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Is The War on Iran Unlawful And Unfair To U.S. Troops?

Is The War on Iran Unlawful And Unfair To U.S. Troops?

Protestors holding signs, many that say "Stop Bombing Iran."

Trump’s ‘Just for Fun’ War Talk Shows a Dangerous Trivialization

Disinformation Wins: Justifying ICE Murders through Transphobia

Disinformation Wins: Justifying ICE Murders through Transphobia

Republican scheming backfires in Texas election

Republican scheming backfires in Texas election

Trump: The King of Fake

Trump: The King of Fake

Have prices increased 40 percent to 50 percent since Trump left office?

Bar graph of shopping carts
Andriy Onufriyenko/Getty Images
Hallie Claflin, Wisconsin Watch
By Hallie Claflin, Wisconsin WatchJul 04, 2024
Hallie Claflin, Wisconsin Watch
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This fact brief was originally published by Wisconsin Watch. Read the original here. Fact briefs are published by newsrooms in the Gigafact network, and republished by The Fulcrum. Visit Gigafact to learn more.

Have prices increased 40 percent to 50 percent since Trump left office?

No.

Cumulative inflation since former President Donald Trump left office in January 2021 through May 2024 was 20.1 percent according to data from the Federal Reserve’s Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, or CPI-U.

Trump told a crowd on June 18 in Racine, Wis., that "real inflation" is more than twice that.

Americans have experienced significant price increases since Biden took office, but they aren’t close to the 40-50% inflation that Trump suggested. The Russian invasion of Ukraine and the pandemic have been the main causes of inflation during Biden’s presidency.

Inflation is measured by a price index to examine the change in prices of many different goods and services. The CPI-U is one of the most common ways to measure inflation. This system is based on spending patterns of urban consumers and measures the monthly change in prices paid for a theoretical market basket of goods and services.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: All Items in U.S. City Average (CPIAUCNS)

CNBC Trump attacks Biden for 'through the roof' prices—here's how much they've actually risen since 2021

CNBC Why is inflation so high? An economist explains why everyday essentials cost more

CNBC Why is inflation so high? An economist explains why everyday essentials cost more

National Bureau of Economic Research Unpacking the Causes of Pandemic-Era Inflation in the US

Federal Reserve System What is inflation and how does the Federal Reserve evaluate changes in the rate of inflation?

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index Frequently Asked Questions : U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics


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Is the U.S. at "War" with Iran?

A woman sifts through the rubble in her house in the Beryanak District after it was damaged by missile attacks two days before, on March 15, 2026, in Tehran, Iran.

(Photo by Majid Saeedi/Getty Images)

Is the U.S. at "War" with Iran?

This question is not an exercise in double-talk. It is critical to understand the power that our Constitution grants exclusively to Congress, and the power that resides in the President as Commander-in-Chief of the military.

The Constitution clearly states that Congress has the power to declare war. The President does not have that power. The War Powers Resolution of 1973 recognizes that distribution of power by saying that a President can only introduce military force into an existing or imminent hostility if Congress has declared war or specifically authorized the President to use military force, or there is a national emergency created by an attack on the U.S.

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Republicans aren’t willing to call the war in Iran what it is

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (left) and Admiral Charles Bradford "Brad" Cooper II, Commander of US Central Command, speak during a press conference at US Central Command (CENTCOM) headquarters at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, on March 5, 2026.

(Octavio Jones/AFP via Getty Images/TNS)

Republicans aren’t willing to call the war in Iran what it is

Let's state the obvious: We’re at war with Iran.

My evidence? Turn on your TV. U.S. forces, working with Israel, killed the supreme leader of Iran and many of his top aides. We sunk Iran’s navy and destroyed most of their air force. We bombed thousands of military sites across the region. President Trump, the commander in chief, has demanded “unconditional surrender” from Iran. He routinely refers to this as a “war.” Pete Hegseth, who calls himself the secretary of war, also describes this as a war daily, such as last week when he said, “We set the terms of this war.”

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Selling War Like a Brand Is Disrespectful to Those Truly in Harm’s Way

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Selling War Like a Brand Is Disrespectful to Those Truly in Harm’s Way

Each day in America as late morning approaches, families of service members stationed in the Middle East probably grow nervous as nightfall nears seven time zones away. On military bases or aircraft carriers, pilots are fueling up and taking off for missions over Iran. In countries across both sides of the Persian Gulf, civilians await the terror of missiles and bombs whistling through the darkness.

Back home, a mother worries about her son in his plane. A spouse, with a young child, worries about their service member while balancing the everyday stresses of holding a family together. At night, the seriousness of war emerges, and the distant drumbeats pound amid the silence.

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