Trump says fuel prices contributed to Republican midterm defeats
Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the results of the US midterm elections offered the world an opportunity to unite around the cost of living. Speaking to broadcasters at the Commonwealth leaders summit after the elections, in which Donald Trump’s Republicans suffered heavy losses, Burnham said US voters had said they wanted to “see the world coming together and focusing on the things that matter to people.”
Asked whether he thought the results might make the US president more unpredictable, Burnham said: “President Trump has accepted the results, and I feel the world has an opportunity now to unite around the issue that is affecting us all, and that’s the cost of living.”
Burnham said his government had placed the cost of living at the center of its work. “That has been the issue that I have put front and centre in my first three months in Downing Street, and we’ve made moves,” he said.
The prime minister said he could not ease cost-of-living pressures until the US’s conflict in Iran had been resolved. In his fuller response, he said: “But I can’t get people’s cost of living pressures down until the conflict in the Middle East is resolved, the conflict in Ukraine started by Russia.” Burnham promised to push for a resolution to the conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine after the US elections. He said: “These are the things we have to focus on now, and I hope the world has a moment to do that.” He added: “And certainly, in my calls with leaders, that is what I will be asking everybody to do.”
Separately, Donald Trump acknowledged that rising fuel prices caused by the Iran war had played a part in his party’s defeats. Telling Fox News, he said: “People agree with what I’m doing on Iran but they really probably weren’t willing to do the short term consequences of paying more for gasoline - I understand that.”
The subject of the US midterm elections was raised at Prime Minister’s Questions, which, in Burnham’s absence, was taken by Cabinet Office Minister Louise Haigh. Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper said American voters had rejected Trump’s “warmongering and the economic chaos that it has caused.” She expressed concern that the US president was planning further strikes on Iran and urged the government to “stand together with our reliable allies and send a clear message to Trump and Netanyahu: there must be no more strikes.”
Haigh replied: “The US are one of our most important allies and our priority absolutely is de-escalation.” She said the Iran war had been “catastrophic for the cost of living crisis.” Referring to the conflict with Iran, she said the Conservatives and Reform should “consider very carefully their judgment in calling for us to jump so readily into it.”
Trump has recently warned that the US and Israel could intensify strikes after the midterm elections if they were unable to reach an agreement with Iran. He told the Financial Times that the US was “locked and loaded if we need to go, but there may be no need for it.”
Indirect talks between the two sides have been stalled for months, and some analysts close to the Iran regime have suggested prolonging the negotiations in the hope that rising fuel costs would damage Trump electorally.
Although the US Congress, now controlled by the Democrats, can restrict funding, Trump will still have significant authority over foreign policy.