WASHINGTON — President Trump told The Post on Wednesday that he was taken out of context as he faced an outpouring of scorn for telling reporters in the Oval Office that “I love the inflation” — after consumer costs spiked in May due to the Iran war.

Trump said in a phone interview shortly after the remark that he actually loved the fact that inflation wasn’t higher — and predicted that last month’s 4.2% annual rate will be the peak.

“I love the inflation numbers because of what I’m talking about,” Trump told The Post.

“The numbers are going to be phenomenal because what’s showing is that despite the fact that we’re in a war, the numbers are much lower than anticipated, and when we’re out of that war, the numbers will be at lower numbers than they were even before it started.”

The president scoffed at criticism from Democrats such as Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), who declared that the remark shows “this administration doesn’t care about working people.”

 “They’re so bad,”Trump said of his critics. “I was talking about inflation numbers that will be so good as soon as the war ends. The numbers will come way down, that’s what I’m talking about.

“I’m always taken out of context,” the president went on. “My inflation numbers will be very low as soon as the war — they’re already very low, but they’ll be very low, because you know the energy brings them up a little bit, because we have to stop Iran from having a nuclear weapon.”

Asked if 4.2% would be the peak, Trump responded: “I think so. Yeah, I think so. I don’t see it. Look, [former President Joe] Biden’s numbers were much higher. He had the highest numbers in history.”

Inflation peaked under Biden at 9.1% in June 2022 and had cooled to 2.4% in February before the war.

Trump checked real-time stock market data during the interview, noting a slight dip in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

He promised that once an Iran peace deal is reached “you’re gonna see a rocket ship.”

But when the Iran war might be over is an open question, with Trump on Tuesday resuming airstrikes in response to the shooting down of an Army Apache helicopter over the Strait of Hormuz while still projecting confidence the conflict would end soon.

Earlier Wednesday, Trump brushed off the bleak inflation report showing annual inflation jumping from 3.8% in April to 4.2% in May.

“The numbers were great,” he said in the Oval Office.

“No, I love it. The numbers were great. You know what I really love? I love the inflation, but you know why?” Trump said before describing secret oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz that he said had kept energy prices from spiking even higher.

“Did you know we’ve been taking out millions of barrels of oil? Nobody knows that. You know who doesn’t know about it? Iran, until right now,” Trump said.

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“We took out, the other night, 22 ships late at night with no lights, because they don’t have any radar, because we blasted the crap out of it,” he said.

“That is why oil is $85 a barrel.”

Trump added that “I didn’t want to ruin it” by disclosing the operation publicly, but “millions of barrels of oil was coming out. That’s why it said $85, $90 a barrel instead of $250.”

The awkward “I love the inflation” phrasing triggered an outpouring of surprise and ridicule on social media.

“Anyone who doesn’t love the inflation is a lib or a RINO now, I guess,” quipped Washington Examiner columnist Tim Carney. 

Many of Trump’s foes, including libertarian former Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) and Democratic Sen. Andy Kim of New Jersey, simply quoted Trump’s words without comment.

“I wonder if the [House Republican] members standing behind Trump [in the Oval Office] love inflation as much as he does, or more perhaps,” wrote Rep. Herb Conaway (D-NJ).

Even staunch GOPers admitted fear the remark would hurt them in the run-up to the Nov. 3 midterm elections.

“Comments like this are simply not productive unless he’s looking forward to the impeachments from the Democrats in 2027,” a former Trump campaign adviser told The Post.

“If voters still feel poorly about inflation in November,” a different Republican strategist added, “that clip is going to be the centerpiece of a lot of effective [Democratic] ads.”

“I would say that the drop-dead date here is, you know, July 4,” said GOP strategist John Feehery. “I think [by] Independence Day, we need to get this wrapped up … or independents are going to swing hard against the Republicans in the election.”

Still another Republican strategist, Terry Holt, argued: “Republicans are toast if we’re still screwing around in Iran 100 days out from the next election, but the die is already cast when it comes to people’s opinions about the economy.

“As they [the Iranians] feel like they’ve got him by the short hairs, they’ll keep him in it. That’s why he’s in such a box, and I think the American people sort of sense that weakness.”

Some observers shrugged off the comment.

“Donald Trump has been at the forefront of American politics for more than a decade. No one really takes what he has to say literally at this point,” said a national Republican strategist involved in competitive races. “People know the president says crazy s—, that’s already priced in.

“The rhetoric is not the concern; it’s the emotion of voters, it’s their sense again of anxiety heading to the ballot box” 

Veteran Republican communications maven Ken Farnaso had a different take, saying the war in Iran is “a legacy issue for President Trump, and most Republicans believe the world is safer because of the actions he took.

“A short-term price shock is manageable, especially given the strides we’ve made on energy dominance — and Democrats’ habit of choosing weak candidates.”

The president also insisted Wednesday that the US had “the best economy we’ve ever had” before he decided to launch Operation Epic Fury toward Iran Feb. 28.

“We just hit the highest stock market in history, highest 401(k)s in history, everything was going well, and I said ‘I hate to do this to you guys,’ but Iran’s gonna have a nuclear weapon very soon, we have to go and attack,” he said.

“We hit the best economy we’ve ever had. And I said to my people, I had [Treasury Secretary] Scott [Bessent] and [Commerce Secretary] Howard [Lutnick], I had [War Secretary] Pete [Hegseth], I had [acting Attorney General] Todd [Blanche] in the room….  I get everyone in the room and say, ‘Congratulations, but now I’m going to take it down a little bit, because we can not let Iran have a nuclear weapon.’”