President Donald Trump bashed his predecessor and praised his own policy achievements of his first year back in office, delivering an 18-minute live address to the nation Wednesday as he seeks to reverse lagging public opinion numbers and convince Americans that he is addressing their economic concerns.
Flanked by Christmas trees and greenery in the White House’s Diplomatic Reception Room, the president read much of his speech at an unusually rapid pace, quickly jumping from one topic to the next. He weaved a mixture of criticism of former president Joe Biden, who left office in January, with praise for his policies on immigration, inflation and social issues — and a suggestion that Americans will feel the benefits of his policies come tax season.
“One year ago, our country was dead. We were absolutely dead,” Trump said. “Our country was ready to fail. Totally fail. Now we’re the hottest country anywhere in the world.”
While Trump is facing declining poll numbers on the economy as inflation remains stubborn, he praised his tariff policies — which industry leaders have widely blamed for rising retail prices — and bragged that the prices of eggs and Thanksgiving turkeys have fallen since he returned to Washington. Trump predicted that springtime will bring “the largest tax refund season of all time,” which he attributed to both tax cuts included in White House-backed legislation and tariffs imposed on a wide range of foreign imports.
In what came as a relief to his advisers and GOP officials, Trump in his speech did not repeat his previous claim that concern about affordability is a “Democratic hoax.” At one point, Trump delivered a line with a message White House officials have urged him to lean into: The Trump administration has more work to do to get costs down.
“It’s not done yet,” Trump said, referring to falling grocery prices. “But boy, are we making progress. Nobody can believe what’s going on.”
Trump’s ratings reached their lowest levels of his second term late last month. Although his numbers have rebounded slightly, he still remains underwater with the public, particularly on domestic economic issues such as the cost of living.
A Washington Post average of national polls so far in December found that 39 percent of Americans approve of the job Trump is doing, compared to 57 percent who disapprove. On the economy in particular, the average is slightly worse for Trump, with just 36 percent approving and 58 percent disapproving.
Throughout the speech, which was much briefer than Trump’s usual freewheeling remarks, he quickly ticked through a list of topics: his efforts to work with pharmaceutical companies to lower drug prices, his disdain for the Affordable Care Act and still largely undefined plans to overhaul it, the 1,600 electrical generating plants he wants opened in the next year and a promise that he will soon announce a new chair of the Federal Reserve.
Trump also announced that the government would send checks of $1,776 to members of the military, an initiative he suggested had been finalized “about 30 minutes ago.”
Throughout the day, speculation mounted about whether the president would address the possibility of war with Venezuela, after Trump on Tuesday made a dramatic escalation in his months-long pressure campaign against the government of President Nicolás Maduro.
But Trump avoided the matter, spending little time discussing one of his favorite topics in recent months: his efforts to broker peace between other nations in conflict. His only mentions of war were that he “settled eight wars in 10 months,” and his claim that the Biden administration “caused war” and “mayhem” by allowing a spike in illegal immigration.
While Trump’s advisers have attempted to coach him on discussing the economy in terms that resonate with working-class and middle-class Americans facing financial hardships, the president has struggled to concede that some of his voters are still struggling, often touting instead a surging stock market as an example of his improvements to the U.S. economy. The White House has also attempted to sell legislation passed over the summer that officials say will bring tax cuts for most Americans come April.
Inflation, which spiked under Biden, has remained stubbornly high throughout Trump’s first year in office, while hiring numbers have been weak.
Two senior White House officials told The Post that Trump, as a result of growing discontent over the economy, is expected to hold near-weekly rallies in the new year after holding few since his victory in November 2024. The increase in domestic travel in part reflects an effort to reconnect with his base of loyal supporters, some of whom believe Trump has lost sight of the reason they elected him — which many in MAGA say was to boost working-class Americans and be relentless in his pledge of “mass deportations.”
Instead, these supporters have said, the president has been distracted by international affairs, striking deals with corporations and overseeing White House construction projects.
Last week, Trump traveled to Pennsylvania to talk about affordability — though the president veered off course for much of the speech, and again mocked the word “affordability.” The president is similarly scheduled to hold a rally on Friday in North Carolina on his way to a two-week sojourn in Florida for the holidays.
Ahead of the address, the White House was already on the defensive about the Tuesday publication of a Vanity Fair interview with Trump’s chief of staff Susie Wiles, a normally tight-lipped adviser who was quoted reflecting critically on some of the administration’s policies — including its approach to deportations, the attorney general’s handling of the investigation of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein and Trump’s occasional efforts to punish his enemies. Wiles referred to Vice President JD Vance as a “conspiracy theorist” and described Trump as someone with an “alcoholic’s personality.”
White House officials and Trump’s Cabinet members — including some who Wiles spoke critically of — rushed to her defense, as did Trump.
But Trump, largely sticking to the script rolling on the teleprompters in front of him, delivered the message his advisers wanted him to tell a public increasingly skeptical of his job performance as he approaches the one-year mark.
“After just one year, we have achieved more than anyone could have imagined,” Trump said.
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