Democrats seek to impose political pain of Iran war on Trump

Democrats are pouncing on a spike in gas prices and expected soaring airline fares, blaming President Trump’s handling of the war in Iran for deepening economic pain on Americans. 

In interviews, statements and in a flurry of social media posts, Democrats have sharpened their arguments — repeatedly linking Trump’s decision to enter the Iran conflict to the price spikes, while accusing Republicans of downplaying their impact. 

“It’s show-and-tell time for Democrats,” said Democratic strategist Anthony Coley. “Show people the receipts — the family that canceled their summer trip because airfare spiked, the small business owner eating higher fuel costs.” 

“Then tell them exactly what Democrats would do differently,” Coley added. “Trump promised lower prices on day one. His chaos delivered the opposite.”

On Monday, Democrats were busily seeking to tie Trump to the economic fallout. 

“Taking a victory lap on ‘LOWEST EVER’ gas prices, then calling Americans ‘FOOLS’ for worrying about his war with Iran raising prices? Donald Trump is a con man with no plan and failing the American people,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom wrote Monday on the social platform X, responding to a post from Trump in which he said short-term prices would drop rapidly “and ONLY FOOLS WOULD THINK DIFFERENTLY.”  

In an interview on CNN earlier in the day, Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.) chalked up the disconnect between Trump and the public on gas prices to “arrogance.” 

“You have the president of the United States telling the American public they’re fools if they don’t want to pay more at the pump,” he said. 

The criticism from Democrats comes as the midterms draw closer and the party is test-driving narratives that could define the campaign season. Economists have also warned that Republicans could get the blame for surging gas and energy costs because of the Iran war.

In a post on Bluesky last week, Paul Krugman, the left-leaning Nobel economist, warned that surging wholesale gasoline prices should “terrify Republicans.” 

In Ohio, for example, gas prices were up 23 percent from last week, according to AAA. In Michigan, gas prices increased 20 percent from last week, and in North Carolina, they rose 19 percent. 

Democratic strategists said if those numbers continue, Republicans will have a problem in the midterms. 

“It’s not a big stretch for people. They’re feeling this every single day,” said Democratic strategist Rodell Mollineau, who added Democrats “need to continue amplifying the disconnect between Americans’ economic expectations and the actions of elected Republicans” until the midterms. 

Speaking to reporters in Doral, Fla., on Monday, Trump downplayed the rise of oil prices, saying he knew they would go “artificially up” on account of what he called the Iran “excursion.” 

“I knew oil prices would go up if I did this,” Trump said. 

He said the conflict would end “soon.” 

“If we did not hit them, they were going to take over the Middle East,” Trump explained.

The president’s remarks came a day after Energy Secretary Chris Wright pushed back on the narrative, saying the rising gas prices will be short-lived. 

“Look, you never know the exact time frame of this but in the worst case, this is a weeks, this is not a months thing,” Wright said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” 

But beginning on the Sunday shows this weekend, Democrats made sure to remind the public who was to blame. 

Democratic strategist Jared Leopold said the fallout from the gas prices “puts Democrats even further on offense on affordability.” 

“Donald Trump already has a problem when it comes to energy prices, and the issue around gas prices only adds to that problem,” Leopold said.  “Part of what really works in driving a negative message in politics is when it’s part of a pattern.” 

“So people are frustrated at Trump over how much it costs to keep their lights on, and now they’re paying more to fill up their gas tank, for something that was clearly a result of a decision Donald Trump made in foreign policy.”

Trump’s approval rating fell 3 points according to the latest NBC News poll, which showed that 44 percent of respondents said they either “strongly” or “somewhat” backed the president’s job performance, down from 47 percent a year ago. Fifty-four percent of those surveyed said they were “strongly” or “somewhat” not in favor of Trump’s job performance, an increase from 51 percent last year. 

Julia Mueller contributed.

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Democrats seek to impose political pain of Iran war on Trump

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