"Zoom in: Focused and delivered without meandering asides, Trump's 18-minute address was essentially the speech he was expected to give last week in Pennsylvania, where he went off-script. The speech was notable for what he didn't do: use the words "hoax" or "con job" when talking about affordability. Aside from announcing a new "warrior dividend" of $1,776 for service members, Trump's speech had little new in it. He promised a zooming economy next year, built around tax cuts and other measures in his "big, beautiful bill.""
""After years of record-setting falling incomes, our policies are boosting take-home pay at a historic pace," Trump said. The November jobs report numbers, released Tuesday, show average hourly earnings growth at 3.5%, down from 4% in January when Trump took office. Trump also said the administration is "solving" soaring grocery prices - even as grocery costs are up in most categories - and said electricity costs will "fall dramatically," though the government's own data shows prices rising by double digits year over year."
"Behind the scenes: Wednesday night's atypically short, rapid-fire speech was a point of modest pride for Trump advisers, who say the president can stick to the script when he wants, and plans to drive his message home in 2026. "When the president addresses the nation like this, he can keep it short and sweet," one adviser said. "When he's on stage, he's going to freestyle. And people love it." Between the lines: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent often insists that the Trump administration won't tell people how they're feeling, dismissing it as Biden-style gaslighting of voters."
Trump remained on script in an 18-minute, tightly focused appearance that avoided meandering asides and did not use the words "hoax" or "con job" on affordability. The remarks announced a $1,776 "warrior dividend" for service members and promoted a "big, beautiful bill" of tax cuts aimed at driving a zooming economy next year. The administration claimed accelerating take-home pay while government data show average hourly earnings growth slowed to 3.5% and grocery and electricity prices remain elevated. Advisers celebrated the brevity and signaled plans to push the message into 2026.
Read at Axios
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]