Donald Trump Says U.S. Has Gone ‘from Worst to Best’ Under His Watch While Blaming Democrats for Country’s Issues

President Donald Trump delivered a primetime address from the White House on Wednesday, Dec. 17, using the speech to recap his first year back in office and preview priorities for 2026.

Speaking in a confident, self-congratulatory tone, Trump said that before he began his second term, the United States was being “laughed at from all over the world,” adding, “but they’re not laughing anymore.” He argued that his administration has “brought more positive change to Washington than any administration in American history” over the past 11 months.

“In other words, in a few short months, we went from worst to best,” Trump said, pointing to immigration enforcement and public safety as key wins. He also claimed Washington, D.C., is “at levels of safety that we’ve never seen before” after National Guard troops were deployed to the city over the summer.

Turning to health care, Trump reiterated his view that Americans should “buy their own health insurance,” which he said would offer “far better benefits at much lower cost.” He again attacked the Affordable Care Act, calling it the “Unaffordable Care Act,” and alleged it was “created to make insurance companies rich.” He blamed Democrats for rising premiums, saying, “It is not the Republicans’ fault.”

Earlier on Wednesday, the House of Representatives passed a health care bill that did not extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits. Four Republican members joined a Democratic discharge petition that will force a vote on extending the tax credits for three years.

Trump also announced a $1,776 “warrior dividend,” saying 1.45 million military service members will receive the payment before Christmas.

Later in the address, he offered a stark contrast between the country’s condition a year ago and what he described as its standing now. “One year ago our country was dead. We were absolutely dead,” he said. He also claimed the United States is now “the hottest country anywhere in the world,” and said Americans will “see the results of the largest tax cuts” in history included in the “Big, Beautiful Bill.”

The speech came amid economic uncertainty. New government data released hours before the address showed employers added 64,000 jobs in November and unemployment rose to 4.6% — the highest level since September 2021 — according to CBS News. Trump has also said inflation is coming down, though data from September showed it had been slowly increasing since a decrease in April.

Trump announced the address on Tuesday, Dec. 16, prompting major networks — including ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC — to clear their 9 p.m. ET schedules to carry the speech live.

CBS paused its three-hour Survivor season 49 finale, saying it would resume the episode “where it left off immediately following the president’s address for Eastern and Central Time Zone viewers.” FOX interrupted the season finale of Rob Lowe’s The Floor and planned to continue it after Trump finished speaking, as reported by Deadline. ABC and NBC also adjusted their holiday programming: ABC paused its iHeartRadio Jingle Ball broadcast and planned to resume after the speech, while NBC aired special coverage of the address before returning to Christmas in Nashville with Trisha Yearwood.

Trump’s remarks also came as a deadline related to the release of the Epstein files approached. The Department of Justice is required to release the files by Friday, Dec. 19 — 30 days after Trump signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act. The department has not released any material since the act was signed into law on Nov. 19. The bipartisan measure calls on the DOJ to publish “all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials in DOJ’s possession that relate to the investigation and prosecution of Jeffrey Epstein.”

After pushing back for months on releasing the files, Trump signaled a shift in November, urging Republicans in a Truth Social post to “vote to release the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide, and it’s time to move on from this Democrat Hoax,” days before Congress voted on the bill.

A day before the address, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt previewed the speech, saying Trump would highlight the administration’s “historic accomplishments” since January 2025.

“It’s going to be a really good speech. I was just in the Oval Office with the president discussing it,” she said Tuesday, per ABC News. “He’s going to talk a lot about the accomplishments over the past 11 months, all that he’s done to bring our country back to greatness and all he continues to plan to do to continue delivering for the American people over the next three years.”