WASHINGTON–President Donald Trump underscored the “mess” he inherited from former President Joe Biden, ranging from mass illegal immigration to runaway inflation, and declared, “I’m fixing it.”
Trump hammered Biden to open his remarks to the nation, delivered in the White House’s Diplomatic Reception Room on Wednesday night.
“Good evening, America. Eleven months ago, I inherited a mess. And I’m fixing it,” Trump said at the top of his primetime address.
Trump then pointed to the inflation levels reached under Biden that had been unseen since the days of President Jimmy Carter’s administration, and the rampant illegal immigration that his predecessor allowed.
“When I took office, inflation was the worst in 48 years, and some would say in the history of our country, which caused prices to be higher than ever before, making life unaffordable for millions and millions of Americans,” he said, adding that under Biden, the term “affordability” first became prevalent.
“Our border was open, and because of this, our country was being invaded by an army of 25 million people, many who came from prisons and jails, mental institutions and insane asylums,” he continued. “They were drug dealers, gang members, and even 11,888 murderers, more than 50 percent of whom killed more than one person.”
Trump went on to tout that while Biden oversaw rapidly rising prices and dwindling wages, he is overseeing a surge in wages and a drop in prices on key goods.
According to the White House, private-sector wages for the typical worker dropped by $2,919 under Biden. Since the start of the second Trump term, they are up $1,048 for the typical worker, while certain blue-collar jobs are seeing even faster growth. Factory worker wages increased by $1,300, construction wages have climbed $1,826, and mining wages are up $3,336.
Trump emphasized that prices have come down for hotel rates, automobiles, gasoline, and airfare since he returned to office, noting that car prices rose 22 percent under the last administration, gas prices rose 30 to 50 percent, airfare climbed 31 percent, and hotel rates shot up 37 percent.
He touted an 82 percent reduction in egg prices since March and a 33 percent drop in Thanksgiving Turkey prices compared to 2024, along with dwindling costs on various other food products which had climbed between 14.8 percent to 106.3 percent under Biden and Democrats.
He also compared his border and immigration policies to Biden’s, particularly Democrats’ inaction on closing the border. In fact, Biden reversed many of the first-term Trump-era policies soon after taking office, including reinstating catch-and-release, which escalated the border and illegal immigration crises.
“Starting on day one, I took immediate action to stop the invasion of our southern border. For the past seven months, zero illegal aliens have been allowed into our country, a feat which everyone said was absolutely impossible,” Trump stated.
“Do you remember when Joe Biden said that he needed Congress to pass legislation to help close the border? He was always blaming Congress and everyone else. As it turned out, we didn’t need legislation. We just needed a new president,” he added.
The president declared the current border “the strongest border in the history of our country.”
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