‘Not even a little bit’: Trump says he doesn’t think about Americans’ financial situation when negotiating with Iran

President Trump told reporters Tuesday that he’s not thinking about how his war with Iran has raised prices for Americans as he goes aboutnegotiating for an end to the conflict. Rather, he’s focused solely onpreventing the country from developing a nuclear weapon.

Read more Obama enters Texas Senate fight with support for Talarico

“Not even a little bit,” Trump said when a reporter asked to what extent Americans’ financial situation is influencing his decision making on dealing with Iran.

The comment came just as the president readied to boardAir Force One for his trip to China, as Trump fielded questions about how the now 10-week war has led to a sharp spike in inflation. According to data released Tuesday, the consumer price index rose 3.8 percent from April 2025 — its highest level since May 2023.

“The only thing that matters when I’m talking about Iran [is] they can’t have a nuclear weapon,” the president said. “I don’t think about American’s financial situation, I don’t think about anybody. I think about one thing.”

Trump was also asked Tuesday if he believed his economic policies were working in light of the latest inflation report, to which he said they “are working incredibly.”

He added that his administration “had a choice” as to whether “let these lunatics [inIran] have a nuclear weapon” or not. He also acknowledged that that the stock market, which he called the “greatest stock market in history,” had to “go down a little bit” when he launched the war in Iran.

“It’s a very simple message: Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, and they won’t have a nuclear weapon,” the president said.

Read more FBI Director Kash Patel denies drinking allegations in heated Senate exchange

Iran’s move to close theStrait of Hormuz once the war broke out has triggered severe disruptions to globaloil and gas shipments, which has in turn driven up not only gas prices but also the cost of other goods.A peace deal between Washington and Tehran has stalled, and Trump said Monday that the current cease-fire between the two countries was on “life support” after he rejected Iran’s latest proposal to end the conflict.

Trump officials have repeatedly said that the end goal of the war in Iran is to prevent the country from developing a nuclear weapon. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have questioned the administration’s strategy and associated costs in the war.

Iran reached a deal with the Obama administration and other world leaders in 2015 that curtailed Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for relief from economic sanctions. But Trump, during his first term in 2018, withdrew from the agreement, calling it “one sided.”

Iran began building up its nuclear program roughly a year after Trump pulled out. Former president Joe Biden attempted to restore the original deal with Iran on multiple occasions but came up short.

When reached for comment, White House spokesperson Steven Cheung told the Globe that Trump’s “ultimate responsibility is the safety and security of Americans. Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, and if action wasn’t taken, they’d have one, which threatens all Americans.”

The president was heading to Beijing on Tuesday to meet with President Xi Jinping to, in part, persuade the Chinese government to use its leverage to push Iran to agree to US terms to end the war or reopen the Strait.

Read more Hegseth faces bipartisan pushback about weapons drawdown during the Iran war