It seemed like a straightforward question. During a Q&A with reporters last week, Donald Trump was asked, “When you’re negotiating with Iran, Mr. President, to what extent are American financial situations motivating you to make a deal?”

Without hesitating, the president replied, “Not even a little bit.” The Republican added that, as part of his focus on preventing Iran from having nuclear weapons, “I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation. I don’t think about anybody.”

It was a brutal quote, not only because of its callousness, but because Trump has spent so much time proving the underlying point true. As my MS NOW colleague Zeeshan Aleem added, “The truth, in this case, is that Trump obviously doesn’t care about ordinary Americans’ financial well-being. It’s sticky not just because he said it, but because he has long been acting like it.”

As last week came to an end, the president sat down with Fox News’ Bret Baier, who offered his guest an opportunity to walk back the rhetoric. He did the opposite.

“That’s a perfect statement; I’d make it again,” Trump said. He added, “Very simple, when people hear me say it, everybody agrees.”

As the interview progressed, the president went on to concede that he’s imposing “a little pain” on Americans (phrasing that echoed his rhetoric from last year about his tariffs agenda), though he insisted the “pain” is temporary and ultimately will be reversed after the war in Iran ends.

When Baier asked Trump to respond to the concerns of a retired farmer in Pennsylvania who said he’s struggling with his finances, the president boasted as part of his answer, “We just hit the highest stock market price ever.”

The comments came the same week that he claimed he had successfully lowered prices “incredibly” (that hasn’t happened), which followed similar claims about a “very substantial” drop in gas prices (that also hasn’t happened).

If he were trying to appear out of touch, this is the script he would stick to.

The New York Times spoke to a Republican strategist based in Arizona who helped contextualize matters nicely: “He flaunted his wealth, and people didn’t mind. But now it’s sort of like: ‘Wow, you’re really not feeling our pain, you are adding to our pain, and on top of that, you don’t care about our pain.’ That could lead to political problems for him.”

The latest national New York Times/Siena poll found that Americans disapprove of the president’s handling of every issue, but he fared worst on his handling of the cost of living, with just 28% of the public backing Trump’s efforts, while 69% disapprove.

His “perfect” statements apparently aren’t persuading the American mainstream.

This post updates our related earlier coverage.

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