Trump Spews Lies About The Economy In His Year-End Address To Nation
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
WASHINGTON ― President Donald Trump needed only eight seconds to start lying in his prime-time address Wednesday night, shouting through a fairly typical unhinged rally speech, except relatively brief and to a prime-time audience directly from the White House.
“I inherited a mess years ago, and I’m fixing it. When I took office, inflation was the worst in 48 years, and some would say in the history of our country,” Trump said in the first of numerous falsehoods throughout the address that his White House requested television networks carry live.
In fact, inflation was down to about 3% when Trump took office 11 months ago and was trending downward still. That trend reversed in May, after Trump declared his trade war against the rest of the world and imposed taxes on most imports ― what has become the largest tax increase on Americans in decades.
The only new announcement in the 18-minute address was that he was issuing $1,776 checks to 1.5 million military service members ― a bonus that will cost $2.5 billion.
Trump claimed the money would come from tariffs collected from imported goods. “We made a lot more money than anybody thought because of tariffs,” he said, but failed to point out that every dollar collected in tariffs comes from American importers.
Nearly all of the elements in Trump’s address, which he yelled all the way through, even though he had a microphone set up for him on his lectern in the Diplomatic Reception Room, have been heard many times previously in his public remarks, his question-and-answer sessions with reporters, and his social media posts.
“This is what the Biden administration allowed to happen to our country, and it can never be allowed to happen again. We had men playing in women’s sports, transgender for everybody, crime at record levels with law enforcement and words such as that, just absolutely forbidden,” he said.
What he meant by the “law enforcement and words” remark is unclear.
He attacked predecessor Joe Biden for not cracking down on illegal immigration. He again conflated asylum seekers with people in mental institutions. He lied about grocery prices coming down and the number of wars he has ended.
And he claimed that he was cutting prescription drug prices by mathematically impossible amounts.
“I negotiated directly with the drug companies and foreign nations which were taking advantage of our country for many decades to slash prices on drugs and pharmaceuticals by as much as 400, 500 and even 600%,” he said.
At one point, he even accused Biden and Democrats ― without elaboration or evidence ― of stealing taxpayer money. “The last administration and their allies in Congress looted our Treasury for trillions of dollars driving up prices and everything at levels never seen before,” he said.
On the current impasse over expiring enhanced subsidies for millions of Americans who purchase health insurance through the Affordable Care Act, Trump bizarrely claimed that Democrats, who want to maintain the subsidies, somehow want to increase ACA premiums.
“It was bad health care at much too high a cost, and you see that now in the steep increase in premiums being demanded by the Democrats, and they are demanding those increases and it’s their fault,” he said.
It is not immediately clear what Trump meant.
It is also unclear why the speech was given at all. Typically, when presidents deliver an address from the White House, it is to make the case for a particular policy directly to the American people. That did not appear to be the case Wednesday night.
In brief comments to the limited pool present for the speech – only one television reporter and one photographer were allowed to be there – Trump suggested he gave the speech because chief of staff Susie Wiles said he needed to.
Trump is scheduled to give a rally speech in North Carolina Friday night, in which he is likely to repeat many of his falsehoods and attacks, before continuing on to Florida for the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.
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How pathetic and embarrassing for our country.
Trump lives in an egocentric false reality of his own creation and expects everyone else to live there too.
The man is mentally ill – malignant narcissism, mythomania, delusional disorder, take your pick.
I can't believe the networks interrupted primetime programming to carry this crap live. What a joke.
It was basically a shorter version of a Trump rally speech.
The networks are obligated to show messages to the nation from the White House. Maybe not legally, but definitely by tradition.
Which is exactly why it shouldn't have been aired it live.
They refused to air a primetime Obama speech once.
trump speech -
One more for your list:
The oath-breaking scumbag who pardoned the Jan 6 traitors actually accused Biden of releasing a bunch of violent felons, "more than we've ever seen" or something (paraphrasing there).
maga has a habit of projection, and when they do it's something they've already done, are doing now, or plan on doing in the future ...
trump's tariffs represent the single largest tax increase on americans in our history ...
At least since WW2.
So... If I go to the CVS and buy insulin for $40 using my new Presidential discount of 600% they will also have to give me $200 in cash? Yaaaay! MAGA.
But then you have to spend that 200 in trmp cryptocurrency
haven't looked at their value since I laughed myself into unconsciousness last time, but that's like 20,000 coins now ...
it was only a great investment for the trump family ...
$1776 to the troops? All the troops or only a select few?
Either way, I'll believe it when I see it tho I don't know any active duty any more
From what I've read, active duty and O-6 or below. Didn't make any mention of higher enlisted not being included.
I'm fine with that. O-6's and up make plenty of money. But the people that need it the most are the E-6's and below
Agreed. It's truly a shame that approximately 15% of active duty families rely on food stamps and food banks. On base commissaries used to receive sufficient funding to insure that families could afford quality food for their families but that funding was slowly withdrawn starting back in the late 80's. By the 2000's the base commissary was about the same price wise as any grocery store in the city.
With an almost $1 Trillion budget just signed, I do wish they would do more to actually support the troops.
I wish they would, too. I stopped using the base commissary when I moved off base. I get better quality at the same or better price at Kroger or Walmart
$400 million for the new pedophile palace addition to the white house, and our service enlistees and their families need food stamps to survive ...
The thing about the commissary is it boasts no sales tax, which is true, but there is a 6 percent surcharge on purchases to cover wages, infrastructure, etc.
I'm sure that is true but they are still less expensive than an off base grocery that adds in these expenses plus the sales tax for the area.
For the record, however, i would rather go to Publix or Walmart simply because of the convenience. The nearest base to me is more than 20 minutes.
Maybe they get the money as soon as they pledge personal loyalty to the supreme leader.
only the ones with crosses, swastikas, maga bullshit, and bible scripture tattoos ...
... and a declaration of loyalty to trump, right above where you endorse the check on the back.
... as if sworn oaths or somebody's word means anything to maga.