Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council (NEC), looked at a September inflation report showing prices up 3.7 percent year over year and saw what he described as "a whole bunch of good news." This is the kind of optimism that can only be mustered by someone whose job title contains the word "economic" and whose boss contains the word "Trump."

Speaking to NewsNation's Hannah Brandt at the White House, Hassett acknowledged the latest consumer price index (CPI) showed a "surge in energy prices" - which he promptly deemed "temporary." Annual inflation rose from 3.4 percent in August to 3.7 percent in September, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Energy prices spiked by 5.2 percent from August to September and were up 20.4 percent year over year. "Temporary" is doing some heavy lifting there, much like the phrase "worth it" does in the next paragraph.

"But there's a whole bunch of good news in the report," Hassett told Brandt, presumably pointing at the parts of the report that weren't the actual inflation numbers. He noted that food prices held steady from August to September, while prescription drug prices fell by 1.2 percent - proof that at least two categories in the American economy are not actively on fire.

President Trump has touted his administration's direct-to-consumer drug platform, TrumpRx, which launched earlier this year. The platform's name suggests it will either lower your prescription costs or send you a strongly worded email at 3 a.m.

"My expectation is that the strength of all the things that we've been doing in terms of getting food prices down and getting drug prices down, that strength is going to motor through," Hassett remarked. "Motor through" is not a technical economic term, but it does sound confident.

CPI inflation in September reached its highest point since May, when prices were up 4.2 percent year over year. Core annual inflation, which excludes the more volatile food and energy prices - the ones currently doing the volatility - was also 2.6 percent last month, up from 2.4 percent in August. The BLS reported that a 9.1 percent monthly increase in gas prices accounted for more than half of the monthly rise in prices. Gas and diesel cost more than $4 and $6 per gallon on average, respectively, amid the ongoing Iran war. Your commute is now a geopolitical event.

Matthew Middleton, a spokesperson for the White House, told NewsNation that Trump "has always been clear about temporary disruptions" from the Iran war. Trump has argued higher prices at the pump are worth it for the U.S. military to eliminate Iran's nuclear capabilities - a cost-benefit analysis you can conduct yourself the next time you fill up.

"While Democrats pretend to care about 'affordability' this administration has delivered tangible wins to make life more affordable for American families," Middleton added, referencing the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and job growth under Trump. The bill's name remains the most confident piece of legislation since the Patriot Act.

Hassett also blamed the Biden administration, telling Brandt that Americans "were worse off" due to the former president's policies. But inflation in December 2024, Biden's final full month in office, was 2.9 percent. Inflation reached a 40-year high in June 2022, hitting 9.1 percent as measured by the CPI. History, as it turns out, has receipts.

Real average hourly earnings last month were down 0.5 percent from August, the BLS reported, as inflation outpaced wage growth. So the good news is that food prices held steady - the less good news is that your paycheck technically bought less of it.

Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, said Wednesday the latest inflation data was "painful" and showed inflation is "a lot more broad-based and entrenched" in the economy than economists thought. "It was a tough report all around," Long told The Hill. "The more that you look through the details, the more troubling it became." Which is, one supposes, a whole bunch of bad news - depending on where you're standing.