President Donald Trump dumbfounded CNN's Erin Burnett on Tuesday after he shrugged off the economic pain Americans are feeling because of his war with Iran.
Burnett played a clip of Trump speaking to reporters outside the White House during the opening segment of her show, "OutFront," where he was asked about what Americans should think of the economic toll the war is taking. The question was asked at a time when the most recent economic data showed inflation spiked 3.8% over the last year, the highest reading in multiple years, driven primarily by energy price increases resulting from the war.
"The only thing that matters when I'm talking about Iran, they can't have a nuclear weapon," Trump said. "I don't think about Americans' financial situation."
Burnett was awestruck by Trump's comments.
"He really said that!" Burnett said.
CNN's Kristen Holmes had a similar reaction when discussing Trump's comments.
"That was wild, Erin," Holmes said. "And I do want to be very clear. There are so many White House officials who have been telling him day in and day out that inflation is a problem for him, that higher gas prices are a problem for him, that this war in Iran is a problem for him because it is causing problems within the economy, which they believe Americans care the most about."
"Just a reminder, part of the reason that President Trump was successful in 2024 is that his team and he were tapping into what Americans cared about in terms of the economy in a way that others just weren't," she continued. "Now you see President Trump distancing himself from this."
