What A Day - Trump Made Inflation Great Again

Episode Date: May 15, 2026

Life is pretty expensive right now – and Americans are not happy about it. Trump came into office claiming he would lower prices, QUOTE, “on day 1.” But that didn’t happen – and his own policies are partially to blame. To talk more about the economy, inflation, and what we can do when our lives feel way too expensive, we spoke with Stacey Vanek Smith. She’s a reporter for Bloomberg Businessweek and co-host of the Bloomberg podcast, Everybody’s Business.And in headlines, Trump says Chinese President Xi Jinping offered his help in making a deal to end the Iran war, FBI Director Kash Patel allegedly went snorkeling on his “not vacation” in Hawaii, and did the Supreme Court just become a feminist?Show Notes: Check out Stacey's podcast – https://tinyurl.com/y2zannt6 Call Congress – 202-224-3121 Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/y4y2e9jy What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcast Follow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/ For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

It's Friday, May 15th. I'm Jane Koston, and this is What Today? The show that says if you ordered a Trump phone last year, it turns out you might be getting it. Soon. Maybe. Because, you know, counting on a Trump family promise when you've already paid the money seems like a bad idea. On today's show, FBI director Cash Patel allegedly went snorkeling on his not vacation in Hawaii. And did the Supreme Court just become a feminist? But let's start with the economy. If you're someone who say, buys things, you may have noticed that life is pretty expensive right now, and Americans are not happy about it.

A CNN poll this week found that 70% of Americans oppose President Donald Trump's handling of the economy. And 77% think that his policies have increased the cost of living. Not that Trump cares very much exactly. Here he is Tuesday before boarding Marine One on his way to China. When you're negotiating with Iran, Mr. President, to what extent are our country? American financial situation motivating you to make a deal? Not even a little bit. The only thing that matters when I'm talking about Iran, they can't have a nuclear weapon.

I don't think about American's financial situation. I, for one, I'm not surprised. Trump came into office claiming he would lower prices, quote, on day one. But that didn't happen, and his own policies are partially to blame. To talk more about the economy, inflation, and what we can do when our lives feel way too expensive, I spoke to Stacey Vanek-Smith. She's a reporter for Bloomberg Business Week and co-host of the Bloomberg podcast, Everybody's Business.

Stacey, welcome back to Water Day. Thanks, Jane. It's good to see you. Good to be here. This week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that inflation jumped to its highest level in nearly three years last month. Some of this was, I don't think, very surprising. Gas prices have skyrocketed since the start of Trump's around war. But what else do these numbers say about the economy?

I mean, you're absolutely right. Obviously, the first thing everybody thought of when they saw these numbers were gas prices. You know, gas prices are up more than 20 percent. It's a lot. I mean, in California, I think you guys have the highest gas prices in the country right now. So everybody's feeling that. And businesses feel it and consumers feel it. And so that part of the report, I think everybody focused on. But food prices are also way up. I mean, things like beef prices. prices are up 14%. Tomatoes are up 39%. Also, rent prices are up quite a bit. Utility prices because of all the data centers, our electricity is getting more expensive. So a lot of expenses that we can't get out of have been going up a lot, even without the extra stress of the war in Iran and the effect that's had on oil prices. So it sounds like a lot of this is probably not exactly Trump's fault. But Trump did campaign on bringing prices down. And many people voted for him because of that promise. Why hasn't Trump's, quote, roaring economy come to fruition? I think there are a bunch of reasons. First of all, even though President Trump definitely came into office promising to bring

down prices, especially of eggs, eggs are cheaper, by the way. They're like 39% cheaper than they were last year. But pretty much everything else was up. I know. I think it's a bunch of things. I mean, the tariffs, first of all, right? Tariffs are going to raise the price of anything that's imported. So that is putting pressure on making prices go up. Now the war in Iran. I mean, these are what economists will sometimes call unforced errors, right? I mean, these are things that didn't have to happen that were actions that the president took and the consequences of those actions or prices going up. So, you know, I think President Trump is counting on things like interest rates getting cut and the AI boom and, you know, tax cuts to

companies to kind of counteract those things. But if lowering prices was his main goal, he's he's been making some strange decisions. Okay. But I keep thinking about how like beef prices are up, not exactly because of Trump's policies, but because of a bunch of other stuff having to do in the beef industry. There have been issues regarding coffee and chocolate because of, of weather and diseases. So how much of this current affordability crisis is because of Trump's economic policies and how much is left over from, say, COVID price surges

or other stuff that's all happening to culminate right now? Yeah, that is a really good point. I think there is a fair amount of it that predates Trump that has to do with COVID and things like that. You're totally right. A lot of weather events. But, you know, those events are always

going to happen. There are always going to be forces that push the price of one product or another up at some point in time. I think the cumulative inflation, though, that we're seeing, I think is the result of a lot of choices. I think COVID did obviously create a lot of inflation and push prices up, but they were starting to come back down. We were seeing that trend through the end of the Biden administration in the beginning of Trump's presidency. But Trump has made a lot of decisions that have had a, like have pushed prices up, have had an impact on inflation. The Iran War does not appear to be ending anytime soon, which means that a large part of this issue is not going to be fixed anytime soon. So what can consumers expect from the economy

in the near coming months? It depends. I think you're right. It does not seem like the conflict with Iran is slowing down or that the Strait of Hormuz is going to reopen anytime soon. And as long as that happens, it just puts pressure on everybody, on consumers, on businesses. And I think if this keeps going to have a couple of impacts. Number one is that we're going to keep seeing prices rise because even if places have tried to keep their gas prices down or companies that have been paying more for their fuel to ship things back and forth have tried to keep prices down, they're just going to have to start passing those along to customers. But also, I think, you know, that can bleed into other things because consumers, you know, we're all dealing with high prices everywhere. So we might

spend less money and save less money. That means businesses are selling less stuff. That puts stress on them. That means they might hire fewer people or even let some people go. So it has these ripple effects throughout the economy that can take some time that are sometimes slow to ramp up. But when they ramp up, sometimes it can be hard to pull them back. And that is honestly what worries me right now. What advice do you have for Americans who are feeling the financial squeeze right now? Because I think it's hitting everybody all the time, everywhere. What should we be thinking about and doing? Oh, I mean, that is a great question. I think don't panic is my main piece of advice. I wish I could take it. I think just maybe prepare for prices to be high for a little while. You know, things are really expensive.

jobs are a little harder to get at this moment than they usually are in the economy. So I think overall there's a lot of great stuff in our economy. We're a pretty strong economy and resilient, but we're taking a lot of beatings. It's just a good moment to be a little careful, a little cautious if it's possible to save some money. I would save some money because there's just been a lot happening. It's hard to keep up. Stacey, as always, thank you so much for joining me. Thanks, Jane. Great to see you.

That was my conversation with Stacey Vanek-Smith, host of Bloomberg Business Weeks podcast, Everybody's Business. The business of this podcast is news, so we've got more coming up. If you like the show, make sure to subscribe, leave a five-star review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, watch us on YouTube, and share with your friends. More to come after some ads. What a day is brought to you by Zbiotics pre-alcohol. Let's face it, after a night with drinks, I don't bounce back the next day like I used to. I have to make a choice. I can either have a great night or a great next day. That is, until I found pre-alcohol. Zebiotics pre-alcohol probiotic drink is the world's first genetically engineered probiotic.

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15 million people already trust Wise to manage their money internationally. Be smart. Get Wise. My husband and I have used Wise when we've traveled out of the country and it's been a total game changer. Download the Wise app today or visit Wise.com. Terms the conditions apply. Here's what else we're following today. President Trump met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Beijing on Thursday for their long-away summit. The White House said the pair

discussed fentanyl flows, economic cooperation, and Iran. Trump spoke with Fox News as Sean Hannity after the meeting because, of course, he did. President, she would like to see a deal man. He would like to see a deal man. And he did offer, he said, if I can be of any help at all, I would like to be of help.

He did say that. Yeah, he did say that. And, look, anybody that buys that much oil has obviously got some kind of a relationship with him. But he said, I would love to be a help. can be of any help whatsoever. He'd like to see the hormone straight open. He said, if I could be of any help whatsoever, I would like to help. How nice of him. China is the largest buyer of Iranian oil, and Trump has hoped Xi would use that leverage to prod Iran into a deal on U.S. terms. Trump also said Xi assured him that China wouldn't provide Iran with military equipment.

The chief of Border Patrol, Michael Banks, resigned effective immediately on Thursday, and I text to a Fox News reporter confirming his exit, Banks said, quote, After almost 37 years of public service, now was my time to enjoy family and life. An investigation by the conservative outlet, the Washington Examiner, revealed that six current and former Border Patrol agents said that banks bragged about paying for sex in Colombia and Thailand. These allegations resulted in two investigations by Customs and Border Protection. This is the third high-profile exit from the Department of Homeland Security in two months,

following former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Christine Ome, and Acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director, Todd Lyons. Our nation was conceived by men and women who believed in the power of God, who believed in the providences of God, and in prayer. A nonprofit called Freedom 250 is holding a prayer gathering on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. this Sunday. The Rededicate 250, a National Jubilee of Prayer, Praise and Thanksgiving, of speakers include several top Trump and administration officials and a cast of mostly conservative Christian clergy. Some critics call it an effort to hijack U.S. history with a false Christian nationalist

narrative. These critics include me. The group will probably be praying for the Supreme Court Justice's Sunday after they made an unexpected 7-2 decision to preserve access to a drug used in medication abortion. Justice's Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented. The court rejected lower court restrictions while a lawsuit continues. The order allows patients seeking abortions to continue obtaining the drug, Miffipristone, at pharmacies, or through the mail, without an in-person visit to a doctor. Access is likely to remain uninterrupted, at least into next year as the case plays out. I wonder if this signals anything for what the court is thinking,

or if I'm suddenly putting faith in this court for zero reason. And finally, some news from FBI director Cash Patel's world of fun. According to emails obtained by the Associated Press, when Patel was on an official trip in Hawaii, he participated in a VIP snorkel experience around the USS Arizona, which was sunk during Pearl Harbor. More like Splash Patel. Am I right? Snorkeling at the ship, where about 900 sailors' remains are entombed, is generally off limits. A marine veteran who is trained to dive to inspect the ship told the outlet, quote, It's like having a bachelor party at a church. It's hallowed ground.

That sounds like Cash Patel's whole thing. thing, though. And that's the news. Before we go, people's attention spans are a third of what they were just 20 years ago. On the latest episode of Offline with John Favreau, computer scientist Cal Newport joins John to explain why we need a revolution in cognitive fitness and how AI might get in the way. Listen to the conversation, wherever you get your podcasts or watch on YouTube. New episodes drop every Saturday. That's all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, ask, hey, why are his representative Thomas Keene, Jr., and tell your friends to listen? And if you're into reading, and not just about how the Republican representative from New Jersey

hasn't been seen, even in photographic form, in more than two months, despite running in a competitive re-election campaign, like me, what a day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at cricket.com slash subscribe. I'm Jane Koston, and two weeks ago, a spokesperson said Keene was dealing with a health issue. When asked why he hasn't been seen in New Jersey or Washington or anywhere else, that spokesperson said, quote, There's no cameras where Tom is. Now I have more questions.

Water Day is a production of Crooked Media. Our show is produced by Caitlin Plummer, Emily Four, Erica Morrison, and Adrian Hill. Our team includes Haley Jones, Greg Walters, Matt Berg, Joseph Dutra, Johanna Case, and Desmond Taylor. Our music is by Kyle Murdoch and Jordan Cantor. We had helped today from the Associated Press. Our production staff is proudly unionized with the Writers Guild of America East.