The Senate confirmed Kevin Warsh as chairman of the Federal Reserve on Wednesday in a 54-45 vote. Warsh will officially take over the position on Friday after Jerome Powell&#8217;s term as Fed chair concludes. 
The confirmation comes after Powell has faced months of pressure from President Donald Trump, as Powell has been hesitant to lower interest rates. Democratic Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman was the only senator to cross party lines and vote for President Trump’s pick to lead the central bank.
While Warsh takes over as Fed chair, Powell will remain on the board as a governor. Powell&#8217;s term as Fed governor continues until 2028. 
Warsh&#8217;s confirmation didn&#8217;t come easy. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) blocked Warsh&#8217;s path through the Senate Banking Committee for months, refusing to move any Fed nominees while the Department of Justice was criminally investigating Powell over the $2.5 billion renovation of the Federal Reserve building. The DOJ ultimately dropped the investigation, causing Tillis to drop his hold. 
Warsh takes the helm of the central bank after previously serving as a Fed governor from 2006 to 2011, an appointment made by President George W. Bush. He became the youngest Fed governor in history at 35 and became well known as an inflation hawk. 
&#8220;We have the largest, most robust economy in the world. We have the deepest, most liquid financial markets. And the dollar is the world’s reserve currency, bestowing key advantages upon us. But, none of this is our birthright. It must be earned, and re-earned,&#8221; Warsh <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/kevin20100628a.htm">said</a> in a 2010 speech. 
Warsh left the Fed in 2011 to join UPS&#8217;s board and take positions at the Hoover Institution and the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Warsh inherits a Federal Reserve being pulled in multiple directions. President Trump continues to call for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates, but inflation is still on the rise amid tensions with Iran. After April’s hotter-than-expected inflation report, chances of a rate cut in 2026 declined.
Warsh criticized the central bank’s hesitancy to cut rates, but many people still view him as a hawk on inflation. In December, the chief economist of Deutsche Bank <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/interest-rate-changes-could-be-on-the-way-under-kevin-warsh-trump-s-pick-for-fed-chair-11895919">said</a> that “although Warsh has argued for lower rates recently, we do not view him as structurally dovish.”
Warsh told Congress he plans on shrinking the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet, which holds more than $6 trillion in U.S. government bonds and mortgage-backed securities. Warsh argues that trimming the balance sheet will give the Fed room to lower interest rates.
He also plans to keep the Fed focused on its core mandate of maximizing employment and keeping inflation at 2%. Warsh says the central bank has drifted from that core mission and believes that decisions on which assets the central bank buys are better left to the Treasury Department.

Day Five Of The Spring Meetings Of The International Monetary Fund And World Bank

Senate Confirms Kevin Warsh As Fed Chair In Big Win For Trump

Donald Trump

Federal Reserve

Inflation

Interest Rates

Jerome Powell

Kevin Warsh

Inflation reached its highest rate under President Donald Trump&#8217;s second term, ticking up 0.6% in April, for a one-year pace of 3.8%, according to <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm">data</a> released Tuesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 
The 3.8% annualized rate is the highest inflation mark since May of 2023, when it came in at 4% and was on its way down from a 40-year high under former President Joe Biden. Experts expected April&#8217;s inflation report to come in at 3.7%.  
Energy costs rose 3.8% in April, accounting for 40% of the monthly increase and pushing the 12-month gain to 17.9%. That marked a cooldown from March, when energy prices jumped 10.9% — the largest monthly gain since 2005. Shelter (0.6%) and food (0.5%) also posted notable increases.
Inflation in April outpaced the month&#8217;s wage gains by 0.2%. United States equities fell by <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/11/stock-market-today-live-updates.html?__source=iosappshare%7Ccom.apple.UIKit.activity.PostToTwitter">0.7%</a> after the inflation report was released. The Nasdaq also dropped 1.2%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 0.6%. 
“It isn’t like it’s an avalanche, but it’s a steady move upward,” Thomas Martin, the senior portfolio manager at Globalt Investments, told <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/11/stock-market-today-live-updates.html?__source=iosappshare%7Ccom.apple.UIKit.activity.PostToTwitter">CNBC</a>.
Rising prices have hit Americans the hardest at the pump in recent months as the national average price for gas has ticked up to $4.50 per gallon. 
The White House appeared to respond to the inflation report by sharing a chart showing goods and services that have fallen over the last year. Oil was notably not on the list. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<a href="https://t.co/WPYOsC3sUb">pic.twitter.com/WPYOsC3sUb</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/2054189194096894295?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 12, 2026</a></blockquote>
White House spokesman Kush Desai told The New York Times that the administration “remains laser-focused on delivering growth and affordability on the home front while working to eliminate the Iranian nuclear threat.” Data shows the price uptick is driven by higher energy prices due to the war with Iran. 
The Strait of Hormuz, the chokepoint for roughly one-fifth of the world&#8217;s oil supply, remains closed. On Monday, President Trump said that a proposed deal to end the conflict with Iran is on “life-support.”
Following April&#8217;s inflation report, the Polymarket odds of a Fed rate hike before 2027 jumped nearly 10 points to 31% — just as Kevin Warsh prepares to take the reins from Fed chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday.

Gas Prices

Inflation Rises To Highest Level In Three Years

Economy

Trump Administration

Chipotle CEO Scott Boatwright said the solution to shrinking portion sizes is simple: just ask for more.
The exec addressed the issue during an appearance this week on Yahoo! Finance. Customers have been complaining for months that fast food burgers are smaller, pre-packaged snacks have less food, and burritos from Chipotle aren&#8217;t as stuffed as they used to be. 
“If you want more, you should ask for a little more,” the fast food exec said. “I promise you, there&#8217;s never a team member on that line that is going to say no to you.”
“We will continue to put heaping spoonfuls of food in bowls and burritos,” Boatwright continued, adding that the company is focused on both portions and food quality. 
“It has always been our brand ethos, and it is still to this day,” he insisted. “We serve big, beautiful bowls and burritos. No questions asked.”
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The CEO further pushed back on claims that Chipotle employees were “skimping” on portion sizes.
“I tell my team all the time, ‘put as much food in that bowl and burrito as you possibly can,'&#8221; he told Yahoo! Finance. “‘I want the consumer to tell you, &#8216;it&#8217;s too big.'&#8221;
“We&#8217;re about abundance, we&#8217;re about value,” he went on. “Value equals benefit over price.” The exec also claimed to be “absorbing” the cost of inflation rather than passing it on to customers. He told the outlet that Chipotle is pleased to offer “an affordable price point for all walks of life, and we&#8217;re for everyone. We want everyone to have access to wholesome, nutritious food.”
Commenters were skeptical that restaurant workers would be willing to increase portion sizes without charging them extra. 
“Save this video [for] every time you walk in,” one commenter wrote.
“He said if you want more, they will give you more, but will also charge you more,” another comment said.
“Bro … have you been to Chipotle,” a third person chimed in.
“Straight lies they will 100% charge you double each time you say more,” yet another commenter agreed.
Others brought up the common complaint that delivery portions are rumored to be much smaller than those being served inside the restaurants, a problem that wouldn’t be solved by Boatwright’s suggestion to &#8220;ask for more.&#8221;

Chipotle

The Chipotle Phrase That Could Get You More Food For Free

Business

Fast-Food

Food

Money

Inflation ticked up to 3.3% in March, according to data released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 
The March Consumer Price Index report is the first to reflect the impact of the conflict with Iran. While the 3.3% reading was in line with expectations, inflation had been at 2.4% and on a downward trend prior to the U.S. strikes.
Energy prices saw the largest increase, rising 10.9%, the biggest monthly jump since 2005. Gas prices are now above <a href="https://gasprices.aaa.com/">$4</a> a gallon, while diesel is just over <a href="https://gasprices.aaa.com/">$5</a>. Food prices, however, remained stable despite disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply flows. Rising energy costs are a key driver of inflation, as they affect the price of goods and services across the economy.
White House spokesperson Kush Desai said the administration expected inflationary pressures tied to Operation Epic Fury. 
“President Trump has always been clear about short-term disruptions as a result of Operation Epic Fury, disruptions that the Administration has been diligently working to mitigate,” he <a href="https://x.com/KushDesai47/status/2042589657506922706">said</a>. “Although gas and energy prices are seeing volatility, prices of eggs, beef, prescription drugs, dairy, and other household essentials are falling or remain stable thanks to President Trump’s policies.” 
Desai added that the administration is working to ensure the free flow of energy through the Strait of Hormuz and that the economy can handle the disruption due to its “supply-side agenda of tax cuts, deregulation, and energy abundance.”
Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who served under the Biden administration, told CNBC that the Trump administration&#8217;s policies are contributing to rising prices.
“As feared, inflation is up,” he said, adding that the administration is actively making prices higher through tariffs and the war.
Inflation peaked at 9.1% under the Biden administration. March’s reading is the highest level of inflation under the Trump administration.

Satellite Imagery Of The Strait Of Hormuz

Inflation Report Shows Iran War Impact As A Key Piece Tells The Story

Operation Epic Fury

Inflation held steady at <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm">2.4%</a> in February, according to new data released Wednesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 
While inflation remains above the Federal Reserve&#8217;s 2% target, it is significantly lower than levels seen during the height of the post-pandemic surge.
Energy prices rose <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm">0.6%</a> in February after falling <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm">1.5%</a> in January, driven by higher gasoline and natural gas prices, while electricity declined. Because the United States entered the conflict with Iran on the final day of February, the recent surge in oil prices is not reflected in the latest inflation data. Oil was trading around $70 per barrel before the conflict and is now in the mid-$80 range.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, remains relatively stable, reinforcing the broader trend of moderating price growth.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Inflation under Joe Biden reached 9.1%, the highest in half a century.
Under President Trump, inflation is down and holding steady! <a href="https://t.co/NzbKAxFmt6">pic.twitter.com/NzbKAxFmt6</a>
— GOP (@GOP) <a href="https://twitter.com/GOP/status/2031726335274492371?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 11, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Inflation peaked at 9.1% in 2022 during the Biden administration before gradually cooling the past two years.
Earlier this week, oil briefly spiked to around $120 per barrel — its highest level since 2022 — before retreating after President Donald Trump said “the war is very complete” and signaled he was considering U.S. control of the Strait of Hormuz, which carries roughly one-fifth of global oil supply. 
Food prices rose <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm">0.4%,</a> and shelter increased <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm">0.2%</a>. Gains were driven largely by higher prices for candy, fruit, and vegetables. Notably, egg prices, often cited as a grocery barometer, have fallen 42.1% over the past year. 
Stocks and bonds reacted modestly, with futures largely flat. Many financial analysts are now looking to the March Consumer Price Index report for a clearer picture of how geopolitical tensions might influence prices. 
New York Fed President John Williams said the Iran conflict could affect near-term inflation but that its lasting impact will depend on how long it persists. “Something that would obviously affect kind of a nearer-term inflation outlook. We&#8217;ll have to see how persistent this is and how long this is, but it would have an effect on overall inflation.&#8221;

Inflation Held Steady Before Iran Operation Fueled Energy Prices

U.S.

Battered by COVID-era inflation, many Americans are understandably concerned about the impact of another war on their finances – but data suggests American bank accounts won&#8217;t become casualties.  
Energy affects the price of everything, and missiles are flying in a region that produces a third of global oil exports. If supply is constrained, prices will increase, but the current global supply is better positioned than in the past. 
Global inventories are currently around 6.5 billion barrels of oil, the highest level this decade. The world consumes only 1.57% of that total each day. Middle Eastern oil production is at one of its low points. During the 1970s energy crisis, the region produced about 55% of the world’s oil. Today, the share is 35%.
In <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/data-insights/the-united-states-is-the-worlds-largest-oil-producer">2018</a>, the United States became the world’s largest oil producer, dethroning Russia and Saudi Arabia thanks to the shale revolution of the late 2000s. The revolution was driven by a technological advancement that combined fracking and horizontal drilling, allowing the US to unlock oil that was previously unreachable. 
The Daily Wire reviewed data from a leading Wall Street bank that concluded the high inventory and increased oil production from the United States would help offset costs from elevated oil prices. In an analysis of 21 previous air strikes in the region, the bank found that there was typically an initial spike in oil prices that subsided over the following two months. 
So far, markets are tracking that historical pattern. This month, Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) are up roughly <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/BZ=F/">15%</a> in the days following Saturday’s strikes. The bank concluded a sustained increase in oil prices would raise headline inflation by 0.2%, a drop in the bucket compared to what consumers experienced from 2022 to 2024. 
The bank also predicts that GDP growth will drop by less than a tenth of a percent for the year. Experts attribute the Fall government shutdown to a 0.06 to 0.12 percentage-point loss in GDP. 
Beyond oil, the bank&#8217;s data also showed promising expectations for the broader market. After eight weeks, gold, the U.S. dollar, and 10-year Treasury bonds posted gains in most instances, and U.S. equities were higher in 20 of the 21 cases. Despite initial declines from the strikes, US large-cap equities are still hovering around all-time highs with earnings beating analyst expectations for the fourth quarter by 6% and high expectations for 2026.  
Even JP Morgan’s Jamie Dimon, Wall Street&#8217;s designated worrier, is expressing calm: “The economy is not often driven by something like that unless it is prolonged.” 
What Dimon did warn about back in 2022, however, was cumulative inflation. &#8220;Inflation is eroding everything I just said,” <a href="http://said">said </a>Dimon. “When you’re looking out forward, those things may very well derail the economy and cause a mild or hard recession that people worry about.”
A sustained conflict could alter the outlook, though. A fifth of global oil and LNG flows through the Strait of Hormuz, and analysts predict triple-digit oil prices if Gulf production halts. Trump has floated the idea of using the US Navy to accompany ships traveling through the strait to mitigate that risk.
Dr. Wayne Winegarden, a senior fellow at the free-market think tank Pacific Research Institute, echoed a measured view in comments to The Daily Wire.
&#8220;If prices stay around $80 a barrel and supplies don&#8217;t get more constrained, over the next two months it could be painful but it would not be a barnburner. However, the severe effect would be prices going up to $90 a barrel and they stay there for a year.&#8221;
Winegarden explained that a significant loss of Gulf production would force more countries back into the global market for supply, driving prices higher. However, he added that higher prices would also incentivize producers elsewhere to ramp up output, increasing supply over time and helping stabilize the market.

Should Your Wallet Panic Over The Iran War? What History Shows

Energy

Iran

New federal data released Friday showed inflation slowing and wages rising in January, trends the Trump administration says signal improving affordability.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that consumer prices rose 2.4% last month, below the 2.5% forecast. Markets rose following the news.
Average hourly earnings rose <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf">3.7%</a> over the past year, outpacing inflation and reflecting real wage growth. Private-sector employers added more than 170,000 jobs in January.
“We saw real wage growth in 2025,&#8221; Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. &#8220;It could be very strong in 2026, and I think the American people are going to start feeling it.”
The White House said the data reflect the success of President Donald Trump&#8217;s economic policies.
“President Trump has defeated Joe Biden’s inflation crisis in record time,&#8221; said White House Spokesperson Taylor Rogers. &#8220;Inflation is low, wages are up, and the American economy is booming — all thanks to President Trump’s pro-growth agenda. President Trump is working hard to Make America Affordable Again — just like he promised.” 
&#8220;Real wages are up $1,400 in 2025 — nearly half of Biden era real wage decline made up for in just one year thanks to President Trump,&#8221; said White House Deputy Press Secretary Kush Desai. &#8220;This is just the beginning: President Trump&#8217;s MFN drug pricing deals, tax cuts, trade deals, and deregulation are just starting to take effect.&#8221;
When President Joe Biden took office in 2021, annual inflation was running at 1.9%. During his term, inflation averaged 4.9% and peaked at 9.1% in 2022. Biden signed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan in 2021, which included $1,400 direct payments to Americans.
“Joe Biden crashed the economy,” Bessent said. “The policies were a disaster for the American people.” 
Bessent argued that the Biden administration boosted demand through increased government spending while constraining supply with tighter regulations, driving up inflation. 
The January data marks the latest sign that inflationary pressures may be easing as the administration pushes its affordability agenda.

Consumer Prices See Largest Increases In 30 Years

Inflation Cools, Wages Rise As Trump White House Celebrates Affordability Gains

Jobs

Politics

Scott Bessent

Unemployment

President Donald Trump calls off all meetings with the Islamic regime — suggesting he may come to the aid of Iranian protestors, inflation holds steady as the administration touts an affordability push, and Congress tosses around a funding package to keep the lights on until October.
It’s Wednesday, January 14, 2026, and this is the news you need to know to start your day. Today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below:
<iframe style="width: 100%; max-width: 660px; overflow: hidden; border-radius: 10px;" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/trump-pressures-tehran-economy-gains-momentum-1-14-26/id1576594336?i=1000745114820" height="175" frameborder="0" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation"></iframe>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Trump Puts Iran On Notice</h2>
President Trump put Tehran on notice on Tuesday, cutting off discussions with Iranian leaders and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/live-updates-iranian-protests-intensify-as-citizens-demand-end-to-ayatollah-rule?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Daily+Wire&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=2&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=LIVE+UPDATES%3A+Trump+Tells+Iranians+%E2%80%98Help+Is+On+Its+Way%E2%80%99+As+Death+Toll+Climbs">telling</a> protesters: “Help is on its way.” Trump posted on Truth Social on Tuesday that “the killers and abusers” in Iran “will pay a big price.” He urged protesters to continue their resistance and to take over institutions. The president also recommended that any Americans in Iran leave as soon as possible. Meanwhile, deaths during the protests appear to have surged past other recent instances of mass demonstrations in Iran. The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency estimates that more than 2,000 people have been killed. The Saudi-funded outlet Iran International estimates a much higher death toll at around 12,000. Thousands more have been arrested. Reports say that 26-year-old Erfan Soltani is expected to be hanged on Wednesday after the government found him guilty of “waging war on God.”
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Labor Department Report Shows Inflation Cooling</h2>
The latest Labor Department report released Tuesday showed that inflation continues to cool, once again defying expert predictions. The department released its highly anticipated CPI report for December, which showed inflation at 2.7% – tied for the lowest since March 2021. The pace of inflation has fallen dramatically since the 9% peak in 2021. Across former President Joe Biden’s four years in office, the average number was about 5%. The report surprised experts, who had projected a slightly higher number. EJ Antoni, chief economist at The Heritage Foundation, said the report likely understates the cooling, as the indicators used by the Labor Department lag behind reality.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Rep. Brad Finstad Talks Congress’s Latest Funding Package</h2>
The House is set to take up a two-bill funding package this week, after the Senate advanced it, as the government faces an end-of-month shutdown deadline. The bipartisan legislation would fully fund agencies like the State and Treasury departments, the IRS, and the federal courts through October, but it currently omits funding for the Department of Homeland Security. Minnesota GOP Rep. Brad Finstad told Morning Wire that one of the priorities of the bills is to “get some fiscal sanity back in our country.” The current version includes a 16% reduction in spending. “It&#8217;s an opportunity for us to kind of right-size government,” said Finstad. The package also aims to curb fraud by defunding some USAID programs and increasing reporting standards.

MRN_260114_V1

Morning Brief: Trump Puts Iran On Notice, Economy Gains Momentum & Funding Fight Looms

Morning Brief: Iran On Notice, Inflation Cools, And Congress’ New Spending Package

Congress

Department of Labor

Morning Wire

United States

President Donald Trump has spent this year unwrapping an economy handed to him by former President Joe Biden. Inside the box: inflation and sticker shock.
From when Biden took office in January 2021 through the end of December 2024, consumer prices rose <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/the-final-accounting-on-bidenflation-212613508.html?guccounter=1&amp;guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&amp;guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAIfT9OGeVAKKbHJR4Tc3o4i4IUGV_jwsWj6OEQ8pCpV9PPLtJmCmTCXD4cqtQ1RwqCeiHtlpYZfcCj9KieR8wHDmrBZ3JmV40xfO9AUcSvmmtUin-czVIwgJGFLU1WUxtldZKbbACfYT06DHFrn6jaTYSiXXdyPTtPvvGasDDKHL">21.2</a>%. Even as inflation cools under President Trump, Americans are still living with the higher prices locked in during Biden’s term in office.
With the exception of George Washington, every president’s tenure runs the risk of being defined by the lingering effects of their predecessor’s policies. That reality has put the Trump White House on the defensive. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has repeatedly pushed back against the notion that today’s economy belongs to Trump alone.
She’s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/those-were-two-utter-lies-white-house-press-briefing-turns-contentious-over-affordability">described</a> Democrats as “the greatest con artists in history,” who are “trying to claim ownership of an issue that they created.” On offense, the press secretary says that by economic measures, things are actually looking up.
“Every economic metric does in fact show that the economy is getting better and brighter than where it was under the previous administration,” Leavitt said. Shortly after that statement, November inflation came in at 2.7% and GDP growth surged to 4.3% — far exceeding expectations.
While the economic playing field is never fully level, Joe Biden and Donald Trump occupy a rare position as the only presidents in modern U.S. history to both inherit the monetary effects of the other.
President Joe Biden received an average inflation of 1.9% and an economy primed with two stimulus packages from President Trump.
In March of 2020, Trump signed the CARES Act into law, a $2.2 trillion stimulus package that acted as a lifeline to shut-down businesses all over the country. The package was passed unanimously in the Senate and 388 to 5 in the House of Representatives — notably, the five representatives who voted against the bill were Republicans who were concerned about the cost and impacts to the federal deficit.
In December of 2020, Trump signed a second relief package totaling $900 billion, which included another round of direct payments. Six Republican senators voted against the bill; no Democrats opposed it. The House passed the measure 359-53. The 53 who voted against the bill <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/republicans-democrats-voted-against-stimulus-why-1556574?utm_source=chatgpt.com">included</a> 50 Republicans who broke with party leadership. The legislation was a compromise, with Republicans pushing for limited total spending, and Democrats demanding larger checks and extended unemployment benefits.
One year later, Joe Biden signed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan into law, more than double the size of Trump’s final stimulus package. The bill sent $1,400 checks to Americans in a bustling economy. Not a single Republican voted to pass the legislation.
Economists later echoed the concern that all three of the stimulus packages inflated the economy. “Both Trump and Biden contributed to the fiscal stimulus that fed into the inflation,” <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Business/republicans-rnc-blame-biden-inflation-economists-misleading/story?id=112022864">said</a> George Selgin, senior fellow at the Cato Institute.
Biden had average inflation during his term of 4.9% while Trump had average inflation of 1.9%. Trump’s inflation reached a high of 2.5% during his first term while Biden’s reached a high of 9.1% in June 2022.
Economist Peter Morici was blunt in his <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Business/republicans-rnc-blame-biden-inflation-economists-misleading/story?id=112022864">assessment</a> of where blame should be issued.
“It was irresponsible to do stimulus when the economy was well on its way to recovery. Blame is falling where it’s due. Biden does bear responsibility for the endurance of COVID inflation.”
As inflation finally began to cool, credit shifted elsewhere. Many point to former Senator Joe Manchin for blocking additional spending that could have further fueled price increases. Left-wing MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough <a href="https://townhall.com/tipsheet/spencerbrown/2022/06/14/scarborough-says-you-can-just-thank-joe-manchin-inflation-isnt-worse-n2608707?utm_source=chatgpt.com">remarked</a>, “You can just thank Joe Manchin if you&#8217;re glad that interest rates aren’t even higher,” referring to the interest rate hikes the Federal Reserve had to implement in an attempt to tame inflation.
Billionaire entrepreneur and investor Sam Zell <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/billionaire-praises-manchin-saving-us-catastrophic-biden-bill-1716160?utm_source=chatgpt.com">agreed</a>, saying, “Unfortunately, we only had one senator who stepped up to the line when, in fact, everyone should have stepped up and recognized this was a disastrous policy.”
Others issued credit to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Republican Senator John Kennedy said, “It seems to me that you and some of … your colleagues deserve some credit for that. … I’m not saying things are perfect, but I never imagined that our landing could be this soft.”
The “soft landing” has continued into Trump’s second term with an average of 2.7% inflation so far. But lower inflation does not mean lower prices — and now, voters are left paying the bill. As Americans continue to confront elevated sticker prices, Republicans will be forced to defend seats in an economy still shaped by stimulus spending many warned against.

Biden-Inflation copy

Biden’s Only Gift For Trump Was The Inflation Crisis

Biden Administration

COVID

Joe Biden

The suspect in the Brown University shooting who also allegedly killed an MIT professor two days later is found dead, the Trump administration rolls out new rules to defund hospitals that perform transgender procedures on minors, and a positive economic report shows cooling inflation.
It’s Friday, December 19, 2025, and this is the news you need to know to start your day. Today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below, and the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/mrn-251219-member-exclusive">video version can be seen on The Daily Wire</a>:
<iframe style="width: 100%; max-width: 660px; overflow: hidden; border-radius: 10px;" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/brown-shooting-suspect-found-dead-12-19-25/id1576594336?i=1000741970705" height="175" frameborder="0" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation"></iframe>
&nbsp;
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Brown And MIT Shooter Found Dead, Authorities Say</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1017589" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Brown-Gunman-Found-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Brown-Gunman-Found-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Brown-Gunman-Found-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Brown-Gunman-Found-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Brown-Gunman-Found-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Brown-Gunman-Found.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
On Thursday, police <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/brown-shooting-suspect-found-dead-by-suicide-in-new-hampshire-storage-facility">found</a> the body of the man who they said was responsible for the deaths of two students at Brown University and a professor at MIT. Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, 48, died by suicide in a storage locker he had rented in New Hampshire. His last known address was in Miami, Florida, but he originally came from Portugal. Authorities said he attended Brown in the early 2000s as a PhD student, but he never completed the program. New Hampshire authorities said Neves Valente also attended the same academic program in Portugal as MIT professor Nuno Loureiro, who was found dead in his home in Brookline, Massachusetts, earlier this week. According to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Neves Valente “entered the United States through the diversity lottery immigrant visa program (DV1) in 2017 and was granted a green card.” Noem said Thursday night she had <a href="https://x.com/sec_noem/status/2001873077089767435">paused</a> the DV1 program at President Donald Trump’s direction.
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<h2 style="text-align: center;">Trump Cuts Funds To Hospitals Performing Trans Treatments</h2>
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The Trump administration has moved to cut off federal funding for hospitals performing transgender procedures and surgeries on minors, a fulfillment of a major Trump campaign promise. A number of new rules are being applied to cut off federal funding to any facility that performs trans procedures on children, including puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, or surgical operations. The Centers for Medicare &amp; Medicaid Services (CMS) will bar hospitals from performing any of these procedures on children under 18 as a condition of participation in Medicare and Medicaid programs. New rules will also block funding of Medicaid’s Children’s Health Insurance Program for trans procedures on anyone under 19. That program, known as CHIP, covers millions of kids nationwide.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Inflation Cools</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1017593" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Inflation-Trends-Down-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Inflation-Trends-Down-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Inflation-Trends-Down-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Inflation-Trends-Down-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Inflation-Trends-Down-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Inflation-Trends-Down.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
November’s Consumer Price Index report <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/inflation-report-surprises-economists-as-key-metric-drops-to-lowest-level-since-2021">shows</a> that inflation cooled last month, defying expert predictions and providing political relief for President Trump. The report was especially important, as it was the first since September. The October report was lost to the federal shutdown. Economists had originally predicted a month-over-month rise of 3.1%, but inflation actually came in at 2.7%. That is down from a peak 9% in 2022 under President Joe Biden. Looking at core inflation, which strips out prices on volatile goods such as food and gas, the numbers appear even better. In November, CPI was 2.6%, the lowest since March 2021. The Trump administration took a victory lap on Thursday, and investors were also thrilled by the news, as the DOW, NASDAQ, and S&amp;P 500 all climbed significantly.

MRN_251219_V2

Morning Brief: College Killer Found Dead, Kids Protected From Trans Mutilation, & Inflation Cools

Brown University

Transgender

On Wednesday night, President Trump attempted a reset of the first year of his presidency. It was an effort to seize the narrative away from the Left, which keeps hammering away about “affordability.”
To set the scene: The president obviously is looking forward to the 2026 midterm elections, but Republicans are not in amazing shape for them. They&#8217;re down on the generic congressional ballot by a significant amount at this point. If the elections were held today, there is a high likelihood that Republicans would lose somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 seats.
With that said, the president is attempting to convince Americans that things are getting better.
It was great that he showed charts, a Reagan-esque move. President Reagan used to do this back in the 80s. He would do a national address, and he would take out actual charts and try to educate the American people about what was happening.
President Trump did that last night. He showed Joe Biden&#8217;s price increases and Trump&#8217;s price decreases in a wide variety of areas, ranging from hotel rates up 37.4% under Joe Biden, down 5.1% under Trump; propane rates 24.9% up under Biden, down 4.2% under Trump; gasoline up nearly 31% under Joe Biden, down 7% under Trump; sporting events up nearly 50% under Joe Biden, down almost 10% under Trump.
Those are all good things to show the American people.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-2337-president-trump-pushes-the-affordability-reset-button?elementPosition=6&amp;row=2&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-974957" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp" alt="DailyWire+" width="1024" height="171" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-300x50.webp 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-768x128.webp 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1536x256.webp 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-2048x341.webp 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
The one problem is that when you look at a chart like that, you think that the baseline price has gone down from where it was before Joe Biden — but that&#8217;s not true. If the price rises 40% under Joe Biden and then comes down 10% under Donald Trump, it&#8217;s still higher than it was before Joe Biden took office.
That&#8217;s the embedded part of the economy that President Trump is not really going to be able to wipe away. Years of inflation cannot be wiped away absent some sort of economic downturn.
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But the president was right to point out real wage increases under his tenure and wage decreases under Joe Biden. The private sector wage growth averaged $1,048 since he returned to the White House, versus losses of almost $3,000 under Joe Biden. The president showed the new yearly mortgage cost increase under Joe Biden was up almost $15,000, versus Trump&#8217;s new yearly mortgage cost decrease, down almost $3,000.
When he referred to Obamacare, he pointed out it&#8217;s not the Republicans’ fault, it&#8217;s the Democrats’ fault. It&#8217;s the Unaffordable Care Act.
And that is true.
So here’s the Big Question: Why aren’t Americans feeling it?
There are a few reasons. One is that Americans expect the amounts they currently pay to actively plunge, not just from where they were last year, but from where they were three or four years ago. But if you radically inflate prices and then decrease them marginally, people are still going to feel priced out.
A second reason is that many of the items the president cited as having dropped in price are not the items that Americans most commonly buy. The number one complaint you will hear from Americans right now about pricing is in the grocery store. If you&#8217;re shopping for a family of four for a week of food, you&#8217;re now paying, in some cases, 30-40% more than you were just three or four years ago. And if the places that you most often shop are the places where you feel the most inflation and the most “unaffordability,” that&#8217;s what&#8217;s going to stick in your mind.
Yes, mortgage rates might be down, but how many people are actually taking out a new mortgage this year in the United States? Not very many.
If the thing you buy most frequently is up in price, you&#8217;re going to feel pressed. If the thing you buy once every 20 years is down in price, you&#8217;re not going to feel that quite as much because your last comp wasn&#8217;t last year, your last comp was probably ten years ago, or 15 or 20 years ago. If your last mortgage was taken out at 2.5% under the George W. Bush administration, and your new mortgage is being taken out at 5.75% under the Trump administration, you&#8217;re going to feel like things are more expensive, even though the mortgage rates are down from where they were a year or two ago.
But I&#8217;ve been saying for a while that “affordability” is a weasel word.
Affordability is vague. Affordability is a feeling. You can&#8217;t ask people, “Are things affordable?” and expect them to say yes. Virtually no one who is not truly wealthy thinks of things as “affordable.” For most of my life, everything felt unaffordable, and then at a certain point, we achieved a certain level of income where things felt more affordable.
But you have to move dramatically up in the income ladder in order for things to feel “affordable.” When you think about whether things are affordable or not, what you mean is, am I thinking about the price of the thing that I am buying?
“Affordability” is a feeling. It&#8217;s not a statistical fact.
Thus, President Trump dove into the facts, which was necessary and good.

President Trump Delivers Oval Office Address To The Nation

Trump Pushes The ‘Affordability’ Reset Button 

Affordable

Ben Shapiro

Democrats

Opinion

Inflation cooled in November, coming in lower than what economists predicted, a win for President Donald Trump as he becomes more aggressive in his messaging on the economy.
The consumer price index <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm">report</a> released on Thursday shows that prices rose by 2.7% year-over-year, a drop from the 3% rate shown in the most recent report in September. The 2.7% rate is the lowest overall inflation reading since June and surprised experts who predicted that inflation would jump above 3%.
The Trump administration celebrated Thursday&#8217;s report and pointed to another metric, which shows that key services inflation has fallen to its lowest level since March of 2021. The key services inflation gauge, which takes out housing and energy costs and is closely tracked by the Federal Reserve, also came in at 2.7%.
&#8220;Thanks to @POTUS’ pro-worker economic policies, inflation has fallen to the lowest level since March of 2021,&#8221; <a href="https://x.com/SecretaryLCD/status/2001690975052148759">said</a> Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer. &#8220;The facts are clear: President Trump is making progress to fix the affordability crisis caused by Biden and deliver relief for hardworking Americans.&#8221;
Zooming in on specific items in the consumer price index, food increased 2.6% year-over-year, while energy jumped 4.2%. Electricity was up 6.9% over the past year, and natural gas was up 9.1%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. November&#8217;s report comes after the federal government did not release a consumer price index report in October due to the record-breaking government shutdown.
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Harvard Economics and Public Policy Professor Ken Rogoff <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/2001652780134732233">told</a> CNN that he was &#8220;surprised&#8221; by the inflation report.
&#8220;It was a better number than anyone was expecting,&#8221; Rogoff said, adding, &#8220;People were expecting it to be above 3%. It was well below 3%. I think the president will take this as good news. The investors will think that interest rates will get cut more. So, it was positive news. There&#8217;s no other way to spin it.&#8221;
The stock market also reacted positively to the news, with the Dow Jones, S&amp;P 500, and Nasdaq all making gains on Thursday.
Trump has been focusing on his economic messaging in recent weeks as the Republican Party gears up for the 2026 midterm elections. The president has blasted Democrats over their focus on the so-called affordability crisis, which he calls a &#8220;hoax&#8221; and argues that his economic policies are fixing the &#8220;mess&#8221; that he was left by former President Joe Biden.
Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/live-updates-president-trump-addresses-nation-from-white-house">addressed</a> the nation from the Oval Office on Wednesday night, touting his economic policies and announcing a &#8220;warrior dividend&#8221; of $1,776 for American service members. During his address, Trump also highlighted his aggressive immigration policies, arguing that the illegal immigrants who flooded the country under Biden had a negative impact on the U.S. economy.
Trump is set to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-targets-battleground-north-carolina-to-spotlight-his-economic-record?author=Cameron+Arcand&amp;category=undefined&amp;elementPosition=1&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;title=Trump+Targets+Battleground+North+Carolina+To+Spotlight+His+Economic+Record">visit</a> North Carolina, an important battleground state in the upcoming midterms, on Friday for the next stop on his tour, bringing his economic message directly to his supporters. North Carolina will be the second stop on Trump&#8217;s economy tour after he visited Pennsylvania last week.

Inflation Report Surprises Economists As Key Metric Drops To Lowest Level Since 2021

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