NEED TO KNOW

• CPI rose 3.8% year-over-year in April, driven heavily by energy costs.
• Trump called a reporter a "stupid person" when asked about inflation.
• A new CNN poll finds 77% blame Trump's policies for cost-of-living increases.

WASHINGTON, DC (TDR) — President Donald Trump lashed out at a reporter who asked whether his economic policies were failing, hours after federal data showed inflation climbing to 3.8% year-over-year and a CNN poll found three-quarters of Americans blame him for rising costs.

Reporter: You promised to bring inflation down. It's now at its highest level in three years. Are your policies not working?President Trump: My policies are working incredibly. If you want to let them have a nuclear weapon, you’re a stupid person—you happen to be. pic.twitter.com/ETPJrrQfjv

— Acyn (@Acyn) May 12, 2026

The big picture: Trump's departure remarks Tuesday were meant to set the stage for his Beijing summit with Xi Jinping. Instead, they collided with the political reality of the Iran war's economic fallout.

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• The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the Consumer Price Index rose 0.6% in April, with energy prices driving over 40% of the monthly increase.
• The New York Times documented the 3.8% annual figure as the highest reading in three years.
• NPR's reporting tied the surge to gasoline costs from the Iran conflict, now in its 11th week.

Why it matters: Voters connect prices at the pump and grocery store to the administration in power, regardless of whether war or policy drives them.

• A CNN/SSRS poll conducted April 30 through May 4 found 77% of Americans, including 81% of independents and 55% of Republicans, say Trump's policies have raised their local cost of living.
• The same survey put Trump's economic approval at 30%, a career low, with Newsweek noting inflation approval at 26% and gas-price approval at 21%.
• Midterms are less than six months away, and CNBC reports the S&P 500 is up 7.3% since the war began without lifting his net approval.

Driving the news: The exchange came as Trump left the White House for a state visit to Beijing focused on trade, Taiwan, and Iran.

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• Asked whether his policies were not working, Trump claimed pre-war inflation had been 1.7% and pivoted to defending the war.
• He told the reporter, "Anybody that wants them to have a nuclear weapon is a stupid person," after she pressed on rising prices.
• Mediaite reported the CNN findings hours before Trump's departure remarks.

What they're saying:

• President Donald Trump — "Been working incredibly. If you go back to just before the war, for the last three months, inflation was at 1.7 percent."
• Jim Cramer, CNBC host — "These numbers are just bad," describing the Iran war as "reverberating through everything."
• Kush Desai, White House spokesman, via Newsweek — "No other President in history has accomplished more for the American people than President Trump."

Yes, but: Trump's 1.7% pre-war inflation figure is defensible, since headline CPI did run near that range in late 2025. But the April number is what voters will judge in November.

• His claim that the stock market is at a record high is accurate, yet record equities have not lifted his net approval.
• His argument that strikes were necessary has not resolved the Strait of Hormuz blockade, which Yahoo News reports has left the ceasefire "on life support."

Between the lines: The Trump White House is running two arguments at once. The war was a strategic necessity, and the economy is strong. The CNN poll suggests the dual frame is collapsing. Republican voters who would normally absorb partisan messaging are breaking ranks at 55%, a defection rate that historically signals a coalition under stress. The reporter Trump dismissed was asking the question his own party's pollsters are asking privately.

What's next:

• Trump arrives in Beijing on Wednesday for meetings with Xi on Thursday and Friday, with Iran's oil purchases on the agenda.
• The May CPI release is scheduled for June 10, and energy markets hinge on whether Hormuz reopens.
• Congressional Democrats are pushing gas-tax holiday legislation Trump has endorsed but cannot guarantee will pass.

If voters separated the war from its costs, would the politics of both look different, or has the administration already fused them into a single verdict?

Sources

This report was compiled using reporting from The New York Times, CNN, Mediaite, NPR, CNBC, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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