WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump will boast of his achievements in an address to the nation on Wednesday (Thursday moring in Pakistan) as voters sour on his handling of the economy after nearly a year back in power.

Republican Trump is also expected to tease policies for 2026, following a blitz of hardline protectionist and nationalist policies at the start of his second term.

With next year’s US midterm elections looming, the 79-year-old faces mounting anger among Americans about the high cost of living.

Trump did not say what he would talk about in the primetime speech from the White House at 9 pm, saying only on social media that “it has been a great year for our Country, and THE BEST IS YET TO COME!” But the White House said it would focus on his “historic accomplishments,” including tackling inflation, which Trump blames on his Democratic predecessor Joe Biden, and tackling immigration.

US president orders blockade of ‘sanctioned’ Venezuela oil tankers

“It’s going to be a really good speech. I was just in the Oval Office with the President discussing it,” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters outside the West Wing on Tuesday.

Leavitt separately told Fox News that Trump would be “maybe teasing some policy that will be coming in the New Year as well.” Billionaire Trump, the oldest elected president in US history, has boasted of a new “golden age” in America.

He recently rated the economy as “A++++” and rages against what he called an “affordability hoax” by rival Democrats.

‘Make America affordable again’

But US voters are increasingly angry about high prices of everything from gas to groceries, which experts say are partly fueled by the tariffs he has slapped on trading partners.

According to a poll by the University of Chicago for The Associated Press, published last week, only 31 percent of Americans are satisfied with Trump’s economic policy.

He also faces criticism from within his Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement for focusing on peace deals in Ukraine and Gaza and on tensions with Venezuela instead of domestic issues.

Now there are signs that his team has started to realize the issue could hurt Republicans in next year’s midterm elections for control of Congress.

Republicans lost heavily in elections in November for the mayor of New York and governorships in Virginia and New Jersey, while running them close in a previously safe area, Tennessee.

The president is ramping up his domestic travel to push his economic message.

Last week in Pennsylvania, he promised to “make America affordable again,” and on Friday, he is due to give another campaign-style rally in North Carolina on Friday.

‘Stolen’ oil

US President Donald Trump announced Tuesday a blockade of “sanctioned oil vessels” heading to and leaving Venezuela, sharply escalating his pressure campaign against Caracas while issuing new demands for access to the country’s crude.

The United States has for months been building a major military deployment in the Caribbean, with the stated goal of combating Latin Amedrican drug trafficking, but taking particular aim at Venezuela.—

Published in Dawn, December 18th, 2025