Trump to send checks to military as war looms with Venezuela

Donald Trump announced a $1,776 ‘warrior dividend’ for more than a million troops and previewed his ‘largest tax refunds’ ever in a prime time speech on Wednesday, praising his first 11 months in office and blaming Democrats for America’s problems.

In his year-end address, the president stood at the podium and shouted into a microphone, trying to convince Americans that the economy was on the rise despite widespread reports of financial difficulties.

Trump was in rare form. He had no audience; spoke for only 18 minutes; and at times looked angry as he squinted at the teleprompter.

The message was clear: It’s all Biden’s fault.

Despite downplaying the affordability crisis, the president announced a plan to send a ‘special warrior dividend’ to all 1.45 million active duty troops before Christmas.

Now 11 months into his second term, Trump is still complaining about the “mess” he “inherited” from his predecessor’s administration. He spent much of his speech claiming that his tariffs and tax cuts were helping to turn things around.

“A year ago, our country was dead,” Trump insisted. ‘We are now the hottest country anywhere in the world.’

He also predicted that in the spring, Americans will see the “biggest tax refund season of all time” as the Big Beautiful Bill ends the tax on tipped wages and Social Security.

The remarks came just a day after the West Wing was shaken by a stunning Vanity Fair article revealing White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles’ unfiltered thoughts about Trump and other members of his administration.

The speech also comes at a particularly tense time for the Republican Party, which is preparing to face a challenging midterm election next year. The GOP is divided on the healthcare plan and how to approach abortion.

Trump plans to hit the campaign trail in 2026 to help his party maintain a majority in Congress, and his speech was a preview of the message he will deliver as a log on the road.

But only 36 percent of Americans think Trump is doing a good job as president, according to a new poll from NPR/PBS News/Marist. This is the lowest rate the survey reported in either period.

His remarks were a preview of what’s to come in the next three years, but they were mainly a summary of the accomplishments that the president claims have defined his nearly first year back in office.

This included boasting about tariffs on nearly every country, which Trump believed had leveled the playing field on the international stage and lowered costs for Americans.

In his speech, he presented three separate visual materials showing how his policies have lowered the prices of gasoline, cars, airline tickets, prescription drugs and sports tickets since taking back control from Biden.

One of the slides focuses on food prices and claims that the Trump administration is taking action to reduce the prices of basic necessities.

The president also listed a crackdown on the border and immigration, violent crime in U.S. cities and a focus on the economy as cornerstones of the first 11 months of his second term.

Before the speech, Trump spent the day attending the honorable transfer of two Iowa National Guard soldiers and a civilian interpreter killed in an ambush in Syria.

Trump salutes as bodies are returned to their families at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Wednesday, December 17, 2025

However, it did not go unnoticed by the voters that the administration missed some promised milestones.

Trump has promised to deport 1 million immigrants by the end of 2025. Despite its brutal raids on immigrant-dominated communities, DHS has officially removed more than 600,000 undocumented immigrants since January; That missed the target Trump sent by 40 percent.

During the 2024 election campaign, Trump said he would end the war between Russia and Ukraine only by being elected and before being sworn in for a second term. This did not happen.

However, he reached a ceasefire agreement in Gaza to end the conflict with Israel. And Trump has been touting at every opportunity how he has ended more than a dozen wars since returning to office; but the full list of conflicts he refers to is unclear.

Trump encouraged the press to tune in for his televised address to the nation at the White House on Wednesday, December 17, 2025, at 21:00.

The economic focus of the speech served as a last-ditch effort before Christmas to reassure Americans that financial relief would come despite growing concerns about affordability.

Unemployment last month rose to a four-year high, according to new data released Tuesday; This is an important sign of weakness in the economy.

Vice President JD Vance tried to paint a brighter picture on Tuesday, claiming his assessment of the US economy was ‘A+++’. But he was a bit more measured than his boss, acknowledging that Americans had suffered under the previous administration.

He asked for patience.

Before Wednesday’s remarks, Trump took a day trip to Delaware to participate in the honorable transfer of two Iowa National Guard soldiers and an Army translator from Michigan after they were killed in an ambush in Syria.

The president spent Wednesday afternoon meeting with the families of the fallen and returning their bodies to their loved ones by returning them to U.S. soil.