“President Donald Trump told an Arizona crowd Wednesday that President Joe Biden is to blame for inflation, hours after the government reported that consumer prices had climbed again — with gas prices driving the increase,” the Washington Sun reports.
Said Trump: “Whenever I have a news conference, somebody will stand up, say, ‘Mr. President, affordability.’ I said, ‘Yeah, that was caused by Biden, who gave us the highest inflation in history.'”
“On the eve of an election that could turn on affordability, the nation is getting less affordable,” the New York Times reports.
“That’s the takeaway from today’s inflation report, which deepened Republican gloom as it revealed that rising energy costs, largely driven by the war with Iran, have pushed prices up with a few weeks to go until the midterms.”
“The report showed that consumer prices last month were 3.7 percent higher than they were a year earlier, contradicting President Trump’s sunny pronouncements about an improving economy.”
“Diesel prices in the United States are hovering near record highs — and a deal President Trump announced last week to increase Russian fuel exports is unlikely to lower them significantly anytime soon,” the New York Times reports.
“The amount of diesel Russia could supply under that agreement is much lower than what the country was exporting this time last year and constitutes a small proportion of the diesel supply the world has lost because of Mr. Trump’s war with Iran, energy analysts said. And it is not clear that Russia could even deliver all the fuel the president and Russian officials have promised.”
Punchbowl News: “Inflation continues to crush Republicans, with Election Day less than three weeks away.”
“The Consumer Price Index, a solid gauge of changes in prices for Americans, jumped 3.7% on an annual basis. The spike was driven by a sharp increase in energy prices — the price of gas is up an eye-watering 9.1%. The national average for a gallon of gas is $4.33, while diesel sits at $6.29.”
“The war in Iran has been a major liability for Republicans this election cycle, and Wednesday’s inflation report — showing the largest monthly increase in five months — is salt in the wound ahead of the midterms.”
“The price of gasoline alone accounted for more than half of the monthly spike in inflation.”
CNN: GOP senator said gas prices would decide the midterms. Now they’re threatening his reelection.
“America’s inflation problem is becoming harder to contain, with new evidence Wednesday that price pressures are extending beyond the war-related energy shock rattling the global economy,” Axios reports.
“Inflation is squeezing household budgets and dimming hopes for relief. It is also increasing the prospect that the Fed will have to raise interest rates further.”
“Americans trust the Democratic Party more than Republicans ‘to keep the country prosperous,’ in Democrats’ first clear lead with voters on the economic issue in more than a decade in Gallup’s annual governance poll,” the Washington Post reports.
“A majority of adults, 51 percent, chose Democrats when asked, ‘Which political party do you think will do a better job of keeping the country prosperous?’ A smaller group, 37 percent, selected Republicans.”
“Inflation rose to a 3.7 percent annual pace in September, extending a relentless climb this year pushed by surging energy prices, as many Americans are already feeling pressure in the economy as they head to the polls,” the Washington Post reports.
“The increase in the consumer price index, which was hotter than what economists predicted, puts even more pressure on the Trump administration and Republican candidates as one of the final economic tests before the midterm elections.”
“Americans aren’t just seeing the price tag increase for imported goods. Thanks to President Donald Trump’s tariffs, they are now paying more for products made in the USA, according to new research from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York,” Fox News reports.
“In fact, the research finds that prices for many everyday goods would have fallen last year and into early 2026 without Trump’s tariffs.”
New York Times: “In the angry debate over soaring costs of living this campaign season, the price of keeping a roof overhead — specifically insurance and property taxes — has joined gas, diesel, and groceries as a top voter concern three weeks before the midterm elections.”
“Rising homeowners rates — driven by the fires, hurricanes and tornadoes worsened by climate change — have helped put reliably Republican states like Kansas and Florida onto the battlefield, pushed North Carolina toward the Democrats and roiled Democratic politics in California.”
“Home-insurance premiums have climbed 46 percent since 2021, nearly triple the rate of inflation. One recent survey found that 58 percent of Americans said rising insurance costs would make them more likely to vote.”
Wall Street Journal: “Some seven million people—more than 10% of the population—now claim at least one or more sickness or disability benefits. The numbers are growing fastest among working-age people who should be powering the country’s economy, surging more than 60% in the past six years to 4.7 million from 2.9 million in 2019.”
“Not including healthcare, the country will spend more than £100 billion this year on all types of welfare benefits for the sick and disabled, about a third more than defense spending.”
“Democrats are using the U.S.-Canada trade dispute as an opportunity to appeal to voters and industries that have direct economic ties to Canada in competitive districts,” the Washington Sun reports.
“The trade war has translated into higher costs that are front of mind for voters. And it has put Republicans on the defensive — at times they have even taken the rare step of breaking with President Donald Trump over his pursuit of the tariffs.”
“Presidents have long made bombastic pledges to voters in last-minute electoral appeals,” Bloomberg reports.
“Now, that playbook is in full force ahead of November’s midterm election, as President Donald Trump crisscrosses the country touting promised multibillion-dollar megaprojects in battleground states and credits his tariff agenda with ushering in a golden age of domestic manufacturing.”
“But pledges for a steel plant in Iowa, an aluminum smelter in Oklahoma and a long-sought gas pipeline in Alaska face significant questions, leaving it unclear whether the projects will fully materialize or amount to anything more than a midterm mirage.”
“American truckers are warning that sky-high diesel prices are eating into their profits and putting pressure on trucking companies to cut routes, raising concerns that some drivers could be forced off the road and the pain could eventually reach Americans at the grocery store,” Fox News reports.
“Three weeks from Election Day, deep frustration over an economy that feels unworkable for Americans at most every level, from farmers to truckers to consumers, has expanded the map of competitive electoral contests into areas that seemed safely Republican just a couple of months ago,” the New York Times reports.
“Sustained high prices are putting at risk some of the constituencies, states and congressional districts that President Trump and Republicans won decisively in 2024. The widespread discontent has prompted candidates, parties and major GOP fund-raising groups to shift their messages and ad spending in crucial races to try to move voters in the final days of the midterm campaign.”
The Guardian: A national verdict on Trump 2.0 is coming.
“President Donald Trump gambled that importing more beef would lower prices enough to mitigate the political hit from angry ranchers,” Politico reports.
“His bet hasn’t paid off.”
“Prices have barely budged, ranchers remain incensed, and vulnerable Republicans in Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska and Texas are fighting to convince rural voters to turn out in November as farmers confront economic headwinds fueled by the president’s policies.”
Washington Post: “Trump has tried to address Americans’ concerns about high beef prices by temporarily bringing in imported beef (which enraged ranchers).”
“Another step has been to let farmers use tax-exempt diesel through the end of the year, which he announced in Nebraska this week after a behind-the-scenes push from Vice President JD Vance. It’s a small change: Diesel costs in the Midwest have risen nearly $4 in a year, and this plan would lower them by about 24 cents.”
“Applications for unemployment benefits — a proxy for layoffs — have dipped to longtime lows in recent weeks, even as many Americans remain sour about the economy ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections,” the Washington Post reports.
“New filings for unemployment benefits have held below 200,000 for four weeks, data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Thursday shows.”
“That’s the longest stretch since the late 1960s.”
“A couple more interest rate hikes are probably on the way. But the Federal Reserve is in no great hurry to deliver them. That’s the takeaway from the latest round of communications out of the central bank,” Axios reports.
“It implies that the Fed is not in a full-scale effort to tighten the screws on the economy, but rather a cautious recalibration in light of inflationary pressures and robust growth.”
Taegan Goddard
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.
More about Taegan Goddard →