Trump adviser sees ‘a whole bunch of good news’ in inflation report

Kevin Hassett, the director of the National Economic Council (NEC), said Wednesday he sees a “bunch of good news” in the latest inflation report, which measured prices as up 3.7 percent year over year in September.

Speaking to NewsNation’s Hannah Brandt at the White House, Hassett said the latest consumer price index (CPI) showed a “surge in energy prices,” which he deemed “temporary.”

Annual inflation rose from 3.4 percent in August to 3.7 percent last month, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Energy prices also spiked by 5.2 percent from August to September and were up by 20.4 percent year over year.

“But there’s a whole bunch of good news in the report,” Hassett told Brandt.

The NEC director noted that food prices held steady from August to September, while the price of prescription drugs fell by 1.2 percent.

President Trump has touted his administration’s direct-to-consumer drug platform, TrumpRx, which launched earlier this year.

“My expectation is that the strength of all the things that we’ve been doing in terms of getting food prices down and getting drug prices down, that strength is going to motor through,” Hassett remarked.

CPI inflation in September reached its highest point since May, when prices were up 4.2 percent year over year. Core annual inflation, which does not include more volatile food and energy prices, was also 2.6 percent last month — up from 2.4 percent in August.

The 9.1 percent monthly increase in gas prices accounted for more than half of the monthly rise in prices, the BLS reported. Gas and diesel cost more than $4 and $6 per gallon on average, respectively, amid the ongoing Iran war.

Matthew Middleton, a spokesperson for the White House, told NewsNation that Trump “has always been clear about temporary disruptions” from the Iran war.

Trump has argued higher prices at the pump are worth it for the U.S. military to eliminate Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

“While Democrats pretend to care about ‘affordability’ this administration has delivered tangible wins to make life more affordable for American families,” Middleton added, referencing the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and job growth under Trump.

Hassett also blamed the Biden administration, telling Brandt that Americans “were worse off” due to the former president’s policies.

But inflation in December 2024, Biden’s final full month in office, was 2.9 percent. Inflation reached a 40-year high in June 2022, reaching 9.1 percent, as measured by the CPI.

Real average hourly earnings last month were down 0.5 percent from August, the BLS reported, as inflation outpaced wage growth.

Heather Long, the chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, said Wednesday the latest inflation data was “painful” and showed inflation is “a lot more broad-based and entrenched” in the economy than what economists thought.

“It was a tough report all around,” Long told The Hill. “The more that you look through the details, the more troubling it became.”