Trump: Inflation is going to ravage our country

Donald Trump, the 45th President of the United States, joins Yahoo Finance's Adam Shapiro to discuss the state of the U.S. economy.

Video Transcript

ADAM SHAPIRO: A lot of us are curious what you think of the current state of the US economy?

DONALD TRUMP: Well, it looks to me like inflation is going to ravage our country. I was there a long time ago with Jimmy Carter as president and the inflation was devastating, where rates went-- you had a prime rate that went up to 21%, which is not even believable, when you think of it.

And I saw things during that period as a businessman that I have never quite seen, even since. And we've had some recessions, but not since. And it's very scary when you look at gasoline. From 187 a gallon when I was president, it went from 187 and now it's well over $5 and it's going to go a lot higher.

And they're calling OPEC and they're calling Russia and Saudi Arabia trying to make a deal. We had so much. We were energy independent.

ADAM SHAPIRO: Mr. Trump.

DONALD TRUMP: You know, when you talk about inflation, sort of energy is a big part of it, because if you make products you have to deliver them with trucks and everything else.

ADAM SHAPIRO: Let's talk about the energy part of that, though. The energy part. I'm glad you brought up inflation, because I got the latest numbers. CPI in August, 5.3%. If you take out fuel and food, 4%. But look, Americans are paying $6.99 for a half gallon of milk. When you talk about, for instance, fuel.

The pace of inflation is actually slowing. That's what the government said. And then in California, I think, you know, the average price of a gallon of gas in California is over $4, but the rest of the country it's like $3.53, $3.60. So it's not over $5 right now.

DONALD TRUMP: Well, a lot of the country, when I look at the country, I'm hearing numbers that are going to be $5 or soon to be. Don't forget OPEC already turned down the United States. You know, they went to OPEC of all groups and they asked for relief on getting gasoline, getting barrels of oil, said then. We had so much we didn't--

Look, we were energy independent. We had so much that we didn't know what to do with it. And now, all of a sudden, they're asking OPEC for help, they're asking Russia and Saudi Arabia for help. And I think that you're going to see and hear numbers that we haven't seen in a long time for gasoline. And you really already are.

You were at $1.87 a gallon and even if you take your 350 number, and that's just a low section, but a lot of the country is going to be and is already over $5. And what it's going to be in a year from now, Adam, I think it's going to be much higher than that.