United States President Donald Trump has delivered an address to the nation from the White House, highlighting achievements, demonising immigrants and attacking his Democratic predecessor.
Although presidents usually reserve White House addresses to the nation for major announcements, Trump used his 19-minute speech on Wednesday to promote his narrative that the country is doing well as his popularity dwindles.
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“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,” he said.
Trump went on to scapegoat immigrants and blame them for the country’s problems, including the housing crisis.
“At the same time, illegal aliens stole American jobs and flooded emergency rooms getting free healthcare and education paid for by you – the American taxpayer,” Trump said.
“They also increased the cost of law enforcement by numbers so high that they are not even to be mentioned.”
Numerous studies have shown that immigrants contribute far more to the economy than they take from it, powering vital sectors, including agriculture to feed the country and construction to build new homes.
A 2023 analysis by the American Immigration Council showed that immigrants paid more than $651bn in taxes that year and generated $1.7 trillion in economic activity.
Trump’s first wife and current wife are immigrants from Eastern Europe.
The US president, who recently called the Somali community “garbage”, also falsely claimed that Somalis “took over the economics” of the state of Minnesota and stole “billions and billions of dollars”.
Affordability
Trump underscored his record of stemming unauthorised immigration at the southern border.
“We inherited the worst border anywhere in the world, and we quickly turned it into the strongest border in the history of our country. In other words, in a few short months, we went from worst to best,” he said.
The US president also argued that the cost of living is going down amid growing concerns about affordability.
While he correctly highlighted that basic commodities became more expensive under his predecessor Joe Biden amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the US president cited questionable data to show that prices are decreasing.
“The price of eggs is down 82 percent since March, and everything else is falling rapidly, and it’s not done yet. But boy, are we making progress. Nobody can believe what’s going on,” Trump said.
Egg prices had seen a massive, temporary spike to record highs in February – early in Trump’s term – due to an outbreak of bird flu.
Trump said the price of turkey plunged by 33 percent from last year, but the source of that number is not clear. He also said that the price of gasoline is now $2.50 per gallon in much of the country and even $1.99 in some states.
But the AAA National Average of gasoline on Wednesday was $2.90. And the monthly average for November was $3, similar to the price last year.
Reporting from Washington, DC, Al Jazeera’s Kimberly Halkett noted that affordability remains a top economic concern for the US public.
“When it comes to the affordability of groceries and food items, going out to restaurants, these are still very high for most Americans, and that has a lot to do with the president’s tariffs, which he says are bringing an enormous amount of revenue into the country,” she said.
While painting a rosy picture of the economy, Trump suggested that if there were persisting issues, it is Biden’s fault, stressing that he “inherited a mess”.
Trump focused on domestic issues and only brushed over foreign policy, reiterating his unfounded claim that the Gaza truce he helped broker brought peace to the Middle East for the first time in 3,000 years.
In reality, Israel was founded in 1948, and the Gaza truce has not stopped the daily Israeli attacks in Palestine and across the region.
“I’ve restored American strength, settled eight wars in 10 months, destroyed the Iran nuclear threat and ended the war in Gaza, bringing peace for the first time in 3,000 years, and secured the release of the hostages, both living and dead, here at home,” Trump said.
Venezuela absent
The announcement of the US president’s White House speech amid skyrocketing tensions with Venezuela had sparked speculations that he may announce military action against the country or at least make the case for a future war.
But Trump – who has imposed an oil blockade on Venezuela and amassed US military assets near the country – did not address the crisis with the Latin American nation.
Hours before the speech, Trump added fuel to the argument that he is escalating tensions with Venezuela to take the country’s oil.
“They took our oil rights. We had a lot of oil there. As you know, they threw our companies out, and we want it back,” Trump told reporters.
In 2007, then-Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez – Nicolas Maduro’s late predecessor – forced out some US oil companies as he nationalised the country’s petrol sector.
He also only vaguely alluded to his campaign of military strikes against alleged boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific, saying that the US “decimated the bloodthirsty foreign drug cartels”.