{"id":1986,"date":"2026-06-20T15:37:23","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T15:37:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=1986"},"modified":"2026-06-20T15:37:23","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T15:37:23","slug":"trumps-self-inflicted-wound-is-the-worst-in-american-history-economist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=1986","title":{"rendered":"Trump’s self-inflicted wound is the worst ‘in American history’: Economist."},"content":{"rendered":"
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President Donald Trump\u2019s wars against Venezuela and Iran, as well as his seemingly-planned war against Cuba, have constituted one of the worst self-dealt economic wounds a president has voluntarily inflicted upon themselves in American history, according to economic experts.<\/p>\n

Read more White House in panic mode over new secret Trump recordings: report<\/a><\/p>\n

In an MS NOW interview on Thursday, Iraq war veteran and entrepreneur Paul Rieckhoff described the rampant inflation exacerbated by Trump\u2019s wars as \u201cthe thing he can’t spin out of. No matter how many times he says the Iran war is going to be over, his base remembers that. He said no new wars. He said no regime change wars, and they’re still ongoing. His base also remembers that he was going to bring down the price of milk, and every day they see that gas prices are still high \u2014 and that’s going to continue throughout the summer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rieckhoff added, \u201cThis is dragging down the Republican brand even more than it’s dragging down him personally. That’s why I think there is an opportunity this fall for the Democrats. I’m not counting on them to take advantage of it, but there is a tremendous opportunity, maybe around this issue more than anything else.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the MS NOW host added that 76 percent of voters say they are concerned with their personal finances, and 77 percent say their incomes are not keeping up with inflation, Rieckhoff pointed out that Republicans are unwilling to stop Trump even though most of the rest of America is fed up with him. Then economist Ed Elson, the co-host of \u201cProf G Markets\u201d podcast, compared Trump\u2019s attempts to walk back inflation and the Iran war as analogous to his TACO approach to tariffs \u2014 with TACO standing for \u201cTrump Always Chickens Out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d say it’s a lot harder to TACO about a war than it is to TACO about tariffs,\u201d Elson explained. \u201cLet me break down what’s happened: back in April of last year, before the tariffs, we had 2.3 percent inflation. Then the tariffs came \u2014 we all said they would be inflationary \u2014 and inflation rose to 3 percent within the year, roughly a four percentage point added to inflation because of the tariffs. Then Trump decided to bomb Iran without clear objectives and without any contingency plans if this thing doesn\u2019t work out. We do that, oil prices skyrocketed, and now we’re at 4.2 percent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more The race to the bottom \u2014 and how tribalism made scandal-plagued politicians unstoppable<\/a><\/p>\n

Elson added that Trump could reduce inflation by getting out of Iran and eliminating his tariffs, \u201cbut it’s never going to happen, because that would mean admitting defeat, which is something he will never do. This is one of the greatest self-inflicted economic injuries in American history, and because of his pride and ego, I think it’s only going to get worse.\u201d<\/p>\n

A conservative commentator writing for The Bulwark also noted on Thursday that Trump seems determined to spin his way out of America\u2019s inflation problem \u2014 and that this will not work.<\/p>\n

\u201cInflation rose to 4.2 percent in May, the highest increase since a 2023 surge under President Joe Biden in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic,\u201d The Bulwark\u2019s Joe Perticone wrote on Thursday. \u201cPresident Trump, who pledged to \u2018quickly defeat inflation\u2019 upon returning to the White House, and who in September lied that the economy had \u2018no inflation,\u2019 responded to the news with yet another callously stupid Trumpism.\u201d<\/p>\n

He later added \u201cYou might be able to try to spin inflation rates, as [South Carolina Republican Sen. Tim] Scott does here, but ultimately, you can\u2019t argue with them\u2014just ask Kamala Harris or Joe Biden,\u201d Perticone explained, referring to the Democratic president and vice president who lost the 2024 election. \u201cEven if voters don\u2019t follow the latest CPI or PPI reports, they notice the climbing prices when opening their wallets.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Behind the staggering cost of Trump\u2019s weakness<\/a><\/p>\n