Here & Now

Wisconsin's U.S. Senators on War with Iran and Inflation

Frederica Freyberg:
After trading new airstrikes with Iran this week, President Trump suddenly announced a deal was imminent and could be signed this weekend. This comes after inflation reached a new high since the conflict began. Wisconsin’s U.S. senators spoke with WPR this week, responding to questions about high fuel costs and fertilizer prices for farmers.

Tammy Baldwin:
A lot of them don’t have the money right now to fill their tanks for planting season and then fertilizer, many of our farmers are having to do without the full complement of fertilizer that they need for their fields. This is going to have ramifications for months and months to come. And our farmers work harder than anyone I know. So, you know, there may be a glitzy rally that the president holds in Wisconsin, but that does nothing to deal with the real harm our farmers and ultimately the American consumers of their products will have to deal with.

Ron Johnson:
In June of 2022, because of President Biden and the Democrats’ policy, they’re waging the war on fossil fuels, average gasoline prices were $5 a gallon. Yeah. I don’t like the high fuel prices, the high fertilizer prices. Nor does President Trump know, nor do any of us. But I also recognize that what would be far worse is if Iran became a nuclear power and they wiped out our grid. That would be orders and orders of magnitude worse as well. So hopefully this is just short-term pain. It is painful, I recognize that, but that’s why the sooner this war — the sooner we win this war, the better for everybody.