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Five key takeaways from Trump’s
state-of-the-nation address
The US president blamed immigrants for the country’s woes,
promised an ‘economic boom’ in 2026 and claimed to have
brought peace to the Middle East.
In a 19-minute address to the nation on Wednesday night, United States
President Donald Trump made no major announcements, as presidents
are usually wont to do. Instead, he took the opportunity to further
denigrate immigrants, highlight his perceived personal achievements
and make grandiose promises of prosperity to come.
“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,” he said.
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Members of the Democratic Party were quick to capitalise on Trump’s
flagging approval ratings and popular concerns about affordability.
“Quickly lost track of how many lies Trump shouted out tonight, but the
main takeaway is that he has clearly lost touch with reality. Delusional,”
Senator Chris Van Hollen said. “The most honest thing he said was, ‘No
one can believe what’s going on.’”
California Governor Gavin Newsom, a potential future presidential
contender who frequently needles Trump in his social media posts,
mocked him for giving a speech focused on “Me Me Me Me Me Me
Me Me Me”.
Here are five key takeaways from his address:
He blamed immigrants for the US’s problems
The US president took aim at immigrants, blaming them for the housing
crisis and economic problems.
“Illegal aliens stole American jobs and flooded emergency rooms getting
free healthcare and education paid for by you – the American taxpayer,
” Trump said.
“They also increased the cost of law enforcement by numbers so high that
they are not even to be mentioned.”
The US president, who recently called the Somali community “garbage”
in a racist tirade, falsely claimed that Somalis “took over the economics”
of the state of Minnesota and stole “billions and billions of dollars”.
Repeated studies have shown that immigrants contribute more to the
economy than they take from it, and provide labour in vital sectors,
including agriculture and construction. In the US as well, immigrant
labour, including by undocumented workers, has long propped up the childcare, home care and elder care industries.
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He promised an ‘economic boom’ in 2026
Recent polling has shown that Americans are increasingly concerned
about the cost of living and Trump’s handling of the economy.
An NPR/PBS News/Marist poll released on Wednesday found that just
36 percent approve of Trump’s economic record, and 45 percent say that
prices are their primary issue when it comes to economic concerns. More
than half said they believed the country was already in a recession.
The president tackled this head-on with assurances that his policies are
working and the economy is on track to experience a boom.
He added that the next chief of the Federal Reserve will agree to bring
down interest rates “by a lot”. Current chair Jerome Powell’s term comes
to an end in May 2026 and Trump is expected to announce a successor
soon. This year, he has pressured the US central bank to reduce interest
rates, and even suggested he could fire Powell over the issue.
He did address the issue of rising medical costs, which Democrats say
will soar when key healthcare subsidies for people on low incomes expire
at the end of this year. To counter this, Trump pointed to his efforts to
lower the cost of prescription drugs through a series of agreements he has
made with pharmaceutical companies to sell drugs direct to consumers
on his new website, TrumpRx.
“There has never been anything like this in the history of our country,
” he said. “Drugs have only gone up, but now they’ll be going down by
numbers never conceived possible,” Trump said, stating that new price
reductions would become available in January and “greatly reduce the
costs of healthcare”.
But he stayed away from some other key concerns among voters – namely,
energy and grocery prices, something he pledged to get under control,
having slammed the Joe Biden administration for soaring inflation. He
has yet to do so.
Reporting from Washington, DC, Al Jazeera’s Kimberly Halkett said:
“He was arguing that since he’s taken office, many things, including the
main concern for most Americans, which is the affordability of energy
as well as food prices, have turned around.
“But if you’ll notice, as the US president was talking, he didn’t mention
anything about energy prices, which are still relatively high for most
consumers.
“And when it comes to the affordability of groceries and food items,
going out to restaurants, these are still very high for most Americans,
and that has a lot to do with the president’s tariffs, which he says are
bringing an enormous amount of revenue into the country.”
He claims he brought peace to the Middle East
The US president claimed: “I’ve restored American strength, settled
eight wars in 10 months, destroyed the Iran nuclear threat and ended
the war in Gaza, bringing peace for the first time in 3,000 years, and
secured the release of the hostages, both living and dead here at home,
” Trump said.
Observers dispute that Trump has ended eight wars or brought peace
to the Middle East. In particular, the US actively took part in the military
strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities during hostilities between Iran and
Israel in June, which ended with a ceasefire mediated by both the US and
Qatar.
He also announced the end of hostilities between Pakistan and India in
May after four days of fighting. But while Pakistan credits the US president
for helping to halt the fighting, India insists he had no role.
Meanwhile, Israel was founded in 1948 – rather than 3,000 years ago –
and has continued to carry out daily strikes on the Gaza Strip – and to
prevent aid from entering – despite the ceasefire in place.
Palestinians, rights groups and some analysts have said a ceasefire exists
in name only as Israel violates it almost daily.
He announced a ‘warrior dividend’ for US troops
Trump said 1.45 million United States military service members will
soon receive bonus cheques for $1,776 each, paid from revenues raised
from trade tariffs imposed on other countries by Trump this year.
“Think of this: 1,450,000 military service members will receive a special,
we call ‘Warrior Dividend’ before Christmas,” Trump said in his televised
address, adding that the specific amount was in honour of the year the US
was founded.
He did not mention Venezuela tensions
Some observers had speculated that Trump might take the opportunity
to make a dramatic announcement about military action against Venezuela
during his address – or make a case for military action in the future.
But despite the fact that he has imposed an oil blockade on Venezuela
and amassed the largest military force in the region in decades, close to
the coast of the country, he did not mention the rising tensions between
the US and Venezuela.
Instead, he made just a passing mention of the military strikes carried out
on Venezuelan boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, which the Trump administration claims are trafficking drugs, despite providing no evidence
of this, and which have killed about 90 people.
Legal experts say the targeting of vessels in international waters in the
Caribbean and Pacific likely violates US and international law and amounts
to extrajudicial executions.
Trump said the US has “decimated the bloodthirsty foreign drug cartels”.
He has previously claimed that each strike on a boat “saves 25,000
American lives” by preventing drugs from reaching the US. However,
experts say this is doubtful as there is little evidence that Venezuela is
a major source of drugs trafficked to the US.
This week, he signed an executive order declaring the potent opiate drug,
fentanyl, which he says is one of those being trafficked, a “weapon of mass destruction”.
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