'I Love the Inflation': Trump Defies Economic Experts as US Consumer Prices Record Dramatic Spike

President Donald Trump stunned economists and political allies alike on 10 June 2026 by declaring his enthusiasm for a three-year inflation high that is squeezing American households to a breaking point, even as many voters say they are struggling to keep up with the cost of everyday life.

Asked by a reporter in the Oval Office whether he was concerned by the freshly released government data, Trump was unequivocal. 'No, I love it. The numbers were great,' Trump said. 'I love the inflation.' The president then pivoted to an unannounced disclosure: the US has been seizing Iranian oil, including 22 ships, 'late at night, with no lights', and that this covert campaign is why oil remains elevated at $85 a barrel. He predicted that once the conflict ends, prices will come down 'like a rock.'

The Data Behind the Declaration

The figures Trump was asked about are stark. The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers increased 4.2% over the last 12 months, with the index rising 0.5% on a seasonally adjusted basis in May, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. That reading, released at 08:30 ET on 10 June 2026, is the highest yearly inflation figure since April 2023, exceeding the 3.8% reading recorded in April and marking the third straight monthly increase in this midterm election year.

Energy prices rose 3.9% in May amid the Iran war's disruption of Middle Eastern oil supplies, with the energy index accounting for over 60% of the overall CPI increase. Gasoline prices increased 7% on a monthly basis in May and are up 40.5% compared with a year ago.

The trajectory has been relentless. Inflation has accelerated from an annual rate of 2.4% in January to this three-year high, driven largely by the energy shock stemming from the Iran war, which began on 28 February 2026. Core inflation, which strips out volatile food and energy, stood at 2.9% annually, broadly in line with forecasts by economists.

The Human Cost At The Checkout

The numbers are not abstract for ordinary Americans. Shoppers are facing prices that are still much higher than they were a year ago, with double-digit increases for tomatoes (32%), lettuce (24%), instant coffee (24%), and beef and veal (12.9%).

The University of Michigan's Index of Consumer Sentiment fell to 44.8 in its final May 2026 reading, the lowest level since the survey launched in November 1952, a 10% drop from April's already weak 49.8. Survey director Joanne Hsu reported that 57% of respondents said high prices were negatively impacting their personal finances, up from 50% in April, with the steepest declines concentrated among lower-income households and those without college degrees.

EY-Parthenon chief economist Gregory Daco offered a cautious silver lining. Prices for some goods fell for the first time in 14 months, with new vehicles, household furniture, and prescription drugs among categories posting declines in May, which Daco described as a possible sign that the bulk of tariff-related pass-through 'appears to be behind us.' However, he noted that core inflation ticking up only slightly suggests higher energy prices are not yet spreading broadly across the economy, 'for now.'

A Political Jolt In A Midterm Year

Trump's remarks landed with immediate force in Washington. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker wrote on X: 'People can't afford to feed their families. Your struggle is a joke to him.' Democratic strategist Jon Cooper added: 'The ads write themselves.'

The political damage extends well beyond partisan sparring. Trump's job approval, which stood above 50% when he took office for his second term, has fallen to around 40%, while public disapproval has risen by 13 percentage points to 57%. Approval for his handling of inflation stood at just 30% as of mid-to-late April 2026, according to Brookings Institution analysis of multiple polling aggregates.

Sixty percent of respondents in CNBC's All-America Economic Survey for the first quarter of 2026 disapproved of Trump's handling of the economy. Even within his own party, 37% of Republican respondents now disapprove of Trump's handling of rising prices, an 11-point jump since March, per CBS News/YouGov polling.

Republican lawmakers are openly alarmed. Representative Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, who represents a swing district, told reporters at the Capitol: 'When half of America is living paycheck to paycheck, the word 'ballroom' should not be in anyone's vocabulary. We should always be focused on affordability, always.' For the first time since 2010, Democrats are now more trusted than Republicans to handle the economy, with Democrats holding a realistic chance of flipping Republican-held seats in North Carolina, Maine, Alaska, and Ohio.

The Promise That Deepened The Pain

The political sting derives partly from what was promised. Trump ran his 2024 campaign on a single visceral pledge: bring prices down. He saw early success in reducing the price of eggs and other goods, but inflation had been cooling before Trump imposed sweeping tariffs in April 2025, which lifted the costs of many goods. Prices have since surged further after the Iran war began.

The president insists the pain is temporary, contingent on a war's end. But EY-Parthenon's Daco and Oxford Economics have both cautioned that energy price shocks have a habit of persisting. Nancy Vanden Houten, lead US economist at Oxford Economics, suggested May could represent the 2026 peak for inflation, with the rate potentially easing later this year, a projection that carries its own caveat: the war in Iran shows no sign of imminent conclusion.

For millions of Americans who voted for cheaper groceries and lower petrol, the president's 'I love the inflation' may prove the most costly four words of his second term.