicly admitting that, that he deliberately started the Iran war, knowing, he says, he knew that it would screw the economy. In fact, I'm going to show you the video of Trump telling voters how little he cares about their financial situation. It's. It's like he's making ads for the Democratic Party. So here's the story Trump has been telling about how he started the war.

[Donald Trump]

I called in Scott Bassett and all of my people, mostly my financial people, and I said, all right, folks, congratulations. We just hit the highest price in the history of the stock market. Oil prices were very low. They were 60 and 70. You were buying oil for $2 and even less. Remember just a couple of months ago, you were at $2 $1.85 in Iowa. It was $1.85 a gallon. I said, congratulations. Now I'm going to upset the apple cart for you because we have to take a little journey down to a beautiful country known as Iran.

[Narrator/Host]

So that was the situation. He says oil was under $70 a barrel and gas was under $2 a gallon. And he decided, he says, to upset the apple cart. So what happened? Well, the first thing is the price of oil went way up.

[Donald Trump]

Oil prices are up 50% if you told me that we were going to be at only 92 a barrel, $92 a barrel, I would have been very surprised. All right? And you know what? I'm very happy. And it's going to come dropping down very big as soon as it's over.

[Narrator/Host]

So oil prices went up 50%. 50%. And Trump said he was very happy with that because it could have been a lot worse. In fact, he says when he started the war, he thought he was going to take the stock market down 25%.

[Donald Trump]

So when I did this, I thought the market would go down 25%, and I thought that was a great deal if it did. If it went down 25%, I was satisfied. I said, because we cannot let these people have a nuclear weapon. They'll use it. We can't. I also thought oil would go up to 200, 250, maybe 300.

[Narrator/Host]

Okay, just for context, 25%. 25% is basically the 1929 stock market crash. Trump is saying that he thought doing that again would be a great deal, and he thought $300. $300 for a barrel of oil would have been fine. That is more than four times what oil cost before the war. Right now, on average, gas prices in the United states are about $4.50 a gallon. If you do the math on a barrel of oil, Trump is basically saying he'd be fine if gas went above $10. Above $10 a gallon. Now, why is the price of gas so high? Well, the main reason is that the Strait of Hormuz, where oil comes out from the Middle east to the rest of the world, is closed. And who closed it? Let's ask Donald Trump.

[Donald Trump]

Right now. We have it closed. We have total control of the strait. And the fact that it's closed, you know, they would have opened it up three days ago. They came to us and they said, we will agree to open the strait. And all my people are happy. Everybody was happy except me. I said, wait a minute. If we open the strait, that means they're going to make $500 million a day. I don't want them to make $500 million a day until they settle this thing. So I'm the one that kept it closed. We have total control of it.

[Narrator/Host]

Oh, so. So he closed it. He wanted to make sure Iran would lose money. And they are losing money. They're losing a lot of money. And you know who else is losing money? You and me and all of us. But Trump thinks that's okay. Here's what he said in the oval office on April 23.

[Donald Trump]

Does that mean Americans should anticipate spending more on gasoline for the foreseeable future? A little while. And you know what they get? You know what they get for that? Iran without a nuclear weapon that's going to try and blow up one of our cities or blow up the entire Middle East.

[Narrator/Host]

So that's his argument. You need to keep paying more for gas and everything else, since the price of energy affects everything else, to stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. But here's what he said a week before that.

[Donald Trump]

On April 15, we knocked the hell out of Iran. We stopped them from having. They're not going to have a nuclear weapon regardless, by the way, I could leave tomorrow. They would never be able to have a nuclear weapon. For years they would because their country is devastated.

[Narrator/Host]

So on April 15, Trump said he could end the war immediately and Iran would never have a nuclear weapon because we wiped them out with all of our bombing. But then a week later, on April 23, he said, you still, you still have to pay more for gas because we still need to stop them from getting a nuclear weapon. Do you get the feeling maybe he's lying to you? In fact, here's what he said about Iran's nuclear program even earlier. On April 12th, as you know, we

[Donald Trump]

knocked out with the B2 bombers. Had we not knocked that out, they would have had a nuclear weapon within one month after we knocked out. In other words, that the B2s, those beautiful B2 bombers, totally obliterated their three sides.

[Narrator/Host]

You notice he keeps talking about the B2 bombers. That was last year. Last year, he sent the B2s to destroy Iran's nuclear sites. And they. And they did. He says we totally obliterated the sites. So that's twice last year. And then this year that he claims, he claims we already destroyed Iran's nuclear program twice. And then he still says we have to keep our military there and you have to pay more for gas and everything else to stop the nuclear program we already destroyed. In fact, why exactly do we have to stay over there? Trump says we don't even need the oil. We don't even need the oil from the Strait of Hormuz. He says Europe and China need that oil.

[Donald Trump]

We really don't need any more oil. It'd be nice to take it, but we don't need it. And we say to Europe and all these countries that, do you know China gets 90% of its oil from the Strait of Hormuz, and they should be policing their own strait. We shouldn't be policing it for them. We have been for years.

[Narrator/Host]

In other words, you're paying to police the Strait of Hormuz to help China and Europe. You're not even getting a benefit from this. And how about the countries that do need oil from the Strait? Do you know where they're getting their oil from now? They're sending ships to buy oil here in the United States. And Trump says that's great for us.

[Donald Trump]

And if you take a look at the ships, they're all coming up to Texas, Louisiana, Alaska. Did you see the line? Our country is getting stronger and stronger. This has been amazing. The amount of oil and gas that we're selling now is at a level that nobody's ever seen.

[Narrator/Host]

It's amazing. He says. But here's the part he's not telling you. When other countries buy up our oil, that leaves less oil for you. It drives up prices for you. That is basic supply and demand. Now, either he's too stupid to understand that, or he thinks you're too stupid to figure out that he's helping American oil companies by screwing you. And then he lies to you. He lies to you about what you're paying for food and for everything else.

[Donald Trump]

But core inflation has dropped. Grocery prices are down. Used car prices are down. Rent is down. The only thing that is up is the gasoline and that's coming down. Grocery prices are way down. Used car prices are way down. Look at eggs.

[Narrator/Host]

Really. Inflation is down. Groceries are down. Let's check the latest numbers.

[SpinQuest Advertiser]

Let's turn now to the economic impact of the war with Iran. The latest inflation report out today showed price increases for American consumers in April hit a three year high, driven by a spike in the cost of gasoline. But it's also electricity prices. You mentioned food prices. Everything from coffee to beef to a lot of vegetables are really up in price. Some medical care costs. And don't forget those airfares have gone way up.

[Narrator/Host]

Huh? So actually, thanks to the war, prices are going up. How much? This much.

[SpinQuest Advertiser]

And the other thing that really stood out in this report is for the first time in three years, inflation is wiping out all wage gains.

[Narrator/Host]

What a great message for the midterms. The President started a war that wiped out the entire increase in wages. And that's not the only cost. On Tuesday. On Tuesday, the Defense Department told Congress that the war has already cost our government. Okay, this is separate from the gas and the groceries. It has directly cost our government almost $30 billion.

[Donald Trump]

So at the time of testimony from the HASC, it was $25 billion. But the joint staff team and the comptroller team are constantly looking at that estimate. And so now we think it's closer to 29.

[Narrator/Host]

And at the same hearing, Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of Defense, said Trump is increasing the defense budget, get this, from $1 trillion to $1.5 trillion. The $1.5 trillion budget request put forward by the President will build upon the historic $1 trillion FY26 top line. That is a 50% increase. A 50% increase in, in one year on what was already a $1 trillion budget. Okay, just for context, that is more. That is more than $4,000 from every man, woman and child in America. That is how much Trump is trying to bill you for one year's worth of military spending. So he could do what? More wars like this one in Iran. And what does he think about that? What does he think about you? Here's what he said on Tuesday when a reporter asked him about it.

[Donald Trump]

Negotiating with Iran.

[Rebel.com Advertiser]

Mr. President, to what extent are Americans

[Narrator/Host]

financial situations motivating you to make a deal?

[Donald Trump]

Not even a little bit. The only thing that matters when I'm talking about Iran, they can't have a nuclear weapon. I don't think about Americans financial situation. I don't think about anybody. I think about one thing. We cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon. That's all.

[Narrator/Host]

I don't think about Americans financial situation. Yes, yes. The President of the United States actually said that out loud because that's what he thinks. He doesn't care about you. He already got your vote. He got to be president. So now he gets to go around the world knocking off countries he doesn't like. And hey, if it cost you a little more money, what you gonna do? You can't vote against him anymore. He's not even running this year. But there is one thing you can do. You can show up in November and make sure that his party loses control of Congress. And maybe, just maybe, you'll start to get a government that actually cares about you. See you next time.

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