Trump's Christmas message: Things are better than you think

A fiery President Trump — addressing Americans from a holiday-decked White House — insisted the economy is stronger than people think it is and any problems are all Democrats' fault.It's a message that poll after poll says most voters don't believe.The big picture: Trump's speech was closer to a Festivus airing of grievances than a Christmas message of hope, as he ran through a litany of problems — inflation, wage growth, the border, crime — that he said were entirely the fault of the Biden administration, and that he insisted he'd already fixed.Zoom in: Focused and delivered without meandering asides, Trump's 18-minute address was essentially the speech he was expected to give last week in Pennsylvania, where he went off-script.The speech was notable for what he didn't do: use the words "hoax" or "con job" when talking about affordability.Aside from announcing a new "warrior dividend" of $1,776 for service members, Trump's speech had little new in it.He promised a zooming economy next year, built around tax cuts and other measures in his "big, beautiful bill.""After years of record-setting falling incomes, our policies are boosting take-home pay at a historic pace," Trump said.The November jobs report numbers, released Tuesday, show average hourly earnings growth at 3.5%, down from 4% in January when Trump took office.Trump also said the administration is "solving" soaring grocery prices — even as grocery costs are up in most categories — and said electricity costs will "fall dramatically," though the government's own data shows prices rising by double digits year over year.Behind the scenes: Wednesday night's atypically short, rapid-fire speech was a point of modest pride for Trump advisers, who say the president can stick to the script when he wants, and plans to drive his message home in 2026."When the president addresses the nation like this, he can keep it short and sweet," one adviser said. "When he's on stage, he's going to freestyle. And people love it."Between the lines: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent often insists that the Trump administration won't tell people how they're feeling, dismissing it as Biden-style gaslighting of voters.But Trump's message to the nation was effectively: Your vibes are off, the economy's fine."In my view, the 20-minute speech is unlikely to make Americans feel better the next time they go to the grocery store," Henrietta Treyz, co-founder and director of economic policy at Veda Partners, tells Axios.Zoom out: Moving forward, Trump has two simple goals for his economic messaging: Define the Biden years as a chaotic hellscape, and persuade people that things will take off next year because of his policies.His entire economic team insists Americans will see, and feel, the payoff in the first half of the year, between strong economic growth, meaty tax refunds and lower interest rates. The bottom line: The White House is continuing to push an affordability narrative while Americans are waiting for results.