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ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Virginians have spent roughly $2 billion more on gasoline since the war with Iran began than they would have at pre-war prices — about $605 per household — U.S. Sen. Mark Warner said Thursday, arguing that the affordability squeeze facing Alexandria families traces directly to White House policy.
"That's $605 per household straight into a war of choice," Warner said during a remote media availability with Virginia reporters from the U.S. Capitol.
Warner, a Democrat, Alexandria resident and vice chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said grocery prices are up about 4%, with beef up 10% to 12%, driven by shipping disruption through the Strait of Hormuz combined with the administration's tariffs. Taken together, he said, Virginia households have spent about $2,000 more since President Trump returned to office.
"If you're wondering about affordability, you can trace this directly back to Trump policies," he said, "particularly the gas, diesel fuel and some of the shipping costs."
Virginia farmers have absorbed about $1,500 more for on-farm fuel, much of it diesel used to run equipment — a cost Warner said will be passed along to consumers at the grocery store.
The war behind the numbers
Warner said the war, which Trump initially said would be over in days or at most a few weeks, has now run five months, with combat resuming and Saudi Arabia drawn in alongside traditional Gulf states. None of the strategic objectives have been achieved, he said: the Iranian regime remains in place and is worse than before, the enriched uranium has not been secured, and Iran retains its missile stockpile and some indirect control over the Strait of Hormuz.
The availability was held as the Senate voted on another war powers resolution. Warner said he did not know whether it would succeed.
He also accused the Pentagon of concealing the number of American troops wounded, saying the figure now appears to exceed 600 — far higher than what the administration was reporting as recently as two weeks ago. He was precise about what the number represents.
"It now appears that we've had over 600 casualties, not dead, but wounded, and many of them grievously wounded," Warner said. "And that's because the Trump administration again was hiding that number."
Warner called the concealment "beyond outrageous" and said Republican colleagues should be calling it out.
"When we ask our men and women to go defend our country and put their lives on the line, we owe the country and their families truthfulness," he said. "You can't be a supporter of our military men and women if you're not willing to tell the truth to the country and military families about the kind of costs it's incurring on our men and women."
Dulles: 'I want to see the plans and I also want to see how it's paid for'
Closer to home, Warner said he is neither sold on nor opposed to the administration's and the airports authority's $22 billion plan to remake Dulles International Airport, which reportedly includes a convention center and outside firms brought in to manage the work.
He said he spoke with the airport authority Wednesday and wants details, pointing to the White House ballroom — pitched as privately funded and now approaching $1 billion in taxpayer money, he said — and to what he called the debacle around the reflecting pool.
"I don't know whether this is a grand announcement without any substance behind it, but I don't start reflexively against an upgrade at Dulles," Warner said. "I want to see the plans and I also want to see how it's paid for."
He said he has no objection to United Airlines' deep involvement given the carrier's financial stake at Dulles.
The Associated Press
AI CEOs 'generally supportive' of data center guardrails
A week after introducing his AI legislative package, Warner said he met this week with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and pressed both on the federal data center standards that would apply across Northern Virginia, home to the largest concentration of data centers in the world.
Asked whether the executives are willing to back his proposals, Warner said public opinion is moving faster than the industry expected.
"I found with both of these gentlemen that they realize that public sentiment is turning against AI at candidly AI speeds," he said. "Nobody, I think, could have predicted this even six months ago."
On the core proposal, he said the two were receptive.
"The notion of some minimum federal standards around data centers, I think they are generally supportive," Warner said.
Warner said he told both CEOs that data centers should bring their own power, avoid overusing water, maintain appropriate setbacks and use clean backup power — and that facilities failing to meet that bar should not receive bonus tax depreciation at the federal level. States and localities could go further, he said, but Washington should set the floor. He again raised the non-disclosure agreements that leave affected communities without the facts about what their local governments have agreed to.
He was less satisfied on two other fronts. On safety testing, Warner said the industry has developed its own pre-release regime but that it must include a national security component alongside industry and academic input. He cited the OpenAI model that broke through its security guardrails during internal testing and penetrated Hugging Face, another AI company.
On jobs, Warner said the debate with the companies remains unresolved. He said he is less worried about mass layoffs than about hiring that never happens, particularly for recent college graduates.
"We've always said to people, go get a college education, that'll get you a good job," he said. "Well, I think that's a little bit of a jump ball right now."
Warner said companies with trillions of dollars in valuation should help fund the transition, and offered what he framed as a fair test: fund it, and if the job losses don't materialize in five years, wind the program down.
"I believe they need to put their money where their mouth is," he said. "But if they simply say not our responsibility, not our problem, then I think you're going to see huge bipartisan pushback."
He called the meetings productive.
Warner also returned to consumer-facing AI agents, warning that the question is whether an agent serves the user or only transacts with entities its parent company sanctions. He called for interoperability and a standard of care, and said the issue is not yet urgent but will be within six months.
He drew the comparison he has used before, to social media.
"If we thought social media could mess with our kids, you ain't seen nothing yet," he said.
Ryan Belmore
Newport News submarines and a workforce gap
Warner said he supports Huntington Ingalls Industries' new submarine contracts at Newport News Shipbuilding but warned the workforce pipeline has reached a critical stage, faulting the industry for not investing enough in its workers.
He said he is working with the company to let it move future profits forward now into workforce development and pay, and pointed to the submarine training program in Danville, which draws residential students from across Virginia and the country before many go to work at the shipyard.
"I just wish we would have gotten on it five years ago as opposed to now," he said.
Also on the call
Warner said he supports Sens. John Cornyn and Thom Tillis in their opposition to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, whose confirmation has stalled over an anti-weaponization fund and missing paperwork. "What we're talking about here is a $1.8 billion taxpayer-funded slush fund to be given to President Trump to dole out to his political cronies," Warner said. "That's your money. That's our money." He said the White House has offered assurances the money won't be used that way but has not committed to them in writing.
Asked whether his emphasis on government accountability extends to Dr. Anthony Fauci and a potential contempt citation, Warner declined to take a position. "I just am not going to weigh in on something that is as complicated as this without the facts," he said, adding that he is not on the committee and has not been briefed.
