PBS News Hour

GEOFF BENNETT: Welcome to live special coverage of President Trump's address to the nation.

AMNA NAWAZ: Speaking from the White House Diplomatic Reception Room, the president is expected to lay out what he sees as his accomplishments so far this year on foreign policy, immigration, and the economy.

The speech comes as the president's approval rating sinks to the lowest of his second term.

In a new PBS News/NPR/Marist poll, 38 percent of Americans think he's doing a good job.

GEOFF BENNETT: The president will also use the speech tonight to look ahead to his policy priorities for the year to come.

Our own Liz Landers is at the White House now.

So, Liz, help us understand why the president is using this moment for a prime-time address.

LIZ LANDERS: Geoff, tonight's speech is expected to be a reflection of the last year.

We are anticipating hearing from the president tout his administration's aggressive agenda on items like immigration, like this major tax and spending bill that passed over the summer, and also on the economy, on those tariff policies that have been implemented in the last year.

AMNA NAWAZ: That's Liz Landers reporting live for us at the White House tonight.

We will bring you continued coverage, but, for now, we take you live to the White House and the president of the United States.

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: Good evening, America.

Eleven months ago, I inherited a mess, 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, which caused prices to be higher than ever before, making life unaffordable for millions and millions of Americans.

This happened during a Democrat administration, and it's when we first began hearing the word affordability.

Our border was open, and because of this, our country was being invaded by an army of 25 million people, many who came from prisons and jails, mental institutions, and insane asylums.

They were drug dealers, gang members, and even 11,888 murderers, more than 50 percent of whom killed more than one person.

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.

We had the worst trade deals ever made, and our country was laughed at from all over the world.

But they're not laughing anymore.

Over the past 11 months, we have brought more positive change to Washington than any administration in American history.

There has never been anything like it.

And I think most would agree.

I was elected in a landslide, winning the popular vote and all seven swing states and everything else with a mandate to take on a sick and corrupt system that ex -- it really just took the wealth from people and crushed the dreams of the American people.

For the last four years, the United States was ruled by politicians who fought only for insiders, illegal aliens, career criminals, corporate lobbyists, prisoners, terrorists, and, above all, foreign nations, which took advantage of us at levels never seen before.

They flooded your cities and towns with illegal aliens.

They decimated your hard-earned savings.

They indoctrinated your children with hate for America.

Really, I mean, they just released a level of violent felons that we had never seen to prey on innocent.

They caused war.

They caused mayhem.

They caused a horrible situation all over the globe.

But now you have a president who fights for the law-abiding, hardworking people of our country, the ones who make this nation run, who make this nation work.

And after just one year, we have achieved more than anyone could have imagined.

Starting on day one, I took immediate action to stop the invasion of our southern border.

For the past seven months, zero illegal aliens have been allowed into our country, a feat which everyone said was absolutely impossible.

Do you remember when Joe Biden said that he needed Congress to pass legislation to help close the border?

He was always blaming Congress and everyone else.

As it turned out, we didn't need legislation.

We just needed a new president.

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.

We're deporting criminals, restoring safety to our most dangerous cities.

Just take a look at Washington, D.C.

It's at levels of safety that we have never seen before.

And they decimated the bloodthirsty foreign drug cartels.

We did that all by ourselves with our people, and we're so proud of it, because they were poisoning and destroying our population.

Drugs brought in by ocean and by sea are now down 94 percent.

We have broken the grip of sinister woke radicals in our schools, and control over those schools is back now in the hands of our great and loving states, where education belongs.

After rebuilding the United States military in my first term, and with the addition we are adding right now, we have the most powerful military anywhere in the world, and it's not even close.

I have restored American strength, settled eight wars in 10 months, destroyed the Iran nuclear threat, and ended the war in Gaza, bringing for the first time in 3,000 years peace to the Middle East, and secured the release of the hostages, both living and dead.

Here at home, we're bringing our economy back from the brink of ruin.

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.

I am bringing those high prices down, and bringing them down very fast.

Let's look at the facts.

Under the Biden administration, car prices rose 22 percent, and, in many states, 30 percent or more.

Gasoline rose 30 to 50 percent.

Hotel rates rose 37 percent.

Airfares rose 31 percent.

Now, under our leadership, they are all coming down, and coming down fast.

Democrat politicians also sent the cost of groceries soaring.

But we are solving that too.

The price of a Thanksgiving turkey was down 33 percent compared to the Biden last year.

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.

Here are just some of the efforts that we have under way that you will see in your wallets and bank accounts in the new year.

After years of record-setting, falling incomes, our policies are boosting take-home pay at a historic pace.

Under Biden, real wages plummeted by $3,000.

Under Trump, the typical factory worker has seen a wage increase of $1,300.

For construction workers,it's $1,800.

For miners -- we're bringing back clean, beautiful coal -- it's $3,300.

And for the first time in years, wages are rising much faster than inflation.

Remember that.

The wages, just look at it.

Wages are going up much faster than inflation.

How big is that?

Very importantly, there are more people working today than at any time in American history.

And 100 percent of all jobs created since I took office have been in the private sector.

Think of that; 100 percent of all jobs have been in the private sector, rather than government, which is the only way to make a country powerful and great.

This historic trend will continue.

Already, I have secured a record-breaking $18 trillion of investment into the United States, which means jobs, wage increases, growth, factory openings, and far greater national security.

Much of this success has been accomplished by tariffs, my favorite word, tariffs, which, for many decades, have been used successfully by other countries against us, but not anymore.

Companies know that, if they build in America, there are no tariffs.

And that's why they're coming home to the USA in record numbers.

They're building factories and plants at levels we haven't seen.

A.I., automobiles, we're doing what nobody thought was even possible, not even remotely possible.

There has never, frankly, been anything like it.

One year ago, our country was dead.

We were absolutely dead.

Our country was ready to fail, totally failed.

Now we're the hottest country anywhere in the world.

And that's said by every single leader that I have spoken to over the last five months.

Next year, you will also see the results of the largest tax cuts in American history that were really accomplished through our great Big Beautiful Bill, perhaps the most sweeping legislation ever passed in Congress.

We wrapped 12 different bills up into one beautiful bill.

That includes no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, and no tax on Social Security for our great seniors.

Under these cuts, many families will be saving between $11,000 and $20,000 a year.

And next spring is projected to be the largest tax refund season of all time.

Because of tariffs, along with the just-passed One Big Beautiful Bill, tonight, I am also proud to announce that more than 1,450,000 -- think of this -- 1,450,000 military service members will receive a special we call warrior dividend before Christmas, a warrior dividend.

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.

Nobody understood that one until about 30 minutes ago.

We made a lot more money than anybody thought because of tariffs, and the bill helped us along.

Nobody deserves it more than our military.

And I say, congratulations to everybody.

An, by the way, we now have record enlistment in our military.

And, last year, we had among the worst recruitment numbers in our military's history.

What a difference a year makes.

In addition, I'm doing what no politician of either party has ever done, standing up to the special interests to dramatically reduce the price of prescription drugs.

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 percent.

In other words, your drug costs will be plummeting downward, and I used the threat of tariffs to get foreign countries who would never have done it to pay the cost of this giant dollar reduction.

They stopped ripping us off, and it began as of four days ago.

There has never been anything like this in the history of our country.

Drugs have only gone up, but now they will be going down by numbers never conceived possible.

It's called most favored nation, and no president has ever had the courage or ability to get this done until now.

The first of these unprecedented price reductions will be available starting in January through a new Web site, TrumpRx.gov.

And these big price cuts will greatly reduce the cost of health care.

I'm also taking on the gigantic health insurance companies that have gotten rich on billions of dollars of money that should go directly to the people.

The money should go to the people, that's you, so they can buy their own health insurance, which will give far better benefits at much lower costs.

It will be far better health insurance.

The current Unaffordable Care Act was created to make insurance companies rich.

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.

It is not the Republicans' fault.

It's the Democrats' fault.

It's the Unaffordable Care Act, and everybody knew it.

Again, I want the money to go directly to the people so you can buy your own health care.

You will get much better health care at a much lower price.

The only losers will be insurance companies that have gotten rich in the Democrat Party, which is totally controlled by those same insurance companies.

They will not be happy, but that's OK with me, because you, the people, are finally going to be getting great health care at a lower cost.

Another major focus is the cost of energy.

For years, the radical left Democrats exploited the green energy scam as an excuse to funnel many billions of dollars into their own massive slush funds, as their energy restrictions drastically drove up prices, and they drove them up at record levels.

Electricity costs surged 30 to 100 percent under Biden, and the typical family lost $5,000 to $10,000 in higher energy costs.

Think of that, $5,000 to $10,000 you lost.

On day one, I declared a national energy emergency.

Gasoline is now under $2.50 a gallon in much of the country.

In some states, it, by the way, just hit $1.99 a gallon.

And within the next 12 months, we will have opened 1,600 new electrical generating plants, a record, and it's a record that won't be beaten by practically -- I would say by anybody, or certainly not very soon.

Prices on electricity and everything else will fall dramatically.

The Democrat inflation disaster, again, the worst in the history of our country, also robbed millions of Americans of homeownership and indeed the American dream.

The yearly cost of a typical new mortgage increased by $15,000 under Democrat rule.

In 11 months, we have already gotten that annual cost down by $3,000, and it's coming down a lot lower.

Wait until you see.

The numbers are going to be shocking.

And I will 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.

Early 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.

A major factor in driving up housing costs was the colossal border invasion.

We have never been invaded.

This is the worst thing that -- frankly, in my opinion, the worst thing that the Biden administration did to our country is the invasion at the border.

The last administration and their allies in Congress brought in millions and millions of migrants and gave them taxpayer-funded housing while your rent and housing costs skyrocketed.

Over 60 percent of growth in the rental market came from foreign migrants.

At the same time, illegal aliens stole American jobs and flooded emergency rooms, getting free health care and education paid for by you, the American taxpayer.

They also increased the cost of law enforcement by numbers so high that they are not even to be mentioned.

For the first time in 50 years, we are now seeing reverse migration, as migrants go back home, leaving more housing and more jobs for Americans.

In the year before my election, all net creation of jobs was going to foreign migrants.

Since I took office, 100 percent of all net job creation has gone to American-born citizens, 100 percent.

In the end, government either serves the productive, patriotic, hardworking American citizen, or it serves those who break the laws, cheat the system, and seek power and profit at the expense of our nation.

Look at Minnesota, where Somalians have taken over the economics of the state and have stolen billions and billions of dollars from Minnesota and indeed from the United States of America.

And we're going to put an end to it.

For so long as -- before my election, the vast majority of good and decent Americans were forced to watch as corrupt politicians plundered the halls of power, exploited our taxpayers, and pillaged every system that makes civilized society function, but not anymore, and you see that every day, not anymore.

We're putting America first, and we are making America great again, very simple.

We are making America great again.

Tonight, after 11 months, our border is secure, inflation has stopped, wages are up, prices are down, 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.

Soon, we will host the World Cup and the Olympics, both of which I got, but, most importantly, we will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

There could be no more fitting tribute to this epic milestone than to complete the comeback of America that began just one year ago.

When the world looks at us next year, let them see a nation that is loyal to its citizens, faithful to its workers, confident to its identity, certain to its destiny, and the envy of the entire globe.

We are respected again, like we have never been respected before.

To each and every one of you, have a merry Christmas and a happy new year.

God bless you all.

AMNA NAWAZ: And there you have the president of the United States speaking in just under 20 minutes or so to the American public in rapid-fire remarks, making big claims about what his administration has been able to achieve over the last 11 months, and speaking to a country, Geoff, it's fair to say, that's losing confidence in his ability to lead on the economy.

GEOFF BENNETT: Joining us for analysis now are our White House correspondent, Liz Landers, congressional correspondent Lisa Desjardins, and foreign affairs and defense correspondent Nick Schifrin.

Liz, we will start with you at the White House.

After mocking Democrats' focus on affordability, the president, in his speech tonight, implicitly acknowledged that pocketbook issues are, for him, a political liability.

What are some of the takeaways from what you heard tonight?

LIZ LANDERS: Geoff, I made a note here that the president switched in this speech tonight to addressing affordability, housing prices, grocery prices, electricity prices at about six minutes into his speech.

So, pretty far up at the top, he started to talk about this.

And we have seen the president do domestic travel on this issue recently.

He went just last week to Pennsylvania to talk about affordability.

As you mentioned, the president has blamed Democrats for this, saying that they have created this crisis and that it's a hoax.

But he has also acknowledged that affordability is an issue.

It's a dueling problem that this administration is trying to deal with right now.

He said they are not done yet bringing down prices for Americans.

And we also saw that with the visit recently here of New York City's mayor-elect, Mamdani, the president is speaking extensively with him about affordability issues in particular.

So that, I think, really stuck out to me as the leading issue that this White House is trying to grapple with.

As you mentioned, we have that polling that's out today that says that just 36 percent of Americans approve of the way the president is handling the economy.

They certainly want to bring that number up in the new year -- Geoff.

AMNA NAWAZ: Lisa, we heard the president there speaking on a number of issues I know you have been covering intimately, also referencing that One Big Beautiful Bill, seeming to sort of mention to people changes coming, things will get better.

What did you take away?

LISA DESJARDINS: You know, this is a moment when he's not the only Republican who's trying to tout accomplishments in this last year.

But we know from our polling, again, that's not - - that message isn't getting through.

The issue is prices.

We see that as the number one issue for all across the spectrum, including with his base.

Maybe that's why he spoke to it so much.

But getting some initial reaction from Democrats, they believe this is a reaction to those polls.

One said: "This is how you know the polls are freaking Trump out."

His pace was quick for President Trump.

Usually, at the State of the Union, for example, he speaks more slowly, 75 words per minute.

I have him at more 140, 150 words per minute, which is not unusual for a speaker, but it is quick for him.

He was pushing through this speech, hitting a lot of points, but we will have to -- remains to be seen what people take away from it.

GEOFF BENNETT: And, Nick Schifrin, we heard the president announce what he called a warrior dividend, $1,776 in a bonus for members of the military.

What more have you been able to put together about what this actually is?

NICK SCHIFRIN: Not a lot.

DOD -- or -- sorry -- Department of War and White House officials haven't responded to my comments -- or my questions yet, but, as you said, 1.4 million service members, he said, warrior dividend, $1,776.

That's $2.5 billion in total.

We don't know how he will pay for that.

"The Atlantic," though, this afternoon who broke this news said it will come from the DOD, Department of War, budget, and so presumably from the money that the department already has, trying to find that or move that around.

The administration has done that in the past.

They have taken money from one part of the department's budget and moved it to another, not going through the Appropriations Committees, of course.

And so there's a precedent for that.

So, if that is what the department does, obviously, a lot of service members will be very happy with that.

AMNA NAWAZ: Liz Landers, take us back to what you have been hearing from your sources at the White House in terms of how this speech came together and what it is the White House hopes to accomplish by delivering this address right now, understanding the president is slated to hit the road again to continue to deliver this message to the American people.

LIZ LANDERS: Yes, that's right, Amna.

We are expecting the president to go on Friday of this week to give another late evening speech in a small community in North Carolina, of course, North Carolina a very important state politically right now, so the president and the White House also looking ahead to 2026, these midterm elections.

I know Lisa has been covering this from the Hill too.

There are a number of Republicans who have announced retirement, and the margins for this White House to get bills through right now and to continue to pass the legislation that the president wants to see, that time frame may be narrowing here as we get closer to these midterms in November.

GEOFF BENNETT: And, Lisa, the president is headed to Rocky Mount, North Carolina, on Friday.

Members of Congress are headed home.

Is there anything in this speech that Republicans in particular can use, that they can leverage as they meet their constituents, many of whom are losing -- well, they're not losing health care coverage, but they will see their premiums spike, at least momentarily.

LISA DESJARDINS: Right.

They will be talking about gas prices, which the president talked about as well.

To Liz's point, 26 Republicans are leaving Congress, at least, right now.

North Carolina is a redistricting state.

It's one reason House Republicans control the House right now.

But they are all very, very nervous about this next election.

AMNA NAWAZ: Lots more to talk about when it comes to the Hill, when it talks to foreign policy, and, of course, from the White House as well.

That was the president speaking directly to the United States at this moment.

But, meanwhile, that concludes our live special coverage of this presidential address.

We will now return -- return you, rather, to your regularly scheduled programming, which, for some stations on the West Coast, will be the "PBS News Hour."

GEOFF BENNETT: And, for additional coverage, be sure to join us online and back here for the "News Hour" tomorrow night.

For now, I'm Geoff Bennett.

AMNA NAWAZ: And I'm Amna Nawaz.

Have a good evening.

Thanks for joining us.