Trump Ditches ‘The Weave,’ Delivers Sales Pitch Susie Wiles Asked For

White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles directed President Trump to the teleprompter to deliver specific and scripted remarks in prime-time – rather than the off-the-cuff kind he favors on the stump – about affordability, the accomplishments of his first term, and the challenges ahead.

Trump delivers a straight-up speech

He delivered a rally speech in miniature Wednesday night, minus only his signature “weave.” Said the president of the myriad of problems facing the nation from high prices and lingering inflation to rising rents and unaffordable healthcare, “It’s not the Republicans’ fault – it’s the Democrats’ fault.” That was the throughline of the entire message. And it is one his party was desperate for him to deliver as they anxiously await the midterm elections next year.

While Trump provide little that was new in terms of policy, the president did change his tone. He admitted that problems persist for everyday Americans despite his best efforts.

“Eleven months ago, I inherited a mess,” he said of his predecessor, President Joe Biden, then immediately added “and I am fixing it.” A long list of accomplishments followed. Among them: Wages are up, inflation down, and the border sealed. Like a chairman of a corporate board delivering an end-of-year report, he ran through a list of promises made on the campaign and promises kept once returned to the White House.

“We’re doing what nobody thought was even possible, not even remotely possible. There has never, frankly, been anything like it,” he said, repeating a popular line from his rallies. “One year ago, our country was dead. We were absolutely dead. Our country was ready to fail – totally failed. Now we’re the hottest country anywhere in the world.”

Where Trump now stands

The president relishes the role of a cheerleader. It has led to blind spots, however, as his long-promised “Golden Age” has yet to trickle down to lower and middleclass tables. Yes, he succeeded in getting many of his marquee domestic policy priorities, encapsulated in the One Big Beautiful Bill, into law. No, the public is still not feeling it despite his insistence on an American renaissance. So say the polls.

Trump remains underwater with more Americans now disapproving, 53.8%, than approving, 43.6%, of his job performance. More worrisome for the White House, according to the RealClearPolitics Average, a majority of the country, 62.8%, disapprove of how Trump has handled inflation even as inflation has mostly stabilized one year into his second stint as president.

Inflation dropped to just 2.8% over the past year compared to its peak under Biden at 9%. Wages have increased as well, and some prices, like the cost of a gallon of gas or a dozen eggs, have come down. Despite those changes, Trump found himself in a position similar to that of Biden when he insisted that the economy remained healthy even as the public did not feel the improvement.

And like the president before him, Trump asked for patience in so many words. The best, he said, was yet to come: “We are poised for an economic boom, the likes of which the world has never seen.”

Not trying to deny that affordability is a problem

One thing Trump did not say? He did not argue that affordability amounted to “a Democratic hoax.” Earlier this month in Pennsylvania, he repeated that line before adding a canned explanation about how believing Democrats on questions of the economy was akin to “trusting Bonnie and Clyde with public safety.” The cheerleader in chief instead recognized on Wednesday night that Americans are feeling pain and promised speedy relief, especially come tax season.

Christmas will come in April, the president argued as he touted no tax on tips, no taxes on overtime, and no tax on Social Security benefits. “Under these cuts, many families will be saving between $11,000 and $20,000 a year,” he said, “and next spring is projected to be the largest tax refund season of all time.”

Democrats did not make much of Trump’s deflections.

“People are tired of him trying to throw President Joe Biden under the bus,” said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. During an interview on MS NOW (formerly MSNBC), the Democrat argued that Trump owned the anxieties of the current economy. “What’s been clear in public opinion, survey after public opinion survey, the American people know this is Donald Trump’s economy. This is the Republicans’ economy. And it’s been a complete and total disaster.”

Tax time will tell

Republicans are hoping that voters make up their minds as they file their tax returns, perhaps none more so than Speaker Mike Johnson who believes that tax cuts will “turbocharge the economy” and help him keep his House majority in the process. That’s not likely, however. Only two presidents in the last century, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and George W. Bush, have added to their congressional majority during midterm elections.

A foreign war could make that already difficult task much harder. Before the speech began, Secretary of State Marco Rubio was spotted by reporters pacing outside of the Oval Office. His presence fueled speculation that perhaps Trump would announce a further military escalation in the conflict with Venezuela. The administration continues to sink alleged drug boats coming from that country, and this week the president announced a blockade of Venezuelan oil tankers. But there was no new announcement. Caracas was absent from Trump’s remarks, other than a passing reference to ongoing actions against the cartels.

The War Dividend

Families of U.S. service members likely gave a sigh of relief at that fact. Members of the military, meanwhile, cheered at the one bit of news that Trump delivered.

“Military service members will receive a special, what we call a ‘warrior dividend’ before Christmas – a warrior dividend,” he said. “In honor of our nation’s founding in 1776 we are sending every soldier $1,776.”

A one-time check is not likely to reverse ongoing fear about the economy. Trump’s populist project hangs in the balance if the national mood does not improve and Republicans do not defy history. Speaker Johnson has been blunt on this front. “If we don’t win the midterm,” the speaker said of Trump in an interview with RealClearPolitics last month, “he won’t have four years of a presidency. It will end at two.”

A number of House Republicans have already announced their retirement, among them Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene – once a stalwart Trump ally. She delivered the White House a stark warning in the form of a stinging rebuke last month during an interview with CBS News.

This article was originally published by RealClearPolitics and made available via RealClearWire.