This post is part of a series chronicling news coverage of rising prices in the United States. See more here.
KAAL TV in Austin, Minnesota, reports on the Iran war, Trump, and inflation: “The Iran war has lasted 3 months, with each month seeing a rise in inflation, and one expert says we should plan on getting used to this”
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From a June 11, 2026, video uploaded to the YouTube channel of KAAL TV ABC 6 News
HANNA HOLLAND (ANCHOR): President Trump made a promise to voters on the campaign trail to lower inflation after the Biden administration saw prices rise 9.1% after COVID. But, now the president is saying he feels different about inflation. ABC 6 News reporter Alex Karwowski took a look at the latest report from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics to see how this data compared to what we saw after the pandemic. He joins us now live in the studio. And Alex, what did you find?
ALEX KARWOWSKI (REPORTER): Hanna, two years after the peak of COVID, we saw prices go up 9.1%. And now three months into the war with Iran, the inflation rate is at 4.2%. And like you said, the president seems to have had a change of heart on the topic.
DONALD TRUMP: Her radical liberal policies have caused horrific inflation, decimated the middle class.
KARWOWSKI: That was President Trump on the campaign trail back in 2024, a strong supporter of bringing down inflation rates.
TRUMP: You know what I really love? I love the inflation. You know why? We've been taking out millions of barrels of oil.
KARWOWSKI: That was him on Wednesday, a sharp contrast from just two years ago. During this time in 2022 when Joe Biden was in office, the inflation rate was 9.1%, 2 years after its peak in 2020.
Meanwhile, the Iran war has lasted 3 months, with each month seeing a rise in inflation, and one expert says we should plan on getting used to this.
TYLER SCHIPPER (UNIVERSITY OF ST. THOMAS ECONOMICS PROFESSOR): I think it's easier to say over the next 6 months or so, we should expect these prices probably to, for this inflation rate to stay elevated. And the reason for that is that what you're seeing in this report is that most of the effects still are focused on food and energy prices.
KARWOWSKI: In other words, shoppers at this local grocery store are needing to change the way they budget.
SHOPPER 1: They're just going crazy. COVID was one thing, but that's been over for a while.
SHOPPER 2: Food, I have to shop a lot smarter and be more strategic, so I spend more time than I do money, probably, thinking about what I'm going to feed my family now.
KARWOWSKI: And here in the Midwest, we're seeing a higher rate than the rest of the country at 5%. But the good news is we could see gas prices start to come down pretty soon.
SCHIPPER: We are pumping more oil in the United States at any point in history, and so we should be able to have gasoline prices come down. It's just going to take some time for that to happen.
KARWOWSKI: As for when we could eventually see gas prices return to 2025 levels, Dr. Schipper says that probably won't happen until next year.