America's Talking - Trump touts accomplishments, future policies during primetime address

Episode Date: December 20, 2025

(The Center Square) – In what is likely his final address to the nation of the year, President Donald Trump touted what he said were his accomplishments, and previewed some policies to come in the new year. The president spent a significant amount of time in his 18-minute address discussing affordability, which has taken center stage in recent weeks as he and Vice President JD Vance have been highlighting the administration’s policies trying to bring down costs, one of the central themes of his campaign. Support this podcast: https://secure.anedot.com/franklin-news-foundation/ce052532-b1e4-41c4-945c-d7ce2f52c38a?source_code=xxxxxxRead more: https://www.thecentersquare.com/national/article_647a5dba-1cb4-4b69-b210-2bbf9f99bd11.html Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome to America's Talking, powered by the Center Square. I'm Dan McAelip, executive editor of the Center Square Newswire service. President Donald Trump addressed the nation Wednesday night and discussed what he says are his accomplishments of the first year of his second term. He touched on lower inflation numbers, higher wages, immigration enforcement, and more. Joining me to discuss this is the Center Square's Washington, D.C. Bureau Chief Sarah, Sarah, Roderick, Sarah, you covered the president's address. Tell us more about it. Yes, it was basically kind of around. up. It was almost like a preview of some sorts of his state of the union, kind of a smaller version of it. He just really kind of talked about what his accomplishments were, you know,

have been these past 11 months since he's taken office as well as kind of highlighting the couple things maybe to become in the new year. I think, though, it really kind of sets the tone a little bit too. He's trying to set it up for the midterm elections as well, Because from his chief of staff, Susie Wilson, he's going to be there on the campaign trail. And so I think because affordability has been a major issue. Obviously, that was an issue that was going into his campaign, which that was one of the central themes was affordability. And it has been on everybody's minds. And he has been, he and the vice president in advance have been campaigning on that, sort of going around places, talking about, hey, you know, costs are coming down, highlighting energy prices.

and whatnot. And so this was really kind of the president's, this was his opportunity to sort of come to the American people in prime time right before the end of the year and sort of get their attention saying, hey, this is what we've done, this is where we're at, hold on, it's going to get better, kind of one of those deals. But in terms of how he did it was kind of interesting because I think a lot of people thought, oh, it might have been something more.

So there were a lot of people who tuned in and then, you know, they were kind of hit with this is a roundup of everything we've done. You mentioned next year's midterm elections. Everything I most everything I hear from an analyst, those in the know, is it's it's it's all about the economy and people's personal financial situations. Of course, under the Biden administration, we had that 40 year high inflation 2020, more than 10 or about 10 percent. inflation. The numbers have come down significantly since then. I think this week, we got the producer price index at about 2.7%. Republicans hold slim majorities in the House and the Senate. Every single House seat will be up next year. About a third of U.S. Senate seats will be up. Control of Congress during the final two years of Trump's second term will be key. Is this Trump really trying to set the stage for next year's midterm elections and in hopes from him that Republicans can regain control of both? Absolutely, absolutely, because I think there's some doubts.

I mean, I think maybe some people are not feeling, you know, they're not feeling the relief quite yet. And there's been some skeptic, you know, there's been a lot of skeptics on, you know, with the whole terror of thing and whatnot. And so I think this was just his way of saying, you know, hey, it's coming that there's the economy is going to be booming, hold on. And like I said, this was his prime time. This is a way for him to really get to all Americans in that prime time. But yes, certainly this was there to sort of help propel them into, you know, this upcoming election year because, you know, primaries start, you know, in some places primaries are going to start, you know, February and March. So he's also looking at. at some of, you know, not just towards November, but also looking at, you know, some of his own sort of backed candidates in some of these districts that could be in play. So it's going to definitely, you know, hit right after the new year. And it's going to go all the way through. And also, you know, there's been talking, there's been some people saying, hey, they're not happy with what Congress has been doing, even on the Republican side, saying, hey, they're not doing as

much. And so he really kind of has to sort of bring the, he has to bring the, you know, the party together ahead of of the midterm. So he has a lot of stuff that, you know, kind of has to accomplish in these next, really these next couple of months ahead of the elections. But yeah, the economy definitely is, I think those ones said, you know, it's about the economy, stupid. It's, it's one of those things. So it's very interesting. But he mean, he hit on, he hit on other things. So he talked about, you know, housing. That's a huge issue too. Housing prices. Bringing more mortgage prices down, talking about, you know, the next Fed chair, wanting, you know, wanting them to keep the rates lower.

That's a big deal. That's been talked about, you know, around the White House. It's always kind of a question that comes up, who's going to be the next Fed chair? What are they going to do? Are they going to follow Trump's, you know, trying to keep, you know, inflation down and whatnot? So it's really, you know, that he's trying to hit, you know, to the, you know, middle class Americans and it's trying to say,

hey, we've got you, we hear you, the economy's getting better, just hold on. It's already showing signs. And, you know, it's kind of difficult always around this time of the year anyway, because Christmas. So people are spending a lot of money too. And, you know, they definitely feel it. And so this was kind of his, you know, kind of a good opportunity. Like I said, this is his sort of really major final address to the nation at the end of the year. But I think it'll be kind of interesting. This is definitely a preview when he does his state of the year. Union. In addition to the midterms next year, next year is also the, the 250th birthday of the United States. The U.S. will host the World Cup of Soccer, the Olympics. He closed his speech,

really, Toughton, what's to come in 2026? Just to close, Sarah, tell us about that. Yes, he's got a lot of stuff, and then he mentioned something about Patriot Games. He has a lot of stuff going on. He wants the 250th. He wants really kind of, that's to be the nation sort of celebrating. He wants the states to get involved. And I would say, um, kind of as we go into the new year, I think that that's one of the, uh, that'll be another major theme for him is, uh, all the celebrations are going on across the country, um, state fairs, everything. Um, he wants to do a UFC fight, hold a UFC cage fight on the lawn of the White House with the, you know, the ballroom construction in the background. It'll be a really interesting sort of thing, um, probably very

Trump-esque. A lot of a lot of show, a lot of cameras, a lot of all that. Hopefully I get to be there for that. That'll be an interesting time. But yeah, he is, he really wants to do that. I'm sure there's a lot more stuff that's going to be planned. But, you know, anticipation of a lot of people kind of visiting, you know, places, towns, cities, across America, making money. But I think also sort of setting up that, you know, he's trying to encourage everyone, hey, do your own celebration, do something. And I think, he's also looking at that as a hope to sort of, you know, with the midterms as well, as to sort of put the focus on a celebration and not feeling, you know, down about, hey, whatever, wherever the country's

going, hey, this is a great opportunity to celebrate as we're, as he always says, we're winning. Or he likes to say that the United States is the hottest country in the world right now. So he's really trying to emphasize that. And I think, you know, it's a perfect opportunity with this, with the 250th birthday of the nation. So it'll be, I'm sure there's a lot. and lots of things to come. Trump is quite a, quite a showman. He knows how to, he knows how to do that stuff. So it'll be interesting to see what else comes up.

And we have more, more things, I'm sure, after the new year. Sarah, thank you for joining us today. Listeners can keep up with this story and more at thecenter square.com.