Some fellow Republicans have lost patience with the war that began Feb. 28. Four Senate Republicans −Alaska's Lisa Murkowski, North Carolina's Thom Tillis, Kentucky's Rand Paul and Maine's Susan Collins −supported a resolution Sept. 24 to end the war, although the measure failed.
Trump initially said the war would last weeks. After six months, he predicted it would end soon after the Nov. 3 midterm elections for Congress.
Fuel prices are up significantly because of Iran’s threat to commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. Higher costs for diesel fuel ripple through the economy because of the higher cost of transportation.
Gas prices averaged $4.49 on Sept. 25, compared to $2.87 in late January, according to AAA. Diesel fuel averaged $6.50 per gallon on Sept. 25, after breaking $6 on Sept. 11 for the first time ever.
Trump has said higher fuel costs are “a small price to pay” for preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
But former Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Michigan, who is campaigning to succeed Democratic Sen. Gary Peters, said on social media Sept. 21 and in a television ad that the Iran war needs to end.
“The war with Iran needs to end and end quickly,” Rogers said in the ad, which features his first name in red and last name in blue.
Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, who is campaigning to succeed GOP Sen. Joni Ernst, said on social media Sept. 21 that Iowans shouldn’t have to foot the bill for the Iran war with higher grocery prices. But she also voted four times against resolutions to end the war immediately.
“Iowans are being squeezed and shouldn’t have to foot the bill at the pump or the checkout line for the war in Iran,” Hinson said.
Both candidates supported suspending the gas tax and diesel exports.
Another setback to Trump’s domestic priorities came days after he returned from a trip to Ireland, when the Federal Reserve Bank raised interest rates Sept. 16 for the first time since July 2023.
Trump traveled to Ireland on Sept. 12 and 13 to meet Taoiseach Micheal Martin and attend the Irish Open golf tournament at his resort in Doonbeg. He advocated Irish reunification and ended tariffs on Irish whiskey, which he’d imposed.
Trump had earlier appointed a new chair, Kevin Warsh, to the Federal Reserve Bank’s board and demanded lower interest rates. But the board voted Sept. 16 to raise rates for the first time since 2023.
Rep. Jason Smith, R-Missouri, who heads the Ways and Means Committee, which oversees taxes, echoed Trump in arguing that “interest rates should be coming down, not going up.”
“American workers, families, and small businesses have waited long enough for relief from high borrowing costs that make it harder to buy a home, start a business, or get ahead,” Smith said in a statement Sept. 16.
But the Fed typically raises rates to tame inflation by making borrowing more expensive, which can lead to less demand and eventually lower prices. The Labor Department's Consumer Price Index, a key measure of underlying inflation, posted its largest increase in four months on Sept. 11. Mortgage rates surpassed 7% for the first time in a year, making it harder to buy houses.
Trump told reporters in Ireland on Sept. 13 that the country "should be paying the lowest interest rate in the world," no matter what the Federal Reserve's data indicates about inflation and the economy.
“I know more about formulas than anybody, and with the best credit in the world, we make other countries rich," Trump said.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Rising prices, plunging ratings, lingering war: Trump's dinner plate is full