Trump Said He Doesn’t Care About Americans’ Financial Situations But Republicans Are Acting Like He Didn’t

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Francis Chung/Politico/Bloomberg via Getty Images

What to Know

01 President Donald Trump was recently asked whether he considers Americans' financial situations when negotiating with Iran.
02 He answered no, and said he doesn't think about "anybody."
03 The comments sparked a ton of backlash online, but Republicans seem convinced that he never actually said that.

If you were to ask a Republican politician how President Donald Trump feels about the way the Iran war is impacting Americans’ and their financial situations, they would probably say he’s actually super concerned about this. But Trump himself said he doesn’t care.

The president’s response to a question about the economic impact of the Iran war quickly went viral on social media. On Tuesday, May 12, a reporter asked Trump whether ordinary Americans’ financial struggles were pushing him to make a deal with Iran. He firmly answered “no,” much to the dismay of many Americans on social media.

Some people can’t believe he actually said that out loud.

Of course, a lot of Trump critics already suspected that Trump didn’t really care about them or their financial challenges. But the fact that he actually outright said as much still surprised people and caused quite a stir on social media.

Trump was asked about how much he’s considering “Americans’ financial situations.” He said, “Not even a little bit.” He went on to say, “The only thing that matters when I’m talking about Iran — they can’t have a nuclear weapon. I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation. I don’t think about anybody. I think about one thing — we cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon. That’s all.”

He also claimed that Americans understand this and don’t mind how the war is affecting them financially (a lot of Americans would clearly beg to differ).

He downplayed the challenges people are facing right now.

Instead of acknowledging the economic impact of the war, Trump bragged that the stock market “is at an all-time high.” He continued, “The most important thing by far — including whether our stock market, which, by the way, is at an all-time high — but including whether our stock market goes up or down a little bit, the most important thing by far is Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. Every American understands this.”

Meanwhile, Republicans seem to be in denial.

Though tons of Americans have seen clips of Trump saying he doesn’t consider “anybody” or “Americans’ financial situation,” Republicans who have been questioned about these comments have acted like they never heard Trump say that. At the very least, they’ve tried to argue that his comments were taken out of context.

After Trump’s comments sparked backlash, a reporter asked Vice President JD Vance whether he agrees “with the president’s position that Americans’ financial situations should not be a consideration in that decision-making process.”

Vance responded, “Well, I don’t think the president said that. I think that’s a misrepresentation of what the president said. But, look, I agree with the president that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon.” He emphasized that Trump is trying to keep Americans safe.

When Sen. Cynthia Lummis was questioned about Trump’s controversial comments, she said, “Did he say that? I don’t have a comment about that, mostly because I think he actually does care.”

Meanwhile, when asked the same thing, Rep. James Comer said, “I don’t know that he said that…That’s not what I hear. Every time I talk to him, he’s focused on affordability.”

READ NEXT: Donald Trump Insists That People’s Concerns About the Economy Are Not Real

Paige Sheffield (she/her)