(NewsNation) — President Donald Trump delivered a primetime address to the nation Wednesday, touting his administration’s accomplishments and announcing new initiatives, including extra payments to military members.
Trump opened by declaring he “inherited a mess” and was elected to challenge what he called “a sick and corrupt system.” The president asserted his administration had “achieved more than anyone could have imagined” in its first year.
The 19-minute speech touched on border security, initiatives to cut drug costs and the economy. Trump credited his policies for improvements, rather than new legislation.
“We didn’t need new legislation, we just needed a new president,” he said.
Watch the full address:
Trump talks economy, affordability
On the economy, Trump said he was addressing high consumer prices “very fast” and touted rising wages he said were outpacing inflation.
He pointed to what he described as record employment levels and praised tariffs as instrumental to his economic strategy, calling tariffs his “favorite word.”
“We are poised for an economic boom the likes of which the world has never seen,” he said, stating that the “border is secure, inflation is stopped, wages are up, prices are down, our nation is strong … America is respected, and our country is back.”
The president said he would unveil “aggressive” housing reform plans in the new year and blamed the Biden administration’s border policies for increased housing costs.
“The last administration and their allies in Congress brought in millions of migrants, and gave them taxpayer-funded housing, while your rent and housing costs skyrocketed … For the first time in 50 years, we are now seeing reverse migration … leaving more housing and more jobs for Americans,” he said.
Trump says checks coming to every US military member
Trump announced a “warrior dividend” of $1,776 for every U.S. service member and said military enlistment had reached record levels.
“Nobody deserves it more than our military, and I say congratulations to everybody,” Trump said during his speech.
The White House’s Rapid Response account on X said, “Active duty service members in grades O-6 and below, and reserve component service members in grades O-6 and below and on active duty orders of 31 days or more as of November 30, 2025, are eligible.”
Trump also teased an upcoming announcement of his choice for the next Federal Reserve chair.
No mention of Venezuela in Trump address
The address came on the heels of escalating tensions between the United States and Venezuela, which Trump did not mention during his address.
On Tuesday, Trump said Venezuela was “completely surrounded by the largest armada” in South American history. He announced a blockade of tankers carrying “sanctioned” oil and designated the Nicolás Maduro-led Venezuelan regime as a foreign terrorist organization.
A White House official told NewsNation the president deliberately focused his speech on domestic issues rather than foreign policy, citing two reasons for the omission of Venezuela: the situation remains fluid with ongoing military operations, and the administration wanted to emphasize “bread-and-butter issues” affecting American households.
Drug prices to be slashed, president says
Trump suggested he would be “doing what no politician of either party has ever done — standing up to the special interests to dramatically reduce the price of prescription drugs.”
He said he negotiated directly with drug companies and “foreign nations,” which would lead to slashes in drug and pharmaceutical prices of as much as 600%.
He said price reductions would be available starting January at TrumpRX.gov and referred to the legislation passed under former President Barack Obama as “the Unaffordable Care Act.”
Trump blamed Democrats for increasing premiums and alleged the opposition party was “controlled” by health insurance companies.
Trump approval rating slips: Survey
A Reuters/Ipsos poll released Tuesday found that Trump’s approval rating slipped to nearly its lowest point in his second term.
The poll found that 39% of American respondents said they approve of Trump’s handling of the presidency, while 59% said they disapprove of Trump’s job performance.
Pollsters found that Trump’s approval among Republicans remains high at 85%, though down from the 91% at the start of his second term in January. Trump’s approval among Democrats dipped to 4% in December, down from 9% at the start of the new term.
Trump’s approval among independents also declined since January: 26% of respondents in December approved of the president’s grasp on the economy, down from 44% in January.
Americans were also mostly unhappy with Trump’s handling of the economy — 33% said they approve. The poll also found that 22% of Americans said they feel that the “economy, unemployment and jobs,” classified by Reuters/Ipsos as one category, is the most important problem facing the country.
Behind that, Americans saw “political extremism or threats to democracy” as the second-most important problem facing the U.S., at 16%.
Reuters/Ipsos’s lowest approval rating for Trump was at 38% in mid-November. Earlier in December, it was at 41% — six percentage points down from his approval rating when he returned to the White House.
Trump’s approval saw a rebound in the latest Decision Desk HQ poll, which found that 44.8% approved of his job performance. That’s up from 41.3% last month from the same poll.
NewsNation partner The Hill contributed to this report.