Pete Responds to Breaking Inflation News, Live on Squawk Box

Joining us right now is Pete Buttigieg. Of course, he is the former Transportation Secretary under President Biden. And, Secretary, thank you for being with us this morning.

Thanks for having me on.

When I first looked at the notes, I kind of laughed, because we said we were going to have you on to talk about a reaction to the numbers. I said we're not actually talking to him about a reaction to the numbers, but they did say you were interested in speaking about inflation. So let's start there. We got these numbers not as hot as had been anticipated, but we knew that energy prices were going to be higher, up 10 percent this time around. Food prices up 0 percent, but there are concerns those will rise down the road. What are your thoughts on where we stand right now?

Yeah, as feared, inflation is up. And the big thing that's different right now, I think, is that in many periods in American history, including recent history, you've had inflation and then the administration does things to try to reduce it. Sometimes they succeed, sometimes they fail, but the administration is trying to push prices down normally. Right now we have the administration actively making prices higher. They're actively making goods prices higher with the tariffs obviously. Typical family paid about thousand bucks more for that. They're actively making energy prices higher with the tariffs, obviously. Typical family paid about $1,000 more for that.

They're actively making energy prices higher by killing energy transmission projects as well as generation projects. And they're, of course, actively making energy prices higher with a war that nobody wanted, nobody asked for. And that, of course, is the direct reason

why inflation is higher now than it was before. I see your point up there. You see inflation tripling from last month, not because the administration tried and failed to lower prices, you could put it that way, but really because they actively increased

them.

I see your point with tariffs. That's certainly valid when you look at some of these issues. But with the war, the administration obviously thinks it was going after security issue with Iran, with a player that potentially was very close to having a nuclear weapon.

That right there is a huge fail for the White House because they assured us that the nuclear program was obliterated a year ago. Moreover, we've seen that it's possible, or at least it used to be possible before U.S. credibility was demolished by this White House, to stop Iran from having a nuclear weapon through diplomacy. I believe the president started this war because he wanted to. And now we're in a situation where you've got a war that we didn't need to have.

Iran has enormous leverage now. Certainly their military has been degraded. But let's be very clear about why the president backed down. Why did the president back down from his demands? Let's start with just the prospect. Why is the president taking a weaker position than he started with?

Let's start with just the prospect of the war to begin with. Yeah. Look, the argument that he started this because he wanted to, there are plenty of people who think there is a very real threat of nuclear. It was presented through intelligence. Israel had an opportunity to really take and strike at this point. And as for diplomacy, that was sunsetting anyway. Anything that was

sunsetting, it was it was detonated. It was going to sunset if it hadn't already.

They were lying about everything in the-

Right. The idea of they had much longer range missiles than they ever admitted to.

Compliance problems for sure.

We've seen all of that play out.

But the point is they had been stopped from getting anywhere near a nuclear weapon. And last year the president assured us that he ended their nuclear ambitions. If he wants to come clean with the American people that he failed to do that, then he has to say that before he launches a war.

Democrats at that time said, no, you haven't. And then you have.

Clearly he hadn't.

Clearly that he hadn't. So then we needed to go. We needed to go back and take care of it unless you really think it's OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon. But again, they don't have a nuclear weapon. were about to get a nuclear weapon i do you know why he said they were about to go and see what cost of a enough vision successful but terrible uh... for eleven bombs are you are not only the

president lied when he said i don't know what it is no one knew what happened before you know where he was like a purchase

what is that really the the the point whether or not he is a mighty well you know i think i would have been with being knew it was obliterated or not is not the point. If it wasn't obliterated, then you have to do something. You can't go back and say, well, you lied about this so that we can't, now we can't

actually do what we need to do. Joe, America is weaker because the president launched this war.

That's your opinion.

No, no, but it's clear, and I'll tell you why. because we have a problem with your data say the world is a safer place he just said that he has today he's job is to butter up the president but the pro why do you think the president chickened out on his demand why do you think the president backed off of his demand the president's back off of which demand unconditional surrender right now instead of unconditional surrender which is the president's imagine one month this is not over yet number number one is this unconditional

so i don't know what it's gonna end up i'll tell you what we've got a great reopens again and they're going to be a real navy so the best-case scenario is the straight being open the straight was open before he started this and meanwhile close to having a nuclear weapon eleven nuclear weapons we had other ways of dealing with what obama's way that working that did not work did they get a little bit under obama they will get a new or what was enough within months and the president again

assured us the whole point of bombing of last year was to quote unquote obliterate his finger i understand that and look at what i'm saying this is somebody knows what it's like to be sent to war that's by u s president i'm with the president sends you or

when you're buddies are on that great tailplane going into a war zone, you do it with some level of confidence, some level of assurance that your chain of command, all the President of the United States would not do this if they

didn't have a choice. Now that we're there, do you hope this has a successful outcome? There were 40,000 Iranians that were slaughtered by the same regime. 47 years of killing Americans, stirring trouble all around the world with

proxies. And how do you feel about that regime being left intact by this president? I thought we

were getting rid of him.

That's going to be the case, and I don't know what might happen.

It's the case now.

It's the case now. Is that an argument for, our economy can recover, that we're not paying so much for gas. I mean, right now, oil's $100, jet fuel's $200, gas is over $4, diesel's like $5.50. You averaged $3.80 under Biden for four years. Yeah, and when we left, inflation was lower than it is today. You accounted for 21 and a half percent

pricing. This president took inflation rate up. It's 2.7 percent. It's more than 3 percent year-on-year. You saw the numbers just come out. It's more than 3 percent year-on-year. Okay. Isn't it? It is. The math is direct. It fluctuates from 2. think it's a good way to see what's going to seven to three percent it's higher than when he got a lot nine percent his central campaign promises he was going to take inflation and write it down instead it's

not a national and it's a set i thought that in in the family was three when he got here and now it's more it could not be simpler than that it's around three and we're involved in a war he said on day one it would go down he came in on day one and now it's up

it's up to three percent it was twenty one and a half percent price on this

it would go down for years

over four years it was twenty one and a half percent on this is what you are on democrats only affordability listen to me why did the president's they'll have to be a part of the democrats only affordability crisis why did the president failed to keep his promise to lower prices? In your opinion.

I'm laughing because this piece of it is basic. The president did say that he wanted to be in office to bring inflation down, and he has not brought inflation down. That's all.

He drove it up. He not only failed, he drove it up.

Mr. Secretary, let's talk about-

Terrorists have had a minimal effect on- You tell a family where I live that a thousand dollars per household is minimal from the twenty one and a half percent increase that you're the Democrats. We can we can argue all day about just how bad covid was and how bad it got and what it took. And that you call it where I live. A thousand bucks per household isn't minimal. Now you found now Democrats found religion on inflation after presiding over the worst inflation in forty years now you found it's twenty twenty six

and they're in charge you guys are in charge i'm aware of that do differently but what do you do differently to make the prices actually go down like you promised here were one we've got to get through this war and and you've heard people get to this war we didn't have to get through this war and you've heard people... We've got to get through this war, we didn't have to be fighting this war. What are we doing?

That's a matter of opinion, you can't say that.

It's a matter of opinion that I share with most Americans and a large number of Republicans and a whole bunch of MAGA people who bought into this president because they actually

believed in what he said he would get us through the war.

He's got 75% Republican approval for the war. party but the point is that the the the medical insurance are going to provide anything i'm talking about americans americans disapprove of the president and their right

he's got the same approval rating other presidents have had at this point in the

trip for a little bit about this president right now is unpopular for very good reasons one of which is no more than a lot of other by was at the same term of at the same point of his presidency that depends on which poll you're looking at but by a large now i'm sorry but like

i've been on the trail i was in margie taylor greens district margie taylor

green

this is a trump plus thirty eight district or what's i've seen that we have a five hundred people to get a chance to prove that in november this year we have a chance to prove it last week the senate might go, i understand presidents make difficult decisions

obviously

but usually they make difficult decisions to try to make other people better off this president's made decisions to make himself better off, that's definitely happened if you're the kind of person who can pay a million bucks for the entry fee to mar-a-lago then you're doing great but everybody else is hurting right now.

Mr. Secretary, let's talk about a few things that fell under your former purview when you look at transportation. One of the issues we're dealing with right now is government shutdown that's been affecting the TSA agents. Obviously, the president has started paying them. The lines have gone down, but when you combine that with the shortage we have with air traffic controllers, I think

a lot of people feel less safe in the air right now. What happened? How do we fix it?

Here's what I can tell you. For about three decades, the number of air traffic controllers in this country went down. We worked hard to make it go back up and I was the first secretary in decades to hand my successor an air traffic control workforce that was growing instead of shrinking. When we left it was a little bit shy of 11,000. I know that right away air traffic controllers got an email that the notorious Elon email saying you should go work in the private sector

instead. Then there was the scramble saying, oh, we didn't mean you, you should stay. The last time I saw the secretary in front of Congress testifying on whether the number was going up and down, we didn't get a clear answer.

So I don't know exactly- We lost more than 300 because of the government shutdown. Say again?

We lost more than 300- Yeah, controllers, let's remember- And I'm sorry, I'm confusing 300 with the TSA agents,

not with the controllers.

But these controllers do such an important job and such a good job. And we forget sometimes the track record of US aviation safety over the last 10, 20 years

compared to driving. I just wonder

if we're stretching them to these extreme lengths. Absolutely. Accident that happened Not that this was because of this, they're still investigating it, but there were only two air traffic controllers in the tower at that point, one of whom was responsible for landing active flights, dealing with a crisis, and trying to guide a fire crew across an active runway.

Yeah, and it's not just how many are in the tower, but when you have fewer on the bench, more of them are working overtime, or they're working these tough schedules, then you're going to have fatigue issues. We did a whole project on fatigue. I trust and expect that the FAA currently is working on this. All of this is to say, look, I've got my differences with my successor. Obviously one area where I'm rooting for

him to succeed and for the FAA to succeed is to get more controllers, to get the technology up to speed. These implementations are notoriously complicated.

You're not for the way the democrats orchestrated to shut down of the government

but i don't know what your traffic controllers but what we need we look at that but i want to make sure is that they're not that that's why they're not that that the tsa agents are not not being paid because of the government shutdown they can be paid at the stroke of a pen by this president by the future, if you carve out, but the government is shut down.

That part is shut down, partial shutdown because of Democrats.

Well, no, they're shut down because Speaker Johnson refuses to even have an up or down vote on the bipartisan compromise.

That's a compromise, but you're closing down the government.

Yeah, it's a compromise.

That's how you solve problems. I will say, Jay Johnson was here he was the former does secretary of home and you don't like when republicans do it and he said nobody should be dealing with any government shutdowns no matter who's in power those are look this is i think

well and you said well we learn from the probably so we learn from republicans well i know what i said you guys started it but but but but what we start on being a little playful about that but can we all agree that this is no way to run a ballclub i was looking up the last time that a budget actually got, the last time a budget actually got passed on time, like all 12 appropriations in the whole budget, was in the 90s. And by the way, on time means on the eve of the new fiscal year. Is there anybody who runs a company of any size who would approve their budget

the day before the new fiscal year, let alone months into the new fiscal year. This is insane. And it's one of many, many, many things we're doing in this country, acting as if it's normal. None of this is normal. It's not normal to fail to have a budget or an appropriation before the deadline. It's not normal to have our Congress as out of whack as it is. If I were to sit here and say the system is broken, you'd roll your eyes because that's something everybody, it's a stock phrase right now. It's a cliche because it's so obviously true you'd roll your eyes because that's something everybody, it's a stock phrase right now. It's a cliche because it's so obviously true

Why do we keep behaving like it's not right? Mr. Secretary want to thank you very much for coming in today. We appreciate your time