President Donald Trump on Wednesday claimed the United States has been secretly removing massive amounts of crude oil from Iranian control on a nightly basis under cover of darkness as he downplayed inflation data showing prices have spiked at over four percent for the second consecutive month — the highest level in three years.
The president was working his way though a meandering, stem-winding set of remarks at an Oval Office bill signing ceremony when he made the bizarre boast after being asked to respond to Consumer Price Index data showing the inflation rate rose 4.2 percent year-on-year in May, driven by the Iran war’s impact on energy costs. Inflation was at 2.4 percent before the war started on Feb. 28, and since then, soaring prices have hammered working Americans at the gas pump, grocery store and in other consumer goods.
He replied: “I love it; the numbers were great — you know what I really love? I love the inflation.”
Trump then claimed inflation would plummet “as soon as this war is over” and then said he would tell reporters “something you don’t know.”
“Do you know we’ve been taking out millions of barrels of oil? Nobody knows it. You know who doesn’t know about it? Iran, until right now,” he claimed.
“We took out the other night 22 ships late at night with no lights, because they don’t have any radar, because we blasted the crap out of it. We took out this way,” he said, re-emphasizing the “I drink your milkshake”-like oil grab.
He later added that inflation was “going to come down like a rock” because of the “millions of barrels” being spirited through the Strait of Hormuz “every night.”
“I wanted to say it so badly, but I didn’t want to ruin it, but it was very hard, but millions of barrels of oil has come out. That’s why it’s at $85, $90 a barrel, instead of $250,” he said.
Not long after, he posted on Truth Social that he’d “directed our Great U.S. Military to execute a secret mission to support Oil Tankers and other Commercial Ships through the Straight of Hormuz” and claimed that effort “has resulted in more than 100 MILLION Barrels of Oil making its way through the Straight, and into the Open Market.”
“More than 200 Commercial Ships have safely traveled through the Strait. This wildly successful effort is because the UNITED STATES of AMERICA CONTROLS the Strait of Hormuz — NOT Iran,” he wrote.
“Their military is defeated, and their economy is lost. It’s over for Iran! Thank you for your attention to this matter,” he added.
Although inflation had spiked precipitously during the Biden administration on account of post-Covid pandemic supply chain issues and a sky-high savings rate, it had been cooling before Trump took office and quickly imposed sweeping tariffs which lifted the costs of many goods.
Prices have continued to surge due to his Iran war making oil and gas more expensive as roughly 63 percent of Americans say they disapprove of how Trump is handling the economy, according to a The Economist/YouGov poll published Tuesday.
J.R. Duren contributed additional reporting
