[Anchor]

Marking the 25th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks, U.S. President Donald Trump declared that the U.S. will achieve absolute victory in its war with Iran. However, with surging oil prices and inflation spiraling out of control ahead of the November midterm elections, the domestic and international situation is increasingly diverging from Trump's plans.

Lee Hanseok reports from Washington.

[Reporter]

The Pentagon, the U.S. Department of Defense headquarters that was targeted during the terrorist attacks alongside the World Trade Center in New York on September 11, 2001.

At the 25th-anniversary 9/11 memorial service held at the Pentagon, U.S. President Trump emphasized that the moment of massive and horrific evil will never be forgotten, underscoring the justification for the war with Iran and vowing victory.

[Donald Trump / U.S. President: We will never forget. That is why we are fighting today. We have no choice, and there is only victory.]

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also joined in, pledging to end the war by preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and securing control over the Strait of Hormuz.

This is interpreted as an effort to reaffirm the legitimacy of the war with Iran at a time when voter dissatisfaction is mounting ahead of the November midterm elections due to soaring inflation.

In reality, the economic toll of the war is directly striking the U.S. economy.

U.S. consumer prices in August surged 3.4% from a year earlier and rose 0.4% from the previous month.

Analysts attribute this inflation spike largely to soaring global oil prices driven by instability in the Middle East.

[Mark Müller / President, Iowa Corn Growers Association: Agricultural diesel prices, which were $2.29 per gallon a year ago in 2025, have more than doubled in just one year.]

With inflation rates far exceeding the Federal Reserve's 2% target, the market has raised the probability of a benchmark interest rate hike at next week's Federal Open Market Committee meeting to 86%.

Both the White House, which must prove the justification for the war ahead of the November midterms, and Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh, who must tighten the money supply to curb inflation, face a critical test.

(Reported by Park Eun-ha | Video Edited by Lee Seung-jin)