Help Us Call Out This Administration’s Sizzlin’ Summer Inflation
Temperatures are up, and so are your energy bills. That's no accident.
Millions of Americans are now living through a historic heat wave, with temperatures reaching triple-digits across the country. In our nation’s capital, where temperatures today will top 102 degrees, the Trump administration is working hard to make sure you keep having to pay top dollar to keep cool.
Energy prices have spiked under Trump’s second term, and remain elevated compared with when he took office. That’s because the administration’s tariffs, immigration policies, and war in Iran are all driving up costs, something that the president has repeatedly said he doesn’t care about.
Lots of people do care, though, and it’s critical that they know that these high prices aren’t some kind of random occurrence. They’re the direct result of this administration’s harmful policy decisions, and its wanton disregard for the human suffering those policies cause.
To drive this point home, today Home of the Brave launched a brand-new $2.5 million advertising campaign. We’re putting up hundreds of billboards in dozens of states across the country, including this one:
As millions of people get ready for summer travel, we’re also taking out billboards in Times Square and Orlando, FL. As tourists and families flock to these destinations, they’ll be greeted by our message. And they’ll think about it the next time they go to pay the energy bill, and they feel the sticker shock:
We call this effort Sticker Shock Summer, because this is the time of year that Americans should be relaxing, traveling, and enjoying time off with family. Instead, they’re having to work overtime to make ends meet, and wondering when the price hikes will stop, or if the administration will ever care.
Home of the Brave is more than a Substack newsletter. Every day we’re out there, finding new ways to bring these messages home to the American people, by meeting them where they are. The administration’s defenders have a propaganda machine that works around the clock to justify every policy decision coming out of this White House. We’re fighting back—with the truth.
If you want to support us, and help us keep bringing these messages to light, please consider becoming a paid subscriber, or donate today:
Sarah Matthews is an advisory board member and spokeswoman for Home of the Brave. Previously she served as deputy White House press secretary during the first Trump administration, and she resigned in protest on January 6, 2021.
Thank you for continuing to connect the dots, particularly given the firehose of disinformation.
Sarah, you're right to hammer the point that these prices are policy, not weather. But there's a second layer worth adding: this administration isn't just driving costs up—it's dismantling the escape routes. The EV tax credit is gone. Wind and solar credits are being phased out under the "big beautiful" bill. Offshore wind projects have been halted mid-construction. Every one of these was a way for families to get off the price rollercoaster—drive past the gas station, generate cheaper power—and each one has been deliberately closed off.
The cruel irony is that solar and wind are now the cheapest new electricity almost everywhere on earth, and the demand surge from AI data centers means we need every electron we can get. Choking off the fastest, cheapest new supply during a heat wave isn't an energy policy. It's a price-hike policy with a flag on it. So yes—Sticker Shock Summer is the right name. Americans should just know the shock was engineered twice over: once at the pump and the meter, and again in the fine print that took away the alternatives.