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by MARK POWELL
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You may have missed it with holiday parties, gift shopping, and the dozens of things that consume the week before Christmas. But the 2026 midterm elections campaign began a little after 9:00 p.m. EST on Wednesday (December 17, 2025).
That was when President Donald Trump addressed the country. He spoke from the Diplomatic Reception Room in the White House, though, given the way the camera was framed, it looked more like a Pacific Northwest forest, with a seeming woodland of evergreens all around him. His first 14 words spelled out the direction he was headed.
“Good evening, America. Eleven months ago, I inherited a mess, and I’m fixing it,” Trump said.
Translation: It’s all former president Joe Biden‘s fault.
For the next 19 minutes, Trump charged through a pile of issues like a leaf blower stuck in overdrive. (“An abnormally fast pace for him,” CNN put it.) Gripping the side of a podium, he didn’t pause to catch his breath as he hopped from topic to topic like a Pogo-sticking grade-schooler on a sugar rush.
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Apart from announcing that 1.45 million U.S. military personnel will receive a special “Warrior Dividend” bonus of $1,776 this month (a figure reflecting next year’s 250th anniversary of American independence), there was little in the way of news.
Instead, Trump gave an “atta boy!” recitation of his administration’s accomplishments to date, alternating between blaming his Democrat rivals/predecessor and painting his team’s progress in the rosiest possible terms.
Foremost was the economy and the lingering shockwaves from the inflation that rocked it earlier this decade. Democrats now frame the issue as “affordability.” In his remarks Wednesday night, Trump declared it under control -and he vowed things are only going to get better.
“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,” he promised.
He also went after another driving issue in the upcoming election cycle: healthcare.
“The current unaffordable Care Act was created to make insurance companies rich,” he said. “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.”
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RELATED | DONALD TRUMP’S ‘MISSION ACCOMPLISHED’ MOMENT
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Trump went on to highlight agreements his administration has reached with pharmaceutical companies that he argues will reduce drug prices.
“Your drug costs will be plummeting downward, and I use the threat of tariffs to get foreign countries who would never have done it to pay the cost of this giant dollar reduction,” Trump boasted.
Illegal immigration, world conflicts, housing, mortgage rates… by the time he wrapped up, there was hardly a single hot button he hadn’t touched on.
But… are Americans buying his “It’s Morning In America 2.0” scenario?
“Not all of it,” one Midlands resident who voted for Trump in 2016, 2020, and 2024 told us afterward. “I’m still having to spend way too much at the grocery store.”
As he strode to the podium on Wednesday evening, Trump’s disapproval rating stood at 53.5% while only 43.4% of Americans approved of the job he is doing, according to aggregate survey data from Real Clear Polling. Trump’s approval rating has dropped by 7.1% since he was inaugurated eleven months ago – while his disapproval rating has climbed by 9.2%.
Political pros offered differing takes on the speech.
“One of the fundamental rules in politics is when you don’t like what people are saying, change the conversation,” a South Carolina-based strategist told us. “With Trump getting pounded in the polls, he can’t afford to let Democrats write the narrative for next year’s campaign. So he had to get ahead of it and remind people, ‘Yes, I know it sucks. But hang on; help is on the way. Things are going to get better.’”
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This election-year argument has been used often before. Perhaps most famously in 1982, when, during a painful economic recession, Republican Ronald Reagan urged voters to “stay the course” amid ongoing government spending cuts.
However, another observer – a Democrat – heard other echoes from history in Trump’s speech. Echoes from a president whose name is now synonymous with economic collapse.
“In the worst of the Great Depression, Herbert Hoover promised, ‘Prosperity is just around the corner,'” the observer noted. “It wasn’t. Not only did voters kick Hoover out of the White House as a result, but Democrats stayed there for the next 20 years.”
A GOP messaging guru in D.C. agreed Trump was right to at least acknowledge the difficulties many Americans face due to stubbornly high prices.
“The equation is simple,” he shared, “Facts+Empathy+Hope= Winning Message.”
And there was no shortage of hope in Trump’s talk Wednesday night.
“We’re poised for an economic boom the likes of which the world has never seen,” he insisted.
From a political standpoint, though, Trump needs to deliver on that promise PDQ. If he does, it would improve the GOP’s chances of keeping control of Congress next November, which would mean relatively smooth sailing for the second half of his second term. If he doesn’t, it could increase chances for impeachment-happy Democrats to call the shots on Capitol Hill beginning in January 2027.
And we’ve seen that movie before. Twice, in fact.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
J. Mark Powell is an award-winning former TV journalist, government communications veteran, and a political consultant. He is also an author and an avid Civil War enthusiast. Got a tip or a story idea for Mark? Email him at mark@fitsnews.com.
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12 comments
Seems I have read or heard where Trump said that inflation has stopped or similar. Interesting talk from a man who probably never bought a bag of groceries in his life. When you have staff and servants to do that for you, you probably don’t have a great perception of inflation and grocery prices. Even less so if you are filthy rich and always have been.
As with his last term, I think Trump is content to piss off the masses so he doesn’t have to deliver much on promises made. People will vote in a Democrat House and Senate. Never mind that his first two years were with a Republican House and Senate. Then Trump and his apologists can blame his failure to deliver on “those damn Democrats”.
Never mind that he appoints do-nothings and obstructionists like Kash Patel, Pam Bondi, and others.
Narcissistic liar continues to lie, claim he’s the greatest.
How about those inflation numbers today? Prediction 3.1 percent, actual 2.7 percent but wait, what? I thought tariffs were going to “drive up prices” Hmmm…. maybe those greedy countries who were ripping off America, had to come off some of their profits… say Chi-Na?
Wait until the largest tax refunds arrive in 2026.
God bless President Trump.
Spoken by someone who probably also believes 28,000 people die in Peru of snakebites each year. Enjoy the Flavor-Aid gramps.
“And there was no shortage of hope in Trump’s talk Wednesday night.”
All he. has to offer is hope. He gave voters hope that he would lower prices snd end the war in Ukraine on Day 1. A 600% (sometimes 1000% or 1500% or 500% depending on how many neurons are firing in that skull of mush) reduction on drug prices. How is that supposed to work? If I have a prescription that costs $100 the pharmacy will PAY ME $500? What happened to 90 deals in 90 days? The average working grunt will bw sorely disappointed when the bigly tax cuts are for the top earners and meanwhile they won’t cover increased insurance costs or the price of beef.
It was basically 20 minutes of old man yelling at clouds. If things were going to be so great what was he so angry about? If he was standing on a street corner shouting all that crap they’d be putting him in a padded cell.
Meanwhile, let’s invade Venezuela!
Yes, your man Obama is a dope. But your other man Biden is super stupid.
“Wait until next year!” Gosh, Trump could be a football coach.
Yeah! FALSE hopes at that! And we must invade Venezuela cause “drugs are bad, m’kay”.
His confusion is understandable. The economy is booming for Trump, his family, and his cronies. And if you voted for this two-bit nepo baby con man, that is what you voted for. They are very grateful to you.
Why so angry? Because you are more and WalMart keeps raises prices on your favorite bear, Bud Lite?
Not sure where you got that from, but to be honest it seems like a perfectly valid reason to be mad.
No, don’t your realize the prices came down day 1 AND Trump is going to lower prescription prices by 1500% so that the drug makers have to pay you! There is no bottom to the stupidity of the Trump cult members.