{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.murphy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/murphy-to-trump-stop-gaslighting-americans-on-iran-stop-using-the-war-for-your-corrupt-market-manipulation", "Murphy to Trump: Stop Gaslighting Americans on Iran, Stop Using the War for Your Corrupt Market Manipulation", "2026-08-07", "2026", "2026-08", "Democrat", "Senate", "CT", "Christopher Murphy", "M001169", "www.murphy.senate.gov", "chrismurphy", "https://www.murphy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) spoke on the floor of the U.S. Senate to call out President Trump\u2019s months-long gaslighting of the American public on the state of the Iran war. Murphy laid out how Trump\u2019s constant false promises of an imminent Iran war deal are part of a corruption scheme in which Trump manipulates the market with deal announcements so his friends and family can cash in. Murphy also slammed Trump\u2019s recent announcement of a $100,000 subscription for advance access to Trump\u2019s Truth Social posts as another clear example of Trump using the Iran war to facilitate insider trading and sell out America\u2019s national security for personal gain.\n\n\u201cThe war might be continuing, not just because of incompetence, but because the president has found a way to make money,\u201d said Murphy.\n\nMurphy explained how Trump\u2019s campaign of gaslighting and dishonesty works: \u201cHe gaslights. He tells lies. And the essential gaslight is that the war is about to end: \u2018Don't worry. Yes, it appears that there is no end. It appears that you're going to have to continue to pay these prices forever. It appears that America has no end game. But don't worry, the war is about to end.\u2019\u201d\n\nDetailing every instance of President Trump selling an \u201cimminent\u201d deal to the public, Murphy argued there are telling patterns in Trump\u2019s announcements of a deal: \u201cI just want to go through this pattern for you because it is really important to talk about the fact that the White House is just not being straight with the American public about what's going on in this war\u2026 [Trump] normally declares that the war is about to be over on Sunday night or Monday morning, right before the markets open. But now that we are six months into this war, we can see the pattern\u2026 On 11 different instances, Trump says, \u2018A deal is about to happen. Don't worry, the war is about to be over.\u2019 There's no deal. None of it is real.\u201d\n\nMurphy argued Trump\u2019s ceasefire announcements aren\u2019t random - they\u2019re a coordinated scheme for Trump to make money: \u201cHere's an explanation for why Trump continues to do this gaslighting, particularly right before the markets open. Trump announced, now a week or so ago, that if you pay him $100,000 a month, he will give you advance notice of American foreign policy decisions. That is a subscription service for insider trading, and it is unquestionably lucrative.\u201d\n\nHe slammed his Republican colleagues for staying silent even when they know President Trump is selling out our country\u2019s national security: \u201cCan any of my Republican colleagues defend the president selling announcements from the White House for $100,000 a month, in the middle of a war? Is any Republican senator willing to come down to this floor and defend the president of the United States setting up a subscription service for public policy announcements from the White House, so as to advantage certain players in the marketplace who are willing to pay that amount of money? Of course not.\u201d\n\nMurphy called for an immediate, actual end to Trump\u2019s disastrous Iran war: \u201cI was glad that the president got a ceasefire [in June], but I could tell by the terms it wasn't going to last. It wasn't a real agreement, but at this point, many of us are willing to support almost any agreement. It'll be a humiliating agreement. It will be one in which Iran will essentially declare victory. But this war is a disaster.\u201d\n\nMurphy also highlighted the impact of this war on America\u2019s servicemembers, who are being put in harm\u2019s way while Trump\u2019s cronies rake in millions of dollars: \u201cThe price of this war is being plainly paid first and foremost by our soldiers, who are being put in harm's way for a war that is making America weaker every day. They're getting killed. They're sustaining life-altering injuries. Many of our soldiers and sailors and airmen have been in the region far past their scheduled deployment. \u201d\n\nA full transcript of Murphy\u2019s speech is available below.\n\nColleagues, the Trump administration has us stuck in a humiliating quagmire, a total deadlock in Iran. We are wasting billions of taxpayer dollars dropping bombs and firing missiles at Iran. Iran responds with escalation. They keep the Strait closed. They attack our bases. They attack our allies in the region. The war just expands and expands and expands.\n\nIn the last week, for instance, a new war is threatening to break out between Yemen and Saudi Arabia, which would likely result in the other strait, at the bottom of the Red Sea being closed as well. Trump personally pays no price for this stalemate. His corruption schemes, his cryptocurrency, his insider trading, the contracts to his sons. All of that has practically tripled his net worth in just 18 short months in office.\n\nNo, the price of this war is being plainly paid first and foremost by our soldiers, who are being put in harm's way for a war that is making America weaker every day. They're getting killed. They're sustaining life-altering injuries. Many of our soldiers and sailors and airmen have been in the region far past their scheduled deployment. They haven't seen their families in years.\n\nAnd of course, American consumers are paying the price as well. Here's the most relevant chart. This is familiar to you. This is what gas prices were doing until the war. They are creeping back well above $4 a gallon right now. That is not affordable for regular Americans, especially Americans who have to travel great distances for work, especially small business owners who rely on reasonable gas prices in order to be able to make their bills work.\n\nDiesel prices are through the roof as well. Fertilizer prices are through the roof as well, all because of this war. No other reason. The war. The prices are this high because of the war. It's farmers, it's small business owners, it's the American public who are paying the price, not Donald Trump.\n\nAnd so that's why the war is just wildly unpopular. Except for Trump's sort of hardline supporters, the folks who just don't believe he can ever do anything wrong, nobody wants this war. If you're in a red state or a blue state, this war is deeply unpopular because the American public are smart. They're smarter than a lot of my colleagues give them credit for.\n\nThey know that a war with Iran is unwinnable. They don't want America stuck again in a quagmire, a stalemate in the Middle East. So, how does Trump handle this? A deeply unpopular war, a war that he is losing, a war that is driving up prices for the American public.\n\nWell, this is how he handles it. He gaslights. He tells lies. And the essential gaslight is that the war is about to end: \u201cDon't worry. Yes, it appears that there is no end. It appears that you're going to have to continue to pay these prices forever. It appears that America has no end game. But don't worry, the war is about to end.\u201d\n\nAnd so, I just want to go through this pattern for you because it is really important to talk about the fact that the White House is just not being straight with the American public about what's going on in this war. Over and over again, the president declares that the war is about to be over. He's not telling the truth.\n\nHe normally declares that the war is about to be over on Sunday night or Monday morning, right before the markets open. But now that we are six months into this war, we can see the pattern. Let me go through it with you quickly.\n\nOn March 23rd, Trump announces a deal. I'm just going to give you his quotes here. These are his words. He says, \"The United States of America and the country of Iran have had over the last two days very good and productive conversations regarding a complete and total resolution of our hostilities in the Middle East.\u201d\n\nThe market impact is immediate. That post sends oil prices tumbling nearly 11%, but there is no deal. He just made it up. Two days later, the United States military is back to conducting strikes. \u201cThe USS Abraham Lincoln, continues flight operations against military targets in Iran while sailing in regional waters.\u201d\n\nOn March 30th, Trump announces another deal. This is Monday morning, right before the markets open. He says, \u201cThe United States of America is in serious discussions with a new and more reasonable regime to end,\u201d End! \u201cOur military operations in Iran. Great progress has been made.\u201d\n\nOne week later, there's no deal. The opposite. One week later, Trump posts that he's going to wipe out the entire civilization of Iran. \u201cA whole civilization will die tonight,\u201d he posts. \u201cNever to be brought back again.\u201d\n\nThat's a war crime. The president is promising to kill millions of civilians. He tries to dial it back, but later on that same day, he's back to announcing a deal. Literally, \u201cI'm going to wipe out a whole civilization,\u201d that morning. That night, on April 17th [7th], he says, \"Well, we received a 10-point proposal from Iran, and I believe it is a workable basis on which to negotiate. A two-week period will allow the agreement to be finalized and consummated.\u201d\n\nFive days later, there's no deal. Trump announces a resumption of the war with Iran. Now, let's fast forward 10 days later: April 17th. He posts that a deal with Iran is imminent. This process should go very quickly. Most of the points are already negotiated, he posts.\n\nTwo days later, the strikes start again. On May 5th, Trump says, \u201cGreat progress being made toward a Complete and Final Agreement with the Representatives of Iran.\u201d Complete is capitalized. Final is capitalized. Agreement is capitalized. Representatives is capitalized. Iran is capitalized.\n\nTwo days later, the deal is off. Surprise, surprise! Every time Trump announces a deal is imminent, it just disappears. \u201cU.S. forces intercepted unprovoked Iranian attacks and responded with self-defense strikes,\u201d CENTCOM announces two days later.\n\nOn May 25th, right before the markets open, a deal is imminent. \u201cNegotiations with the Islamic Republic of Iran are proceeding nicely.\u201d Right before the markets open!\n\nThat same day, the United States military conducts strikes on Iran. \u201cU.S. forces conducted self-defense strikes in southern Iran today to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces.\u201d\n\nThe next Monday, right before the markets open, Trump posts, \u201cIran wants to make a deal. It'll be a good one. Just sit back and relax. It'll work out well in the end. It always does.\u201d\n\nHow is this working out well for the American public? How is that working out well for the American public? The next day, there's no deal. The United States conducts strikes against Iran.\n\nOn June 17th, Trump actually signs a deal, but it's not a real deal. He does this whole pomp and circumstance signing ceremony in Versailles. That deal was negotiated by diplomatic amateurs. There was nothing actually agreed to. There were words on a page, but from the literal moment the ink was dry, nobody could explain what they had agreed to.\n\nMost significantly, Iran thought that the agreement obligated Israel to stop its military operations in Lebanon. Israel did not agree to that. Iran thought that it had been given control of the Strait in that agreement. Apparently, the American delegation didn't think they made that concession.\n\nAnyway, that agreement lasts 10 days. On June 27th, Trump posts that strikes on Iran have resumed. Let's just fast forward to the last week because Trump is doing it again. On August 1st, Trump posts that\u2026 I'm not sure that I transcribed this wrong or not, but it looks like he says, \u201cthe perimeters of a deal\u201d? I'll give him credit that he said parameters.\n\n\u201cThe parameters of a deal have been agreed to,\u201d on August 1st. On August 2nd, \u201cThe deal is imminent, having to do with the Strait of Hormuz and ultimately the denuclearization of Iran.\u201d The deal is imminent on the denuclearization of Iran.\n\nAugust 4th, just a night or two ago, Trump tells Fox News, \"We're having very good discussions.\u201d Meanwhile, there are reports that Iran isn't even talking to the United States. Trump saying a deal on the denuclearization of Iran is imminent, and Iran is saying we're not even in the room.\n\nI mean, we should not accept this level of gaslighting. The word of the president has to matter! Over and over again, on 11 different instances, Trump says, \u201cA deal is about to happen. Don't worry, the war is about to be over.\u201d There's no deal. None of it is real. These promises. I wish it were real. I want to be clear about that.\n\nI want the war to end. I would basically support any agreement at this point to end this war. I was glad that the president got a ceasefire, but I could tell by the terms it wasn't going to last. It wasn't a real agreement, but at this point, many of us are willing to support almost any agreement. It'll be a humiliating agreement. It will be one in which Iran will essentially declare victory.\n\nBut this war is a disaster. America is losing. Consumers can't afford to pay these prices. Businesses are going under. We had a record of farm bankruptcies in the last year. We look like a laughing stock.\n\nAnd, we're running out of munitions. We don't have what we need to protect ourselves anymore. Reports are that we've gone through half of our Tomahawks. Our allies in the region have fired 70 to 80% of their Patriot missiles. This is a crisis. It has to end.\n\nBut maybe there's an explanation for why Trump continues to do this gaslighting, particularly right before the markets open. Trump announced, now a week or so ago, that if you pay him $100,000 a month, he will give you advance notice of American foreign policy decisions.\n\nI don't understand why that is acceptable to anybody in this chamber. If you pay Donald Trump $100,000, he will give you advance notice of America's foreign policy decisions. If we are about to sign a peace treaty and you give him $100,000 a month, he will give you advance notice of that.\n\nIf strikes are going to resume against Iran, if you pay him $100,000 a month, he will give you advance notice of that. That is a subscription service for insider trading, and it is unquestionably lucrative.\n\nOn August 1st, Trump posts that a deal is imminent. Remember, people still take him seriously. Not everybody knows about this history of gaslighting. On August 1st, Trump says, \u201ca deal is imminent,\u201d and the market impact is immediate. Oil prices fall by 5% right as the markets open.\n\nThe next day, right before the markets open, Trump says again, \u201cThe deal is imminent.\u201d Another 5% drop, and so you see how his statements move the market, and you can see how if you get advance notice of those statements, even by a few seconds, you can capitalize on that market movement.\n\nIf you know that if Trump says a deal is imminent and the markets are going to move 5% and you pay $100,000 to Donald Trump to get that information early, you can make a boatload of money. And so maybe the war continues because Trump has found a way to monetize the war in a disgustingly corrupt way.\n\nI get that at some point we become immune to all of this, but can any of my Republican colleagues defend the president selling announcements from the White House for $100,000 a month, in the middle of a war?\n\nIs any Republican senator willing to come down to this floor and defend the president of the United States setting up a subscription service for public policy announcements from the White House, so as to advantage certain players in the marketplace who are willing to pay that amount of money?\n\nOf course not. And if you know in your heart that it is corrupt, that it is wrong, then you should say something about it. Because, the war might be continuing, not just because of incompetence, but because the president has found a way to make money.\n\nMore people are going to pay him $100,000 for these announcements in the middle of a war. Frankly, people would be willing to pay it absent a war, but he'll make more money during a war because his announcements clearly move the market in the middle of a very complicated conflict, where the decisions of the United States government immediately change oil markets.\n\nThe reason that this war is dragging on endlessly \u2013 it does matter, and my colleagues should care about Trump's insider trading subscription scheme. It's just so discouraging that nobody on the other side of the aisle says anything about this, when the credibility of the White House and of our country is just getting destroyed and sullied.\n\nBut my Republican colleagues should also care that the war is being waged with a level of embarrassing incompetence that is making America weaker, that's getting us nowhere. This body works best when the president's party stands up to him and says, \"enough,\u201d whether it's corruption or incompetence.\n\nThat's what President Johnson's party did during the Vietnam War. It is actually what the Democratic Party did with President Obama during the late stages of the Afghanistan War, when many of us decided that America had to withdraw and oppose President Obama's party.\n\nIt's what many of us did here during the early stages of the war in Yemen that President Obama was bringing the American military into, and many of us opposed it. Got up on its floor, explained why we opposed it.\n\nRepublicans can do that too. You can say this war has to end. You can say that the president should never, ever personally benefit from a conflict overseas. You can say that the president of the United States should not sell access to White House statements.\n\nIt would make a big difference for our democracy and for the American people who are paying through the nose for the costs of this war if you did.", 1, "2026-08-08T05:41:38Z", "2026-08-08T05:43:24Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.murphy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/murphy-to-trump-stop-gaslighting-americans-on-iran-stop-using-the-war-for-your-corrupt-market-manipulation"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.6723321750760078, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}