As prices soar under Donald Trump’s leadership, the president says Democrats ‘are the ones that caused the affordability problem’ because they didn’t ‘stop Iran from having a nuclear weapon’
President Donald Trump blamed Democrats for rising grocery and gasoline prices, saying the party was responsible for the affordability problem because it was unwilling to stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
Trump made the remarks during a steel plant announcement in the Oval Office while renewing his promise of a $5,000 payment to adult U.S. citizens. He said the payment could move forward if Republicans retain control of both chambers of Congress in the November midterm elections.
“They like to say ‘affordability,’ but they are the ones that caused the affordability problem,” Trump said. “They’re the ones that caused all of these problems. They were unwilling to stop Iran from having a nuclear weapon.”
Trump asked whether gas prices will fall before voters go to the polls
Trump was asked whether gas prices would fall before the midterms, which were five weeks away at the time.
“I don’t know,” he answered.
Trump then said inflation would drop once the war with Iran ends.
“As soon as that war ends, inflation is going to be eradicated, totally,” Trump said.
He also told reporters they were “twice as wealthy” as they were under President Joe Biden.
“Your 401k is double, in a short period of time,” he said.
Schumer and the DNC respond
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, responded on X the same afternoon.
“He says this with a straight face as gas reaches $4.50/gal, diesel reaches $6.50/gal, mortgage rates soar over 7%, grocery costs are rising, and Americans’ sentiments towards the economy are the lowest they’ve been since the Great Recession,” Schumer wrote.
Democratic National Committee Deputy Communications Director Kendall Witmer accused the administration of making “empty promises.”
“The only people reaping the benefits of Trump’s economy are himself, his family, and his ultra-rich elite donors,” Witmer said. “Meanwhile, working families get nothing except sky-high receipts at the grocery store and the pump, unaffordable healthcare premiums, and wages that aren’t keeping up with inflation.”
Iran and the nuclear question
Trump’s argument links current prices to the long-running dispute over Iran’s nuclear program.
The 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran was negotiated under Democratic President Barack Obama. Trump withdrew the United States from the agreement on May 8, 2018, during his first term.
Trump has repeatedly said Democrats caused the price problem. Biden left office more than 18 months before the September 28 event.
On September 20, Trump wrote on Truth Social that “Gas prices were much higher under Biden than under ‘TRUMP,’” adding: “So were almost all other prices.”
Where prices stand
The AAA national average for gasoline was $4.48 per gallon on the afternoon of September 28, up from $3.13 a year earlier. Diesel was $6.45, compared with $3.69 in September 2025.
California drivers were paying about $6.37 per gallon for gas, while Indiana drivers were paying about $3.88.
An analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data found that prices rose significantly under both Trump and Biden, including beef and coffee under Trump.
Egg prices, a central issue in the 2024 election, have fallen more than 50 percent since Trump returned to the White House in January 2025.
The $5,000 “Trump dividend”
Trump first announced the proposed payment at the Republican National Committee’s midterm convention in Dallas.
“If the Republicans win the House of Representatives and the United States Senate, both of them,” he told attendees, “I will issue a dividend to every adult citizen in the United States of America for $5,000.”
In the Oval Office, Trump said tariff revenue would fund the checks.
“Because of tariffs, we are taking in hundreds of billions of dollars of profits,” he said. “It’s one of the reasons I can offer, if Republicans win the House and the Senate, $5,000 to every adult. And we can do it and the Democrats can’t, because the Democrats don’t have any income, and they’re gonna drive us in[to] a depression. They won’t have any money.”
The plan would require congressional approval and has an estimated cost of more than $1 trillion, excluding administrative costs. How and when the checks would be delivered remains unclear.
Earlier in his second term, Trump or his administration also promised $5,000 rebates from Department of Government Efficiency efforts under Elon Musk, $2,000 from tariffs and $1,000 from expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies.