Donald Trump Defends Economic Record In Televised Address 5 Takeaways

WASHINGTON − President Donald Trump delivered a forceful defense of his first 11 months in office during a primetime address from the White House, pointing the finger at Democrats for Americans' economic anxieties in... "Boy, are we making progress," Trump said Dec. 17 in a speech focused heavily on affordability, which has increasingly bedeviled his administration and threatens his party's electoral chances next year. Trump blamed the problem on his White House predecessor and immigrants without legal status as polls shows Americans increasingly losing confidence in his economic stewardship. The president's brief address − it clocked in at under 20 minutes − often looked backward as he mentioned former President Joe Biden seven times. Trump said that he “inherited a mess,” and that under the Biden administration, life became “unaffordable for millions and millions of Americans."

"This happened during a Democrat administration, and it's when we first began hearing the word affordability," Trump said in comments from the White House Diplomatic Room, which was adorned with Christmas decorations. United States President Donald Trump used a nationally televised address from the White House just days before Christmas to present his first year back in office as a period of recovery and momentum, even... The roughly 20-minute speech, broadcast live in prime time, avoided some of the most pressing foreign policy issues confronting his administration. The address was delivered against a festive backdrop but carried a distinctly combative tone, reflecting a presidency increasingly focused on defending its economic record and reassigning blame as inflation ticks upward and approval ratings... Trump opened his remarks with a line that set the tone for the entire address. “Good evening, America.

Eleven months ago, I inherited a mess, and I’m fixing it.” The statement encapsulated the core argument he returned to repeatedly throughout the speech: that the economic and social difficulties Americans are experiencing today are the result of decisions made by his predecessor, former US... President Donald Trump used a prime-time address Wednesday night to promote his policies and “historic” progress, while repeatedly blaming his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, for the nation’s economic “mess” as he sought to... President Donald Trump says he is sending a $1,776 bonus check to U.S. troops for Christmas, indicating in a White House speech that tariffs were funding the payments as he tried to reassure a worried public about the health of the economy. President Donald Trump speaks during an address to the nation from the Diplomatic Reception Room at the White House, Wednesday, Dec.

17, 2025, in Washington. (Doug Mills/The New York Times via AP, Pool) President Donald Trump speaks during an address to the nation from the Diplomatic Reception Room at the White House, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025, in Washington. (Doug Mills/The New York Times via AP, Pool) President Donald Trump speaks during an address to the nation from the Diplomatic Reception Room at the White House, Wednesday, Dec.

17, 2025, in Washington. (Doug Mills/The New York Times via AP, Pool) This article is part of The D.C. Brief, TIME’s politics newsletter. Sign up here to get stories like this sent to your inbox. Every holiday season, mailboxes fill up with family letters from beloved aunts who tell us about the cousins’ developments, the vacations and pets, goals for the new year—all coated with as much sugar as...

On Wednesday evening, the world was treated to President Donald Trump’s Christmas letter, delivered in a disjointed rant from the White House. It was a self-graded check-in, coming nearly one year into office as the public is increasingly skeptical about what they signed up for when they gave Trump the keys to the White House for... And unlike his position when the year started, Trump now seems to have lost control over his Republican Party, as more lawmakers are starting to realize the prices they might pay for their continued... It was, as departing Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene observed on Tuesday, a sign that “the dam is breaking.” Even so, it sure felt like Trump was taking a self-congratulatory victory lap even as those watching were wondering when he... Trump’s message, delivered in just under 20 minutes from the White House’s Diplomatic Reception Room, would have fit in naturally at a campaign-style rally.

But those events are not always carried live by the major networks and treated as primetime must-watch events. So Americans and those around the globe watched as Trump unleashed his favorite set of grievances about Democrats, migration, border policies, transgender rights, wokeness, self-dealing, the environment, the economy—basically every issue or piece of... In a powerful primetime address to the nation last night from the White House, President Donald J. Trump reflected on the transformative progress achieved in just 11 months — turning the tide on inflation and costs, securing the border, and honoring our military with a special Warrior Dividend — while promising...

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