Donald Trump is stuck in a trap of his own making, it seems. He has finally met his match in stubbornness. And we're all paying the price for it. But Trump doesn't care -- which he will even flat-out admit, as he did today.

Trump was asked by a reporter to what extent "Americans' financial situations are motivating him" to quickly strike a deal to end the war with Iran. His answer: "Not even a little bit." He later expanded upon his answer: "I don't think about Americans' financial situation. I don't think about anybody."

[Aside: Look for these quotes to appear in a Democratic campaign ad near you, real soon now!]

To be fair to Trump, he also said: "The only thing that matters when I'm talking about Iran: they can't have a nuclear weapon." And: "I think about one thing: We cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon. That's all. That's the only thing that motivates [me]."

Trump has painted himself into a corner in several ways during this entire fiasco, if that doesn't strain the metaphor too badly (how can you paint yourself into more than one corner?). Iran has almost a half-ton of enriched uranium right now because during his first term Trump tore up the deal they had struck with Barack Obama. Trump replaced this deal with... absolutely nothing. Which allowed Iran to enrich all that uranium in the first place. And that's just one example.

Trump is now in a stalemate with Iran, but he is taking a maximalist approach to getting out of it. To Trump, the only acceptable deal with Iran would have to accomplish two things: (1) it would have to bar Iran from not only ever having a nuclear bomb but also from enriching any uranium as a precursor to making a bomb, and: (2) Trump has to be able to brag that it's a "better deal than Obama got." Absent those two things, Trump is not interested in any deal, it seems.

The problem for Trump is, Iran is not going to agree to that -- certainly not in a quickie deal that's only one page long. They might make nuclear concessions in a bigger final deal, but even then they probably won't agree to Trump's maximalist demand. And Trump absolutely needs their total capitulation, because otherwise people are going to point out that any deal Trump cuts is going to be pretty close to what Obama already had in place.

So Trump isn't interested in striking a deal which would just remove the massive economic leverage from both sides for the near term. Trading the opening of the Strait of Hormuz for ending the blockade of Iran's ports is the obvious next step, but that would mean extended negotiations over the nuclear issue (rather than Trump being able to brag about it immediately). For the time being, this means the entire world will continue to keep paying the price for the stalemate.

Trump himself is paying a price, too. The longer gas prices stay sky-high, the more the public blames Trump and Trump alone for the whole mess. The latest poll from CNN showed that 77 percent of the public blamed Trump for the increase in cost of living. This includes 55 percent of Republican respondents. A whopping 70 percent disapproved of Trump's handling of the economy, and even more -- 79 percent -- disapproved of his handling of gas prices.

Other polling backs this up. Trump's approval rating on the economy is 24 points underwater, according to Nate Silver. His approval on inflation is even worse -- he is a stunning 40 points underwater on inflation. His job approval rating has sunk below 40 percent, and has fallen to the low 30s in some polls. Trump is also hitting all-time highs in his job disapproval rating.

It was really no surprise when they released the official inflation rate number today -- it has now spiked up to 3.8 percent, almost double the target the Federal Reserve has set for it. The price of gas is through the roof and is driving much of this spike, but inflation has shown up in other places as well (such as groceries -- the price of tomatoes and beef are both way up).

The average nationwide price for a gallon of gasoline had actually started to inch downward last week, as it appeared that a temporary deal (the one-page proposal from Trump) might actually happen. The price fell from $4.57 to just under $4.50 -- but now it is inching back up above $4.50 again because Trump appears to have just walked away from the negotiations. Trump's even threatening military action again, which will only serve to raise the price even further (even if it doesn't happen).

The longer the stalemate goes on, the worse things are going to get. Inflation will continue to rise, gas prices may even top the all-time record high set under Joe Biden ($5.02 per gallon nationwide), and everything else is going to get more expensive as we all pay a surcharge for all the diesel fuel it took to ship it. Because fertilizer prices also went through the roof, this year's growing season might end with much higher prices for food everywhere. And unlike other crises which cause widespread economic pain, this one has a clear and easy-to-understand cause: Trump's decision to go to war with Iran, and Trump's refusal to find any sort of quick end to it all. This one's all on Trump, period.

The political damage to not just Trump but his fellow Republicans may be beyond the point of no return, for this year's midterm elections. Trump had a fantasy of the war with Iran being a quick and decisive thing, ending with the overthrow of the regime and peace throughout the region. That, obviously, is not going to happen. The war has dragged on far longer than expected, and at this point there doesn't seem to be an end in sight. Voters are experiencing economic pain now and they're fully expecting this economic pain to continue for the rest of the year. That is not a recipe for political success for the GOP in November.

And Trump doesn't care. "I don't think about Americans' financial situation" is going to enter heavy rotation in Democratic ads, that much seems certain. Or, more succinctly: "Donald Trump doesn't care about you."

-- Chris Weigant

Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant