Peter Schiff Says Trump’s Real Inflation Sin Was COVID Spending, Not ‘Starting a War’

Investor Peter Schiff said on Sunday that President Donald Trump‘s share of the blame for inflation and the affordability crisis stems from signing off on massive deficit spending during COVID in his first term, rather than the war with Iran.

COVID-Era Spending Blame

“Trump’s share of the blame for inflation and the affordability crisis isn’t his mistake of starting a war, but the mistakes he made during his first term by signing off on massive increases in deficit spending during COVID,” Schiff said on X.

He added that spending set the stage for the surge in consumer prices under Joe Biden‘s presidency.

Trump’s share of the blame for inflation and the affordability crisis isn’t his mistake of starting a war, but the mistakes he made during his first term by signing off on massive increases in deficit spending during COVID. That’s what led to soaring consumer prices under Biden.

— Peter Schiff (@PeterSchiff) October 4, 2026

National Debt Has Climbed to $40.2 Trillion

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimated in January 2024 that the laws and executive orders Trump signed carried a 10-year cost of $8.4 trillion.

COVID relief laws and executive orders accounted for $3.6 trillion of that, with the CARES Act alone at $1.9 trillion.

The national debt now stands at $40.20 trillion, equal to 126% of GDP, according to the U.S. Debt Clock.

The federal government has spent $1.97 trillion more than it has collected so far in fiscal 2026, according to the Treasury’s Fiscal Data.

Energy Pushes Inflation Higher As Fed Hikes

Year-over-year inflation averaged 2.46% during Trump’s first term and 4.95% under Biden, peaking at 9.1% in June 2022.

The Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, held at 3.4% in August, up from a year earlier, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Core PCE was 3.0%, a full percentage point above the Fed’s 2% target. Energy was the biggest source of price pressure, with energy goods and services up 2.3% on the month and gasoline and other energy goods up 4.4%.

The Fed raised rates to 3.75%-4.00% last month, a 25-basis-point hike and its first since 2023.

Traders now see a 77.9% chance of a hold on Oct. 28, per CME FedWatch, and a 22.1% chance of another quarter-point hike.

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

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