What was the point of Trump’s speech last night?

Trump’s rant last night not withstanding, the picture for America is not rosy. As reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the jobless rate rose last month to 4.6%, up from 4.4% in September, and 4.0% last January. Almost no jobs have been added since April. Unemployed now are 710,000 more Americans than there were in November, 2024.

More than 37% of Trump voters in 2024 say the cost of living is the worst they’ve ever seen. A poll released last Friday by respected AP/NORC shows that only 31% of American adults approve of Trump’s management of the economy, with 67% disapproving. It’s doubtful that last night’s speech will help much. It directly contradicts the reality that most Americans are facing.

What was noticeably missing was any reference to foreign affairs.

On Tuesday on social media, Trump designated the Venezuelan regime as a foreign terrorist organization and ordered a total and complete blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers going into and out of Venezuela. I expected to hear more about that from Trump last night, and it didn’t happen.

Also on Tuesday, Secretaries Marco Rubio and Pete Hegseth held a classified briefing for senators on the situation in Venezuela. Heather Cox Richardson reports the reaction of Senator Andy Kim (D-NJ) after Trump’s post became public knowledge:

“threatened military action directly contradicts what Secretaries Rubio and Hegseth told my Senate colleagues and I today about the mission and goals of their operations in the Caribbean. This is a dangerous escalation, and this administration must come before Congress for public hearings and explain to the American people why they are risking pulling us into another forever war.”

Could it be that senators, Rubio, and/or Hegseth changed Trump’s mind about declaring war on Venezuela last night?

Photo credit: Doug Mills/AFP, Getty Images

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/december-16-2025