The Latest: Trump addresses the American public in a live speech from the White House

“This is what the Biden administration allowed to happen to our country,” he said, adding: “When I took office, I inherited a mess, and I’m fixing it.”

His remarks are coming at a crucial time as he tries to rebuild his steadily eroding popularity. Public polling shows most U.S. adults are frustrated with his handling of the economy as inflation picked up after his tariffs raised prices and hiring slowed.

Trump has previously said he thinks more Americans would back him if they simply heard him describe his track record.

Here’s the latest:

US announces $10 billion in arms sales to Taiwan

The massive package of arms sales includes medium-range missiles, howitzers and drones. It’s a move that is sure to infuriate China.

The State Department announced the sales late Wednesday during a nationally televised address by Trump, who made scant mention of foreign policy issues and did not speak to trade or other issues with China.

The eight arms sales agreements cover 82 high-mobility artillery rocket systems and 420 Army Tactical Missile Systems, similar to what the U.S. had been providing Ukraine during the Biden administration to defend itself from Russia. Those systems are worth more than $4 billion.

▶ Read more about the arms sale

A tale of two presidents in Trump’s speech

It was Trump’s address, but former President Joe Biden got at least a half-dozen mentions in about 18 minutes.

Trump repeatedly slammed his Democratic predecessor for leaving a “mess” on immigration, the economy and international affairs.

The speech was a mix of Trump insisting he’d solved the nation’s ills but tacitly acknowledging voter frustrations, especially on inflation and the economy, by blaming Biden and Democrats.

All presidents make comparisons to predecessors, especially when they’re from the opposition party. Biden often noted problems that he took on after defeating Trump in 2020.

The question for Trump, who has already seen his job approval ratings slip, is how long he can use Biden as part of his argument to voters.

Trump ends by noting sporting events and celebrations coming next year

The president sought to end the address on a high note, noting the Olympics and World Cup soccer matches that will take place in the U.S. next year.

Next year is also the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Trump said, “There could be no more a fitting tribute to this epic milestone than to complete the comeback of America that began just one year ago.”

He closed by wishing viewers a merry Christmas and a happy new year.

Trump misrepresents energy costs with big claims and promises

Energy prices, including for gasoline, have dropped, and they will continue to drop more, Trump promises. But they aren’t at the levels he claims.

Trump claimed an national average gas price of $2.50 per gallon. The AAA average nationally is $2.90. Without providing evidence, Trump also said household energy costs have dropped by $3,000.

Trump promised that “within the nest 12 months” the U.S. will have opened 1,600 new electrical generating plants — reversing what he again called “the Democrat inflation disaster.”

Trump announces ‘warrior dividends’ for military

The president said his administration is sending checks of $1,776 to more than 1.4 million U.S. service members before Christmas.

“The checks are already on the way,” he said.

He seemed to imply that the checks were being funded from tariff revenues.

“We made a lot more money than anybody thought because of tariffs, and the bill helped us along,” Trump said, referring to the GOP’s major tax cuts legislation it passed earlier this year. “Nobody deserves it more than our military, and I say congratulations.”

Trump says he will announce a housing plan next year

The president said he will put forward “some of the most aggressive housing reform plans in American history,” but he offered no details

Trump leans into record on immigration

Trump used a chunk of his nationwide address to stress his immigration record, including tightening the border to deny entry to immigrants without legal authority to be in the U.S.

He made a passing reference to mass deportation, saying his administration is removing criminals. Independent analyses have shown that people without criminal records have been deported.

Trump also talked about making some of the “most dangerous cities” in America safe again as a result of his aggressive approach to illegal immigration.

Tariffs are working, Trump says

Trump is sidestepping continued inflation but is insisting that his tariffs are working and will deliver more benefits soon.

“My favorite word,” he said of “tariffs,” the levies that he has put on various foreign products from China, Canada, Mexico and other U.S. trading partners across the world.

“Nobody can believe what’s going on here,” Trump said. “It’s not done yet, but boy are we making progress.”

It’s clear Trump wants to address consumer angst almost one year into his second presidency.

Less of an address and more of a rant

The president barely paused to take a breath as he made his way through his prepared remarks, much of which contained complaints about conditions in the country under former President Joe Biden.

“One year ago, our country was dead. We were absolutely dead!” Trump said. “Our country was ready to fail — totally fail! Now we’re the hottest country anywhere in the world.”

Trump tries to focus on kitchen-table issues

After blaming his predecessor, talking about the border and mentioning culture war issues, Trump pivoted back to talking about affordability issues and boasted that prices had fallen under his tenure.

He pointed to everyday essentials and luxuries whose costs had declined, such as cars, hotels, airfare and gas. Trump avoided going into specific prices.

Trump spends much of the start of his speech blaming Biden

The president’s predecessor, whom Trump continues to lambaste regularly, figured prominently at the start of his address.

Trump pointed to the immigration situation under former President Joe Biden’s presidency, as well as inflation and culture issues.

“This is what the Biden administration allowed to happen to our country,” he said, adding: “When I took office, I inherited a mess, and I’m fixing it.”

Federal judge allows White House ballroom construction to continue

U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon has formally denied a request from historic preservationists to immediately halt Trump’s construction of a ballroom at the White House.

Leon said Wednesday that he is reserving judgment on a motion by the National Trust for Historic Preservation for a block until a hearing he’s scheduled for Jan. 15.

The organization unsuccessfully argued at a hearing Tuesday that the ballroom plans must go through multiple independent reviews, including by the public and Congress, before construction begins.

Leon sided with the government, which said the ballroom plans haven’t been finalized and above-ground construction won’t start until April of next year at the earliest.

The administration has said it will submit the plans to review panels before the end of December. Leon warned of consequences for the government if that doesn’t happen.

US military says strike on alleged drug boat kills 4 in eastern Pacific

The U.S. military said Wednesday that it attacked a boat accused of smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing four people on the same day the House rejected efforts to limit Trump’s power to use military force against drug cartels.

U.S. Southern Command stated on social media that the vessel was operated by narco-terrorists along a known trafficking route. The military didn’t provide evidence behind the allegations. It posted a video of a boat moving through water before there was an explosion.

The attack brought the total number of known boat strikes to 26 while at least 99 people have been killed, according to numbers announced by the Trump administration.

Venezuela accuses Trump of violating its sovereignty

Venezuela’s U.N. Ambassador Samuel Moncada said in a letter to the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday that no head of state or government had ever come up “with the deranged idea that the Venezuelan national territory, including its oil fields and other assets, belonged to them.”

“The delirium increases with the ultimatum that if Venezuela does not surrender to its will, our nation will then be attacked by their military forces,” he said.

Moncada cited Trump’s post on Truth Social on Tuesday and Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller’s statement Wednesday that Venezuela’s entire oil industry belongs to the U.S. and demanding its return.

“This means that the U.S. government is claiming the world’s largest oil reserves as its own, in what would be one of the greatest acts of plunder in human history,” Moncada said.

He called it “a confession of a crime of aggression on a large scale” and “a grotesque offense that violates every norm of civilization” and the U.N. Charter.

Jack Smith wraps up hours of closed-door testimony over his investigations of Trump

The former special counsel fielded rounds of questions that Democrats said reinforced his case against Trump’s handling of the 2020 elections and the Jan. 6. 2021, attack on the Capitol. But the daylong session left some Republicans with more to understand about his investigations.

Smith’s attorney Lanny Breuer said afterward that any “person who listened today to the deposition would know without any doubt that Jack Smith’s investigation was based purely on the facts and the law and the evidence, nothing more and nothing less.”

Smith’s team abandoned the cases after Trump was elected to the White House last year, citing Justice Department legal opinions that say a sitting president cannot be indicted.

Family of interpreter killed in Syria met with Trump and Hegseth

Dina Qiryaqoz, daughter of the civilian interpreter who was killed in Syria on Saturday, said she and two of her siblings met with Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth privately Wednesday.

She described the meeting as comforting and assuring, with both strongly condemning the attack and expressing gratitude for her father’s service.

“He seemed like he really cared about my dad and the other soldiers that were unfortunately killed during this attack,” she said of Trump in an interview Wednesday following the dignified transfer, a ritual honoring U.S. service members killed in action, at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.

Trump joined families members there as the remains of the two Iowa National Guard members and the interpreter, Ayad Mansoor Sakat, were brought to the U.S.

“I honestly have felt his presence with us through this whole day,” Qiryaqoz said of her father.

FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino plans to resign next month

Bongino says he’ll resign from the bureau next month, ending a brief tenure in which he clashed with the Justice Department over the handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files.

He was also forced to reconcile the realities of his law enforcement job with provocative claims he made in his prior role as a popular podcast host.

The departure, which has been expected, would be among the highest-profile resignations of the Trump administration. It comes as FBI leadership has been buffeted by criticism over Director Kash Patel’s use of a government plane for personal purposes and social media posts about active investigations.

▶ Read more about the FBI deputy director’s departure

Ghislaine Maxwell is asking a federal judge to free her from her 20-year prison sentence

Jeffrey Epstein’s ex-girlfriend and longtime associate says “substantial new evidence” has emerged to prove there were constitutional violations at her trial that prevented her exoneration on sex trafficking charges.

The request in the form of a habeas petition in Manhattan federal court comes just two days before evidence gathered for her trial four years ago is set to be released publicly as a result of the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

Epstein, a millionaire financier, was arrested in July 2019 on sex trafficking charges. A month later, he was found dead in his cell at a New York federal jail, and the death was ruled a suicide.

Maxwell, a British socialite, was arrested a year later and was convicted of sex trafficking in December 2021.

Trump administration cancels health grants to doctors’ group that criticized vaccine policy changes

Federal health officials have canceled millions of dollars in grants to the American Academy of Pediatrics — a strong and steady critic of Trump administration vaccine policies.

Leaders of the medical organization learned this week that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services are ending seven grants. The money funded work on adolescent health, mental health, early identification of autism and other topics.

A HHS spokesman said the grants were terminated “because they no longer align with the Department’s mission or priorities.” AAP officials say they are considering legal action or other possible responses.

The Washington Post first reported the funding terminations.

Trump fumes anew about Venezuela’s seizure of US oil company assets as he makes case for blockade

Under Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan government seized assets from some American oil companies after the country nationalized oil fields in 2007.

Trump on Wednesday assailed his White House predecessors for not pushing back against Venezuela earlier and that his intention is “getting land, oil rights, whatever we had” returned by the government in Caracas.

“They took it away because we had a president that maybe wasn’t watching. But they’re not going to do that again,” He added, “We want it back. They took our oil rights—we had a lot of oil there. As you know they threw our companies out, and we want it back.”

Trump signals Bongino’s forthcoming departure from FBI

Trump has signaled that FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino intends to leave his position soon.

Asked Wednesday about reports that Bongino intended to resign, Trump said, “Dan did a great job. I think he wants to go back to his show,” referring to Bongino’s prior career as a popular conservative podcaster.

Trump also insisted that he has confidence in FBI Director Kash Patel, who has faced criticism in recent weeks over his use of a government plane for personal purposes and social media posts about active investigations.

Judge temporarily blocks Trump administration policies limiting lawmakers’ access to ICE facilities

A federal judge in the nation’s capital has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from enforcing policies limiting members of Congress’ access to immigration detention facilities.

The judge ruled on Wednesday that it is likely illegal for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to demand a week’s notice from members of Congress seeking to visit and observe conditions in ICE facilities.

U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb, who was nominated to the bench by Democratic President Joe Biden, concluded that the seven-day notice requirement also likely exceeds the Department of Homeland Security’s statutory authority.

Twelve members of Congress sued in Washington, D.C., in July to challenge ICE’s amended visitor policies after they were denied entry to detention facilities.

Government attorneys argued that the plaintiffs don’t have legal standing to bring their claims.

Melania Trump releases the trailer for an upcoming documentary on the 20 days before she became first lady again

Just over a minute in length, the trailer opens with a scene from Inauguration Day as she waited to be escorted into the Capitol Rotunda for the ceremony.

She then turns, looks into the camera and in a low voice says, “Here we go again.”

The clip from “Melania: Twenty Days to History” shows her giving the president advice as he practices his speech, reviewing sketches of her inaugural gown and appearing with their son, Barron, among many other scenes from the 20 days before she resumed the role of first lady.

The documentary was directed by Brett Ratner and distributed by Amazon Prime Video. The trailer says it will be exclusively in theaters on Jan. 30.

▶Read more about the film

Trump admin moves to break up climate research center in Colorado

White House budget director Russ Vought described the National Center for Atmospheric Research as “one of the largest sources of climate alarmism in the country″ and said a comprehensive review is underway. Vital activities such as weather research will be moved to another entity or location.

The research lab, which houses the largest federal research program on climate change, supports research to predict, prepare for and respond to severe weather and other natural disasters.

A senior White House official accused the lab of a “woke direction” that wastes taxpayer funds on what the official called frivolous pursuits and ideologies, including one project that aimed to make the sciences more inclusive and “justice-centered.”

Katharine Hayhoe at Texas Tech University said that for climate scientists, the lab “is quite literally our global mothership.”

DOE watchdog will audit $8B in canceled clean energy grants

An internal watchdog in the U.S. Department of Energy will investigate the Trump administration’s termination of nearly $8 billion in grants for clean energy projects across more than a dozen states.

Sarah Nelson, assistant inspector general for the Energy Department’s Office of Inspector General, said in a letter to members of Congress on Wednesday that the audit “will help ensure that these activities are conducted consistently with applicable laws, regulations, and Departmental policies and procedures.”

The Energy Department announced in October that 321 funding awards across 223 projects were canceled across 16 targeted states, all of which supported former Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.

Several Democratic members of Congress from California later requested the acting inspector general launch an investigation on the basis of “significant unlawful bias” across the cuts.

Dignified transfer has ended

Trump and military officials offered a final salute to the fallen guardsmen and interpreter as the solemn ritual ended.

The president, who traveled to Dover several times in his first term, once described the dignified transfer as “the toughest thing I have to do” as president.

Trump salutes fallen soldiers, interpreter at dignified transfer at Dover

Trump, with head bowed, briefly stood with other military officials at the foot of the ramp of the C-17 as the ritual began.

The president and other military officials saluted as the flag-draped cases holding the two Iowa guardsmen, Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar and Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, as well as interpreter, Ayad Mansoor Sakat, were transferred from the belly of the aircraft to awaiting vehicles on the Dover tarmac.

No change to list of foreign terrorist organizations after Trump announcement on Venezuela

There’s been no change Wednesday to the list of foreign terrorist organizations after Trump said the “Venezuelan Regime” has been designated as one.

Trump said that when announcing a blockade on “sanctioned oil tankers” into and out of Venezuela.

Officials at several national security agencies were told not to take Trump’s remarks about the designation literally and that they should be treated as a figure of speech, according to one U.S. official involved in the discussions.

That official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe internal interagency communications, also stressed that the “blockade” Trump announced on Venezuelan oil tankers applies only to previously sanctioned vessels against which certain actions are already authorized, such as the seizure last week of one such ship.

The State Department, which oversees the foreign terror list, didn’t respond to requests for clarification. The list most recently was updated with Colombia-based drug cartel Clan del Golfo.

Republicans more likely to support action in international waters than inside Venezuela

A Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday found that Republicans are much more divided on U.S. military action inside Venezuela than U.S. military attacks to kill suspected drug smugglers on boats in international waters.

About half of Republican voters support U.S. military action inside Venezuela, while about 8 in 10 support military attacks on suspected drug smugglers in international waters.

Democrats and independents are broadly opposed to U.S. military action in both international waters and inside Venezuela, but there aren’t major partisan differences in how closely voters are following the news related to Venezuela.

Most oppose US military action inside Venezuela, new Quinnipiac poll finds

U.S. military action targeting Venezuela isn’t broadly popular, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday.

The survey found that about half of registered voters oppose U.S. military attacks to kill suspected drug smugglers on boats in international waters, while about 4 in 10 are in support.

Military action inside Venezuela is even more unpopular, with about 6 in 10 voters opposed and only about one-quarter in support.

About 4 in 10 voters are following news about the U.S. military buildup and actions in the Caribbean and Pacific targeting Venezuela “very” closely. About one-third are following it “somewhat” closely and about one-quarter are following “not too” closely.

Trump holds 2028 Olympic talks on flight to dignified transfer

Kevin McCarthy, who served as speaker for nearly 10 months in 2023, flew aboard Air Force One with Trump to Dover Air Force Base.

Trump and McCarthy, a Republican from California, were on the books to meet on Wednesday at the White House before the dignified transfer was scheduled to discuss the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, according to a White House official.

Rather than cancel, Trump invited McCarthy to come along and conduct their meeting on the plane, according to the official who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Casey Wasserman, who is heading the organizing committee for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, also joined Trump for the trip to Dover

White House explains plaques under presidential portraits in Trump’s newly installed portrait walkway

“The plaques are eloquently written descriptions of each President and the legacy they left behind. As a student of history, many were written directly by the President himself,” said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt in a statement.

The plaques frequently use phrases, punctuation and the capitalization of words similar to the president’s writing style in his social media posts.

Former special counsel Smith testifying about his investigation into Jan. 6

Smith has been testifying for more than three hours behind closed doors at the House Judiciary Committee, and he’s being asked and answering questions about his investigations into Trump, particularly over election interference in the run-up to the Jan. 6 attack at the Capitol.

Smith wanted to appear publicly and Democrats say there’s a reason Republicans are keeping his deposition private.

“It would have been absolutely devastating to the president and all the president’s men involved in the insurrectionary activities of January the 6th,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the panel.

Democrats are demanding that Smith’s testimony be made public, along with his full report on the investigation.

“The American people should hear for themselves,” said Rep. Dan Goldman, D-NY.

Trump adds partisan plaques to presidential portraits outside Rose Garden

A couple months ago, Trump refashioned the colonnade that runs from the West Wing to the residence into what he calls the “ Presidential Walk of Fame.”

Now, there are new plaques underneath each portrait describing each leader in rather Trumpian terms.

Former President Barack Obama is labeled “one of the most divisive political figures in American history.”

Former President Joe Biden’s plaque repeats false claims that Biden took office “as a result of the most corrupt election ever.”

And the plaque below former President George W. Bush’s portrait decries that Bush “started wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, both of which should not have happened.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment about how and why the new plaques were developed.

UN chief calls for immediate de-escalation of US-Venezuela dispute and diplomatic solution

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ focus is on avoiding any escalation of situation, U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said Wednesday when asked about the legality of Trump’s order of a blockade of all “sanctioned oil tankers” into Venezuela.

“We are looking at what the applicable laws are … but certainly the parties have to abide by the U,N. Charter,” Haq told U.N. reporters. The Charter requires all 193 U.N. member nations – including the an d United States and Venezuela – to refrain from the use of force against all other nations and settle all disputes peacefully.

“We want any escalatory steps to be avoided,” Haq said. “At this stage, it’s critical to continue diplomatic engagement and pursue a peaceful way forward through dialogue.”

He said Guterres is following the situation very closely and engaging “with relevant parties.”

Navy Admiral who ordered boat strike briefs congressional committees

Adm. Frank “Mitch” Bradley gave a classified briefing and showed video of a Sept. 2 strike that killed two survivors of an initial attack on an alleged drug boat to the House and Senate Armed Services Committees.

Several Republican senators emerged from the meeting backing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and his decision not to release the video publicly, but other GOP lawmakers stayed silent on their opinion of the strike.

Democrats are calling for part of the video to be released publicly and for every member of Congress to have access to the full footage.

US, Qatar hold strategic dialogue talks as Trump pushes implementation of Gaza peace plan

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani led Wednesday’s discussions at the State Department, which came as Qatar is playing an increasingly important role in organizing Trump’s so-called “Board of Peace” for the territory and an international force to provide security there.

The two men “reaffirmed the strategic partnership between the United States and Qatar, and discussed opportunities to deepen cooperation on shared economic and security goals,” the State Department said in a statement after the meeting.

Rubio “expressed appreciation for Qatar’s role in supporting American objectives in the Middle East, Africa, and the Western Hemisphere, and reiterated both countries’ desire for close collaboration on shared goals,” it said.

In late September, Trump signed an executive order committing the U.S. to broad security guarantees for Qatar’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. That took place after Israel launched military strikes against Hamas operatives in Doha, outraging the Qataris and other Arab nations.