Trump delivers address to the nation to exaggerate his achievements and blame Biden for the state of the economy

On Wednesday night, Donald Trump chose a format reserved for special occasions — a televised address to the nation — for one of his favorite activities: praising himself with lies, half-truths, and exaggerations in an effort to take control of the narrative on the state of the economy, which has resulted in the biggest crisis of popularity he has experienced since he returned to power in January.

The Republican wore a tense and impatient expression for an 18-minute speech during which, at times, he seemed to be shouting at his compatriots from the White House’s Diplomatic Reception Room. The idea was to mark the end of the first year of his second term with a review of his achievements. The result — which provided fact-checkers with plenty of work — sounded like a nervous justification of his economic impotence, after Americans elected him in the 2024 elections precisely because they believed he would be able to mitigate the toll of the cost of living.

“Eleven months ago, I inherited a mess,” he said at the beginning of a speech in which he repeatedly blamed his predecessor, Joe Biden, as well as revisiting some of the well-known fetishes of his rhetoric: attacks on transgender people; racist and xenophobic arguments; the eight wars he claims to have ended; and the alleged invasion of the U.S. by the most dangerous criminals in the Americas, released from “prisons and mental hospitals” and sent to the country by hostile states.

“In other words, in a few short months, we went from worst to best,” said Trump, who boasted about the funds obtained from tariffs — money that the Supreme Court, which is studying the constitutionality of his aggressive trade policy, could be about to force him to return. “Now we’re the hottest country anywhere in the world. And that’s said by every single leader that I’ve spoken to over the last five months.”

Toward the end of his speech, which he ended with “merry Christmas and a happy new year,” Trump summarized what, in his opinion, he has achieved since returning to the Oval Office. And he did so without much concern that many of those arguments were at odds with reality. This was the case when he spoke of the improvement in unemployment figures, which have worsened by three-tenths of a percentage point compared to the figure he inherited from Biden, according to the latest statistics released this week.

“Our border is secure,” Trump said. “Inflation has stopped, wages are up, prices are down, our nation is strong, America is respected, and our country is back, stronger than ever before. We’re poised for an economic boom the likes of which the world has never seen.”

The U.S. president also did not pass up the opportunity to paint an apocalyptic picture of the country he inherited. “For the last four years, the United States was ruled by politicians who fought only for insiders, illegal aliens, career criminals, corporate lobbyists, prisoners, terrorists and, above all, foreign nations, which took advantage of us at levels never seen before,” he said.

The Republican had promised to outline some of the main points of what to expect from his administration in 2026, but once again, he did so in an impatient manner, which may not be the best way to ask his compatriots for patience while they wait to witness the fruits of his policies. It was as if he was annoyed at having to waste time on promises, which he made nonetheless. Some sounded worn out, such as eliminating insurance companies from the health subsidy equation or lowering the price of medicines “by as much as 400, 500 and even 600 percent,” even though this is mathematically impossible.

Others were new. He said he is preparing “some of the most aggressive housing reform plans in American history.” And his administration will issue a $1,776 check to every member of the military before Christmas. He called it “the warrior dividend,” and the amount was not random: in 1776 independence from the British was achieved, the 250th anniversary of which will be celebrated in 2026.

The speech — which was constrained by time and format, something Trump is not comfortable with; he prefers to speak without watching the clock and with room for tangents — also had something of the air of a campaign kickoff about it. Next November, crucial midterm legislative elections will be held, in which Republicans could lose one or both houses of Congress. That would greatly complicate the second half of Trump’s second term.

It is difficult to imagine a worse starting point for that date: with 11 months to go before the elections, the president finds himself in the middle of what looks very much like a perfect storm. The polls are not favorable, his loyal MAGA base is beginning to lose patience with the attention he is paying to international political issues, which could be better devoted to the ideals of “America First,” and despite his irritation at criticism of the cost of living and inflation — stubbornly hovering around 3% — his compatriots are feeling the pinch of the ailing economy, with further evidence of this on Tuesday in the form of the worst unemployment figures since 2021.

It does not help his popularity ratings that Trump dismisses these concerns as “Democratic hoaxes,” or that he recently rated the state of the economy as “A+++++,” which came across as insensitive, or a worrying disconnect from reality.

“The best is yet to come”

The president’s speech was eagerly awaited, partly because a few hours earlier, ultra-conservative broadcaster Tucker Carlson, a champion of conspiracy theories, had hinted that Trump was ready to use this solemn occasion to declare war on Venezuela.

This did not happen. The U.S. president only referred in passing to the growing pressure that — thanks to a military deployment with few precedents in the Caribbean and a campaign of extrajudicial killings that has already claimed the lives of almost 100 crew members of alleged drug-running boats — Washington is exerting on Nicolás Maduro to force regime change under the pretext of fighting drug trafficking and, as has become even clearer in recent days, to gain access to the South American country’s oil reserves.

Trump had announced his intention to speak to his compatriots last Tuesday. He did so, as usual, on his social network, Truth, in a post in which he wrote: “It has been a great year for our Country, AND THE BEST IS YET TO COME!” A few hours later, he told reporters that he planned to emphasize, as he ultimately did, that he inherited a “mess” from Biden. “We’ve done a great job. We continue to do so. And our country will be stronger than before,” he added.

The format chosen by Trump on Wednesday is unusual and is usually reserved for momentous occasions. Since returning to power last January, the Republican has addressed the nation twice: for the first, he was surrounded by aides as he announced the attack on three uranium production and storage facilities in Iran at the end of June. The second came after the murder of his ally, the young ultra-conservative activist Charlie Kirk. On that occasion, it was a recorded message in which he passed up the opportunity to call for unity amid the mourning.

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