Matt Bell said he initially supported Trump's policies but now feels he and other farmers were "sold a bill of goods" that there was a plan to "put America's farmers and ranchers first."
Page F4From§Eachthe sunrise edition — 27 September 2026
WRONG WAR
Waltz blames Russia for diesel record dated by wire copy to his own administration's war on Iran
As it ran on the front
I went down to ask somebody, anybody, about the price of diesel, and I want to tell you I found the right office. I did not. I found a window with a sign on it, and a man behind the window who was very nice and said this was actually a question for the office down the hall, third door, and the man down the hall, third door, said no, that's really a Hill matter, try upstairs, and upstairs a woman said she could give me the numbers but not the reasons, and did I want the numbers. I said sure. Here is what three wrong rooms told me, free of charge, on the way to a room that doesn't exist.
Before I get to the diesel, because there's a lot in front of it and I want to walk it in order the way it happened. On the 9th of September, Trump told his own people this war in Iran was not wrapping up before the midterms. The next day, the 10th, Hegseth went on television and used the word "devastation" about what our strikes had done to Iran's capabilities. Five days after that, the 15th, the Congressional Budget Office put a number on the whole operation — nearly $40 billion, and they called that estimate conservative. Somewhere in there a U.N. inquiry found the strikes likely amounted to war crimes, a senator who voted to confirm the defense secretary running this war has since called for his firing twice, and a congressman filed actual impeachment paperwork against him. That's the war. Nobody in the wrong rooms disputed any of that. They just didn't want to be the room that connected it to the gas station.…
…(cont) Because here's the receipt I actually went in for. On September 4th diesel hit an all-time high, $5.85 a gallon, and the wire that day put it plainly: the war on Iran. Two words, headline and body, same day, same paper, same war. Then this week, the 26th, Ambassador Waltz told reporters the real culprit was Russia and Ukraine. Not the headline's war. A different one.
I've got a car that needs a fan belt and has for a month, and I finally drove it to the parts store on the corner to get one, and I sat at the pump next door reading the numbers off the sign the way you'd read a scoreboard. The kid running the register told me diesel's what moves the parts he sells — comes in on a truck, same as everything else on his shelves. He didn't have an opinion on Iran. He had an opinion on the number on the sign, which was higher than it was in June.
So I've got the diesel dated to Iran on the 4th, the gas dated "amid" Iran on the 8th, and the ambassador dated it to Russia on the 26th. And sitting right in the middle of that, on the 20th, Senator Grassley asked the president to put an embargo on diesel exports — the same fix presidents used in the '70s when farm prices spiked from a war nobody was pretending was Ukraine's.
Excuse me — before you go, one more thing. If the price came from Ukraine, what's the embargo fixing?
“They tell you the record price at the pump is Vladimir Putin's doing, but the same week's wire copy dated that record to the war Trump's own administration is running in Iran. Grassley wants an export embargo to bring the price down — which only makes sense if the war driving it up is the one Waltz refuses to say out loud. You're the one covering the spread at $5.85 a gallon while three different Republicans hand you three different reasons why.”
“Look, energy markets are global and interconnected, you can't just point at one conflict and say "that's the price" — there's Russia, there's shipping lanes, there's a dozen factors. Ambassador Waltz was simply broadening the conversation past a single theater. ...Did I just say the markets are too complex to isolate one cause right after three of our own officials isolated Russia as the cause? That's — let me start over.”
Earlier in this story
- Young voters beat Trump's mail-ballot attack in court, told by Nicki Minaj to vote red anyway. By Sal · the milkman edition, 27 September 2026
- Missouri asks Supreme Court to revive its GOP gerrymander for the fourth time this year, denied again. By Lou · the midnight edition, 27 September 2026
- Trump denounces as Fake News reporters who simply quoted his own candidate's deleted endorsement banner By Chip · the late evening edition, 26 September 2026
- Waltz blames Russia's war for diesel prices Trump's own Iran war set records for By Ruth · the early evening edition, 26 September 2026
- Trump rejects Iran's peace plan days after his strikes pulled the supreme leader's son from hospital rubble twice. By Mort · the early evening edition, 26 September 2026
- War nears $40 billion; only ledger being kept is a veterans' PAC's campaign spending. By Mort · the matinee edition, 26 September 2026
The receipts
Matt Bell has been farming in North Carolina for more than half his life. He voted for President Trump but said farmers are "fighting for survival" as they combat rising prices.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz joined a series of Trump administration officials who have blamed the Russia-Ukraine War for high diesel prices, pivoting the energy markets conversation away from the war in Iran and the Strait of Hormuz. “What we’re seeing in the war in Ukraine is that it is spreading to […]
The Pentagon has failed its audit eight years running - the only major federal agency never to pass one Military Times, 19 December 2025
Senate Democrats, minus Fetterman, urge Hegseth to provide receipt for Iran war costsAll of the Democrats in the Senate — excluding Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman — signed an open letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, pressing him to give Congress a cost breakdown of the war in Iran. The letter, although largely symbolic, reflects the frustration of many Democrats in Congress over what they perceive as a...
The Pentagon has failed its audit eight years running - the only major federal agency never to pass one Military Times, 19 December 2025
Tillis supports Hegseth impeachment resolution: 'He needs to go'Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who voted to confirm Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, is renewing his call for President Trump to fire the Pentagon chief after Army Secretary Dan Driscoll resigned. “He needs to go, whether it’s impeachment or the most expedient route — just the president to replace him — would be great,”
A UN fact-finding mission has reported that two US airstrikes which killed at least 178 civilians in Iran constitute war crimes. Plus: Andy Burnham says he is “determined” to hit net zero by 2050, Sweden’s left-of-centre coalition wins the general election, Netanyahu is pushing to strip IDF critics of their citizenship, and the…
The Pentagon has failed its audit eight years running - the only major federal agency never to pass one Military Times, 19 December 2025
Pentagon No. 3 frustrates senators in closed-door briefing on Iran war, Trump defense strategyDemocratic and Republican lawmakers alike emerged Thursday from a closed-door briefing frustrated by what they said was a lack of clear answers from Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby on the Trump administration’s National Defense Strategy and the ongoing Iran war. The briefing with the Senate Armed Services Committee started off…
The Republican lawmaker cited incidents like the US’s elementary school massacre in Minab, Iran, early in the war.
A recently published economic analysis estimates that President Donald Trump’s illegal war with Iran has cost US consumers an average of $1,760 per household—including a total of $121 billion in extra spending on energy alone—since the conflict began less than 8 months ago. The war, which Trump launched without congressional…
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) announced Thursday that four Republicans, including him, have signed the Epstein Files II discharge petition and expressed confidence it will pass the House. The news comes after House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) sent lawmakers home for a seven-week recess ahead of the midterm elections.
This amounts to more than 80 trades per market day for the president in his first 17 months back in office.
President Donald Trump on Thursday said he is weighing whether or not to "annihilate" Iran in a renewed effort to end the illegal 201-day US-Israeli war of choice, musings that came on the heels of a report by United Nations experts who said the United States likely committed war crimes during earlier attacks on the Middle East nation.…
The fossil fuel industry is raking in big profits thanks to President Donald Trump's illegal war with Iran, and a new analysis finds that it's plugging a sizable chunk of these gains into propaganda. A report published by Clean Creatives on Wednesday reveals that fossil fuel firms across the world have "engaged 802 advertising and PR…
US House Speaker Mike Johnson said Wednesday that with seven weeks to go until Election Day, it was time for lawmakers to "go home to their districts and make the case to the American people"—a day earlier than scheduled. But with the US public overwhelmingly disapproving of President Donald Trump's war in Iran and demanding…
U.N.-commissioned rights experts say there are "reasonable grounds" to believe the U.S. committed war crimes with strikes that killed scores of Iranian civilians.
The US targeted “clearly identifiable” civilian sites in Minab and Lamerd, killing over 100 children, the UN found.
Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley (R) on Saturday pressed President Trump for an embargo on diesel exports amid high prices for the fuel. “why doesn’t Pres Trump put an embargo on diesel exports like presidents in the 70s put embargoes on ag[riculture] products bc [because] food prices were inflated,”
· 'Trump Did It!': At $5.85 a Gallon, Diesel Price Hits All-Time High in US Thanks to War on Iran from the morgue, 4 Sep 2026
· Gas prices hit Labor Day high from the morgue, 8 Sep 2026
· Gas prices reach Labor Day high amid Iran war from the morgue, 8 Sep 2026
· Hegseth on "devastation" to Iran's capabilities from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026
· Trump admits Iran war will not end before midterms from the morgue, 9 Sep 2026
· Iran War Trump Said Would Be Quick Has Now Lasted 6 Months With 'No End In Sight' from the morgue, 28 Aug 2026
· CBO Finds Trump's Iran War Has Already Cost Nearly $40 Billion—And That's a 'Conservative' Estimate from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026
· Massie Files Impeachment Articles Against Hegseth for Illegal Iran War, Boat Murders from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026
· Massie launches effort to impeach Hegseth from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026
· Tillis urges Trump to fire Hegseth over 'inept management' of military from the morgue, 2 Sep 2026
· Tillis renews calls for Hegseth’s firing after Driscoll’s departure: ‘I have never witnessed more inept management’ from the morgue, 2 Sep 2026
· Massie names Epstein 'coconspirators,' discusses new Epstein files legislation from the morgue, 1 Sep 2026
· Read Thomas Massie’s eight impeachment charges against Pete Hegseth from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026
· Fake Republican midterm convention site still redirects to Epstein files from the morgue, 7 Sep 2026
· Trump says he has a ‘big decision’ coming up on Iran: ‘Do I want to go in and annihilate them’ from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026
· Fox News Poll: 71% think Trump administration lacks plan to end Iran war from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026
· Iran recently downed at least 2 American drones, officials say from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026
· Big Oil Stocks Surged Due to Iran War—and New Filings Show How President Trump Cashed In from the morgue, 27 Aug 2026
· Live updates: Energy secretary downplays rising gas prices as US, Iran trade strikes from the morgue, 6 Sep 2026
· U.S. Strike on Iranian School May Have Been War Crime, U.N. Report Says from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026
· UN investigators conclude ‘reasonable grounds’ to believe certain US strikes in Iran were war crimes from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026
· US Condemned for 'War Crimes' After Bombing of Wedding Party in Iran from the morgue, 2 Sep 2026
· US investigating if missile hit Iranian wedding ceremony, killing 4 from the morgue, 4 Sep 2026
· Trump says he has a ‘big decision coming up’ on Iran from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026
· White House issues explosive response to UN-backed report claiming US committed war crimes against world’s No.1 sponsor of terror, Iran from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026
· Human rights experts: 'Reasonable grounds' to believe US committed war crimes with Iran strikes from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026
· Iran downed at least 2 American drones in recent days, U.S. officials say from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026
· Iran: Account of US Air Force colonel's rescue 'fictional' from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026
· Consumer Burden of Trump Iran War Exceeds $100 Billion as Oil Prices Pass $100 a Barrel from the morgue, 9 Sep 2026
· 'A Serious and Alarming Threat': US Bombing, Blockade Deepen Iran Medical Crisis from the morgue, 9 Sep 2026
· Consumer Confidence Hits Lowest Level in Months as US Faces 'Trump's Reckless Tariffs and War With Iran' from the morgue, 25 Aug 2026
· U.S. Air Force officer rescued from Iran speaks for the first time to 60 Minutes from the morgue, 8 Sep 2026
· Rep. Thomas Massie forcing vote on Pete Hegseth's impeachment from the morgue, 16 Sep 2026
· The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Massie saying Johnson is sending the House home early to prevent Hegseth impeachment from the morgue, 16 Sep 2026
· ‘You’re Elected to Fight and Kill the Other Side’: How Congress Lost Its Way from the morgue, 16 Sep 2026
· Army combat veteran challenging Mike Lawler calls Hegseth national security 'hazard,' backs impeachment from the morgue, 6 Sep 2026
· Former Air Force secretary says he 'couldn't serve' in Trump administration from the morgue, 6 Sep 2026
· Former Air Force secretary: Hegseth's Pentagon 'dysfunctional' from the morgue, 3 Sep 2026
· House Republicans split over leaving Washington early for campaign trail from the morgue, 1 Sep 2026
· 'How are we gonna get through this?' Many Americans are struggling as prices rise from the morgue, 16 Sep 2026
· Trump's Top Oil Stocks Have Made Him Up to $4.4 Million Richer During Iran War: Analysis from the morgue, 9 Sep 2026
· Trump Hammered Over Iran War That Drove Gas Prices Above $4 Per Gallon Every Day in August for First Time Ever from the morgue, 31 Aug 2026
· Warsh under pressure as Fed weighs rate hike from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026
· Inflation held at 3.4% in August in consumer price index, creating tough choice for Warsh Fed from the morgue, 11 Sep 2026
· Warsh indicates Fed could raise rates to cool inflation from the morgue, 28 Aug 2026
· Key U.S. Bond Rate Near 20-Year High as Oil Prices Keep Climbing from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026
· 10-year Treasury yield hits highest level since 2007, oil surges above $105 as Fed expected to hike interest rates from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026
· Benchmark mortgage rate hits 14-month high as bond yields keep rising from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026
· Benchmark mortgage rate hits highest mark in over a year from the morgue, 3 Sep 2026
· Goldman Sachs warns oil prices could hit $120 as U.S. fuel costs surge from the morgue, 8 Sep 2026
· GOP Rep Thomas Massie introduces 8 articles of impeachment against War Secretary Pete Hegseth from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026
· Republican Rep. Massie moves to impeach Defense Secretary Hegseth over Iran war from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026
· Thomas Massie Forces Vote To Impeach Pete Hegseth from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026
· Pete Hegseth Faces Growing Criticism as War With Iran Rolls On from the morgue, 3 Sep 2026
· Hegseth Quietly Extends Middle East Troop Deployments Into 2027 as Iran War Drags On from the morgue, 3 Sep 2026
· Costco imposes purchase limits on motor oil, hikes prices by nearly double from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026
· As gas averages $4.31 nationwide, diesel fuel hits all-time high: "It's painful. It's real hard" from the morgue, 14 Sep 2026
· Costco Raises Motor Oil Price, Caps Customer Purchases As Iran War Drags On from the morgue, 14 Sep 2026
· 'Can't Message That Away': GOP Frets as Trump Administration Desperately Spins Record-High Diesel Prices from the morgue, 5 Sep 2026
· European Union member states agree to a natural gas price cap in an attempt to limit economic damage from the global energy crisis. The price cap can be triggered beginning on February 15, if for thre from the morgue, 19 Dec 2022
· Spike on 10-year bond yields renews concerns over U.S. debt from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026
· 10-Year Treasury Yield Reaches 5%, Highest Level in Years from the morgue, 14 Sep 2026
· Treasury reveals $6B in debt buybacks, triple the normal level – but markets slump from the morgue, 9 Sep 2026
· Trump blames rise in diesel prices on Ukrainian strikes against Russian oil refineries from the morgue, 14 Sep 2026
· Trump blames rising diesel price on Russia-Ukraine war from the morgue, 14 Sep 2026
· What Is Driving Diesel Prices Up? Energy Chaos Caused by Two Wars. from the morgue, 14 Sep 2026
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front. The byline is a pen name for a column drafted by a machine and checked by the editor: how this is made.