President Trump Announces Military Holiday Bonus, Touts Achievements (Primetime Address)

President Donald Trump looked to reassure Americans concerned about the rising cost of living by announcing plans to award a special holiday payment to military service members and roll out new housing reforms in the new year.

Trump announced the plans Wednesday during a prime-time address from the White House, which he used to extol his accomplishments from his first year back in the White House and convince voters they should still blame his predecessor for persistent economic anxieties.

“Eleven months ago, I inherited a mess, and I’m fixing it,” Trump said.

Trump’s biggest announcement was a move to award service members $1,776 payments, a decision that should provide a holiday boost to 1.45 million Americans.

“Military service members will receive a special — we call Warrior Dividend — before Christmas — a Warrior Dividend,” Trump said. “In honor of our nation’s founding in 1776, we are sending every soldier $1,776. Think of that. And the checks are already on the way.”

But he also sought to allay fears that his economy had not yet taken off, telling voters they would see the benefits of his tax cut legislation, lower mortgage rates, and broader housing reform in the new year.

“I’ll soon announce our next chairman of the Federal Reserve, someone who believes in lower interest rates, by a lot, and mortgage payments will be coming down even further,” Trump said. “Early in the new year — and you will see this in the new year — I will announce some of the most aggressive housing reform plans in American history.”

Administration officials cast the event as an opportunity to highlight the president’s accomplishments in his first year back in the White House and preview new policies for 2026, but the remarks come at a critical moment with Trump confronting mounting public anxiety about his economic agenda and his advisers struggling to hone their messaging.

The speech also came against the backdrop of Trump’s escalating campaign to pressure the Maduro regime in Venezuela, including an announcement Tuesday of an embargo against sanctioned oil tankers. While Trump mentioned counter-narcotic efforts broadly, he did not address a possible escalation in military activity.

Voters returned Trump to office in part to address the persistent inflation that plagued former President Joe Biden. And Trump spent much of his remarks looking to lay the blame at the foot of his predecessor, detailing price increases during the prior administration.

“When I took office, inflation was the worst in 48 years, and some would say in the history of our country, which caused prices to be higher than ever before, making life unaffordable for millions and millions of Americans,” he said.

Trump now finds himself facing the same economic headwinds. Surveys show Americans are worried about the cost of living and inflation, fears that powered rival Democrats to key electoral wins in November and pose a major threat to Trump and Republicans in 2026 elections that will decide control of Congress and the future of his legislative agenda.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll released Tuesday showed Trump’s approval rating had slipped to nearly its lowest level of his second term in office, with just 39% of US adults approving of his job performance.

Trump’s own inconsistent messaging on the economy has made his task harder. The president has vacillated between deriding voter anger over affordability as a Democratic “hoax” and at times emphasizing lower prices for gasoline and eggs as positive bellwethers.

Trump has graded his record on the economy as an “A-plus-plus-plus-plus-plus,” while insisting that his administration needs more time to remedy what he says was a mess left by Biden.

Trump sought to rally viewers by touting his work on other issues, saying he had stopped the flow of undocumented migrants and drugs while bolstering the military and brokering a ceasefire in Gaza. He also touted his controversial tariff regime, which critics have blamed for rising prices but that Trump framed as a diplomatic tool and way to offset costs like his payment to service members.

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