In a 19-minute address to the nation Wednesday night, U.S. President Donald Trump did not make any major announcements, as presidents often do. Instead, he used the opportunity to further denigrate immigrants, highlight his personal accomplishments, and make grandiose promises of future prosperity.
“Our country is strong. America is respected and our country is back stronger than ever. Our country is poised for the greatest economic boom the world has ever seen.”
Democratic lawmakers were quick to capitalize on President Trump’s slumping approval ratings and public concerns about affordability.
“I quickly lost track of how many lies President Trump told tonight, but the main conclusion is that he has clearly lost touch with reality. He is delusional,” said Sen. Chris Van Hollen. “The most honest thing he said was, ‘Nobody can believe what’s going on.'”
California Governor Gavin Newsom, a potential future presidential candidate, has frequently criticized President Trump in social media posts, mocking him for giving a speech that focused on “Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me.”
Here are five key takeaways from his speech.
He blamed immigrants for America’s problems.
The US president has attacked immigrants, blaming them for the housing crisis and economic problems.
“Illegal aliens are stealing American jobs, flooding emergency rooms, and receiving free health care and education paid for by you, the American taxpayer,” Trump said.
“They have also increased law enforcement costs to an unmentionable degree.”
The US president, who recently called the Somali community “trash” in a racist rant, falsely claimed that Somalis had “hijacked Minnesota’s economy” and stolen “billions of dollars.”
Studies have repeatedly shown that immigrants contribute more to the economy than they take from it, providing labor for critical sectors such as agriculture and construction. Similarly, in the United States, immigrant labor, including undocumented workers, has long supported the child care, home care, and elderly care industries.
He promised an “economic boom” in 2026.
Recent polls show Americans are increasingly concerned about the cost of living and President Trump’s handling of the economy.
An NPR/PBS News/Marist poll released Wednesday found that only 36% of people approve of President Trump’s economic performance, and 45% say prices are the main issue when it comes to economic concerns. More than half said they believed the country was already in recession.
The president tackled the issue head-on, confident that his policies were working and that the economy was on track to experience a boom.
He added that the next Fed chief would agree to lower interest rates “significantly.” Current Chairman Jerome Powell’s term ends in May 2026, and President Trump is expected to announce his successor soon. Earlier this year, he pressured the U.S. central bank to lower interest rates and even threatened to fire Chairman Powell over the issue.
He also addressed the issue of rising health care costs, which Democrats say will skyrocket when key health benefits for low-income people expire at the end of this year. To combat this, President Trump pointed to efforts to lower the cost of prescription drugs through a series of agreements he has made with drug companies to sell drugs directly to consumers on his new website TrumpRx.
“There has never been anything like this in the history of our country,” he said. President Trump said, “Prices for pharmaceuticals have been going up until now, but now they’re going to go down by unimaginable numbers,” adding that new price cuts will become possible in January, and “medical costs will be significantly reduced.”
But he distanced himself from other key concerns among voters, namely energy and food prices, blaming President Joe Biden’s administration for soaring inflation and vowing to get the issues under control. He hasn’t done that yet.
Al Jazeera’s Kimberly Halkett said in a report from Washington, DC: “He claimed that a lot of things had changed for the better since he took office, including energy and food affordability, which are the main concerns for most Americans.
“But as you may have noticed, while speaking, the President of the United States made no mention of energy prices, which remain relatively high for most consumers.
“When it comes to groceries and grocery affordability and going out to restaurants, those things are still very high for most Americans. That has a lot to do with the president’s tariffs, which he says are bringing in a tremendous amount of revenue to the country.”
He claims to have brought peace to the Middle East
“I restored America’s power, resolved eight wars in 10 months, defeated Iran’s nuclear threat, ended the war in Gaza, brought peace for the first time in 3,000 years, and secured the release of hostages, living and dead, right here at home,” Trump said.
Observers dispute whether President Trump ended eight wars or brought peace to the Middle East. In particular, during the June war between Iran and Israel, the United States actively participated in military attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities, which ended with a ceasefire brokered by both the United States and Qatar.
He also announced the end of hostilities between Pakistan and India in May after four days of fighting. However, while Pakistan credits the US president with helping to stop the fighting, India maintains that the president had no role.
Meanwhile, Israel, which was founded in 1948, not 3,000 years ago, continues to carry out daily attacks in the Gaza Strip and block aid from flowing in, despite a cease-fire agreement.
Palestinians, rights groups and some analysts say the ceasefire exists in name only because Israel violates it almost daily.
He announced a “warrior’s dividend” to the U.S. military
President Trump said 1.45 million U.S. military personnel will soon receive bonus checks of $1,776 each from revenue generated from trade tariffs he imposed on other countries this year.
“Just think about this: Before Christmas, 1.45 million military members will receive a special dividend. We call it the ‘Warrior Dividend,'” Trump said in a televised address, adding that the specific amount was in honor of America’s founding year.
He did not mention tensions in Venezuela
Some observers had speculated that President Trump might use the opportunity during his speech to make a dramatic announcement about military action against Venezuela, or even advocate military action in the future.
But he made no mention of rising tensions between the United States and Venezuela, despite the fact that he has imposed an oil blockade on Venezuela and amassed the region’s largest military force in decades near the country’s coast.
Instead, he mentioned only briefly the military attacks carried out against Venezuelan shipping in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific. Approximately 90 people were killed in what the Trump administration claimed was drug trafficking, without providing any evidence.
Legal experts say targeting ships in international waters in the Caribbean and Pacific likely violates U.S. and international law and amounts to extrajudicial executions.
President Trump said the United States had “destroyed a bloodthirsty foreign drug cartel.” He previously claimed that each boat attack prevents drugs from reaching the United States and “saves 25,000 American lives.” But experts say this is questionable because there is little evidence that Venezuela is a major source of drug trafficking to the United States.
This week, he signed an executive order declaring one of the most trafficked drugs, the powerful opiate fentanyl, a “weapon of mass destruction.”
