President Donald Trump claimed Susie Wiles, his chief of staff, made him deliver Wednesday’s primetime address.
The president gave an 18-minute address to the nation, in which he blamed former President Joe Biden for the current economic woes, rising housing costs, and what he called a “colossal border invasion.” Now, after 11 months of the second Trump White House, he claimed, the U.S. has become the “hottest country anywhere in the world.” Trump was mocked online for the address for its seeming lack of substance and for how he shouted through most of it.
Following the brief address, Trump told reporters that his chief of staff informed him he “had” to give the address. Pressed as to whether she would stay in the role, the president said: “Yes. She’s doing a great job.”
Wiles’ name has splashed headlines this week after she gave a candid interview that exposed rare insights into Trump’s inner circle. In a two-part Vanity Fair story, she described Trump as having an “alcoholic’s personality,” alleged Vice President JD Vance has been a “conspiracy theorist for a decade,” and thought Attorney General Pam Bondi “completely whiffed” on the handling of the Epstein Files.
After the stories were published, Trump, a teetotaler, agreed with Wiles’ assessment. “I’ve said that many times about myself,” he told the New York Post.
Other members of the administration have been more defensive about the articles. Wiles slammed the article as a “disingenuously framed hit piece” against her and the administration; White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt labeled the story as an example of “disingenuous reporting” in which the reporter took Wiles’ words “wildly out of context.”
Hours before his address, Trump — accompanied by Wiles and top military officials — went to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware to pay respects to two Iowa National Guard soldiers and a U.S. civilian interpreter who were killed in an attack in Syria over the weekend.
Trump’s Wednesday evening remarks were riddled with mistruths. Among them, he falsely claimed that inflation was “the worst in 48 years” when he returned to the White House.
“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,” Trump said.
Only 36 percent of Americans approve of how Trump has handled the economy — his lowest rating on the issue across his two terms in office, according to a new Marist poll. More than half — 57 percent — disapprove.
The president also boasted about his sweeping immigration crackdown, which has led to countless lawsuits, family separations and widespread fears.
“We inherited the worst border anywhere in the world, and we quickly turned it into the strongest border in the history of our country,” the president said.
In the speech, Trump revealed that more than 1.45 million military service members will receive a “warrior dividend before Christmas.”
“In honor of our nation's founding in 1776, we are sending every soldier $1,776 and the checks are already on the way,” Trump said, adding, “Nobody understood that one until about 30 minutes ago.”
The White House later clarified that certain active-duty service members and reserve component members on active-duty orders would be getting a check. The estimated total cost of the checks is nearly $2.6 billion.
It’s not immediately clear how the dividends are being funded. The checks are “already on the way,” he said, before alluding to the money brought in by his controversial tariffs. “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.”
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