By Emmanuel Yashim
U.S. President Donald Trump promised Americans an economic boom in an address to the nation on the night of Dec. 17, while blaming Democratic predecessor Joe Biden for high prices that have hit the Republican’s popularity.
“Good evening, America. Eleven months ago, I inherited a mess, and I’m fixing it,” the 79-year-old said in his live speech from the White House at the end of his first year back in power.
Trump faces growing voter anger over the issue of affordability despite his efforts to dismiss it as a “hoax” by Democrats, sparking Republican fears they could be punished in the 2026 mid-term elections.
The billionaire president insisted that prices of gas and groceries that have worried Americans were “falling rapidly, and it’s not done yet. But boy, are we making progress”.
In a surprise announcement, Trump said that 1.45 million United States military service members would each receive “warrior dividend” bonus checks for 1,776 dollars (S$2,295) before Christmas, paid for with revenues raised from tariffs.
He added that the specific amount was in honour of the year of the founding of the United States, the 250th anniversary of which the country will celebrate in 2026.
Trump then promised that “we are poised for an economic boom the likes of which the world has never seen” in 2026, when the United States will co-host the FIFA World Cup, with Canada and Mexico.
But while the White House had billed the speech as a chance for Mr Trump to set out his economic agenda for the rest of his second term, much of it consisted of attacks on familiar targets.
He repeatedly raged against Mr Biden, the Democrats, and migrants whom he said “stole American jobs”.
Mr Trump’s speech comes at the end of a whirlwind year in which he has launched an unprecedented display of presidential power, including a crackdown on migration and the targeting of political opponents.
Many economists say Trump’s tariffs have contributed to higher prices for some goods, though the overall impact has been much less than many forecasters predicted earlier this year.
Trump, on Dec. 17, argued his tariffs are delivering economic gains and luring investment in domestic manufacturing.
Still, Mr Trump’s speech offered a muddled message on price levels.
He said at one point that he was “bringing them down very fast,” while later acknowledging ongoing inflation, he said was outpaced by wage growth.
Mr Trump also heralded his tariff barrage, indicating it would fund the payments to military members and had been a useful cudgel in settling conflicts abroad – though the levies are import taxes that historically raise costs.
Adding to his woes, U.S. hiring has been lacklustre in recent months, with any gains largely propelled by steady hiring in health care.
The latest jobs report showed employers added 64,000 jobs in November, thanks to health care hiring and the strongest advance in construction employment in more than a year.
Manufacturers, however, shed jobs for a seventh straight month.
Polls show that Americans are most concerned about high prices, which experts say are partly fuelled by the tariffs he has slapped on trading partners around the world.
The inflation problem also dogged Mr Biden as he tried to heal the U.S. economy after the Covid-19 pandemic, and the Democrat unsuccessfully tried similar arguments with voters about economic good times to come.
Mr Trump got his worst approval ratings ever for his handling of the economy in a PBS News/NPR/Marist poll published on Dec. 17, with 57 per cent of Americans disapproving and expressing concerns about the cost of living.
A YouGov poll published Dec. 16 showed that 52 per cent of Americans thought the economy was getting worse under Mr Trump.
He has also faced criticism from his Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement for focusing on peace deals in Ukraine and Gaza and on tensions with Venezuela, instead of domestic issues.
There are signs that Trump’s team has had a wake-up call on the economy in recent weeks, with the midterm elections in 2026 for control of Congress already looming.
Republicans lost heavily in elections in November for the mayor of New York and governorships in Virginia and New Jersey, while Democrats ran them close in a previously safe area in Tennessee.
The president is now ramping up his domestic travel to push his economic message.
Last week in Pennsylvania, he promised to “make America affordable again,” and on Dec. 12, he is due to give another campaign-style rally in North Carolina.
Vice-President JD Vance – who is rapidly becoming Trump’s messenger on the issue as he eyes his own presidential run in 2028 – also urged voters to show patience during a speech on Dec 16.
(Reuters/NAN)
