The Media Begins to Turn Against Trump
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Why is diesel hitting a record $6.44 per gallon and what does it mean for the economy?
September 18, 2026. According to the American Automobile Association, diesel hit its highest recorded average price today at just above $6.44 per gallon. Diesel moves most of the consumer goods in the United States. Iran's news agency reported today that a political advisor to Iran's supreme leader said Iran would not reopen the Strait of Hormuz until President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are removed from power. As the conflict drags on with no coherent U.S. strategy, J.P. Morgan wrote yesterday, we simply don't know how to model the endgame. Today, Bloomberg reported that Saudi Arabia has told European refiners that they will not be receiving crude oil next month because of the shutdown of the East-West pipeline.
John Storr of the editorial board noted that the economic pain of this moment seems to be turning the media against Trump. He called attention to a hard-hitting piece in the Washington Post yesterday by Evan Halper, Rachel Chasen, and Joyce Sohyun Lee, warning of huge jumps in the prices of gasoline and diesel, despite the Trump administration's assurances. Trump responded to this shift in coverage this afternoon by announcing he is banning CNN, MSNOW, and Politico from the White House. Media outlets shouldn't be able to constantly write or report fiction and lies when they're covering the President of the United States, the Trump administration, or the United States of America, Trump wrote. Other fake news media outlets to follow.
Trump's anger at the press was probably fed today by three scoops. Katie Bo Lillis and Zachary Cohen of CNN reported that this spring, the US military set out to intercept a Chinese ship in the Middle East after an intelligence report said it was carrying components for a nuclear weapons program.
How is the Iran‑Israel leadership conflict influencing the Strait of Hormuz and U.S. strategy?
After preparing to board the ship and sending up planes, officials realized that the report had been generated by AI. It was, a source told the reporters, entirely false, but it almost started a war. Audrey Decker and Mark Satter of Politico reported that a shipment of F-35 fighter jet parts headed from Australia to the U.S. for repairs this summer was diverted to Hong Kong and disappeared, raising the possibility that China could have accessed key components of a highly classified U.S. weapons system. Noah Robertson, Tara Kopp, Warren B. Strobel, and Alex Horton of The Washington Post reported today that at least four more U.S. service members have died in the Middle East during the Iran war than the Department of Defense has announced.
Three military contractors have also died since the combat began. Trump's fury at MSNOW might have come from Joe Scarborough, who noted on Morning Joe this morning that the latest Fox News poll showed that people trust Democrats more than Republicans to handle inflation and prices by 15 points, 55 percent to 40 percent. In 2022, the advantage went to Republicans by 49% to 40%. Scarborough noted that Republicans are beginning to break from Trump. All of these crises, the price crisis caused by the oil crisis, caused by the Iran crisis, which has created a military crisis while the country is staggering under a deportation crisis, appear finally to be making some Republicans rethink their support for Trump and his policies.
On Monday, the editorial board of the Wall Street Journal reported that although Republican lawmakers are celebrating Trump's tariffs in public, they are privately seeking exemptions from tariffs for manufacturers in their own state. Tariffs for thee, exemptions for me, the board wrote in a piece detailing the efforts of Senator Katie Britt of Alabama to stop tariffs in private while praising them in public. The board explained that this lie shows why blunderbuss trade wars are an economic mistake, along with how tariffs deepen the D.C.
What prompted President Trump to ban CNN, MSNOW, and Politico from the White House?
swamp. Big companies can push their interests through a senator, it noted. But who speaks for the little guy being walloped? In the New Republic, Greg Sargent reported that Trump's super PAC, called MAGA Inc., has just begun to pour $100 million into the midterms.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
Why is diesel hitting a record $6.44 per gallon and what does it mean for the economy?
0:07–2:18
2
How is the Iran‑Israel leadership conflict influencing the Strait of Hormuz and U.S. strategy?
2:18–4:52
3
What prompted President Trump to ban CNN, MSNOW, and Politico from the White House?
4:52–7:19
4
How did an AI‑generated intelligence report almost start a war with China?
7:19–9:30
5
Why did a shipment of F‑35 parts disappear en route to Hong Kong and what are the security implications?
9:30–11:42
6
What evidence shows Republicans are privately rejecting Trump’s tariffs while publicly praising them?
11:42–13:20
7
Why are prominent Republicans endorsing Democrats in key races and what does it signal for the GOP?
13:20–14:38