Wages up, prices down: Trump says he ‘fixed’ US economy — here’s how his favourite word ‘tariffs’ fits in

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday (local time) delivered a live address from the White House, highlighting the financial and economic achievements he achieved in his second term. Much of the speech centred on inflation, trade policy, tariffs and household finances, alongside sharp criticism of the previous Democrat administration.Beginning his address, Trump highlighted that he took office at a time of severe economic strain, arguing that Americans were struggling with high prices and declining affordability.“America, 11 months ago, I inherited a mess and I’m fixing it. 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. This happened during a Democrat administration, and it’s when we first began hearing the word affordability,” he said.The president repeatedly targeted the Biden administration over inflation and public spending, accusing it of draining the US treasury and driving up everyday costs. He went on to criticise earlier trade deals, saying that the United States had lost economic standing on the global stage. However, after Trump began his second term as a president, the country was no longer being “laughed at” from all over the world.

Trump’s favourite word — Tariffs!

He highlighted what he described as record levels of investment flowing into the United States, linking this directly to his trade and tariff policies. “Already, I’ve secured a record-breaking $18 trillion of investment into the United States, which means jobs, wage increases, growth, factory openings, and far greater national security,” he said.He described tariffs as a central tool of his economic strategy, arguing that they had encouraged companies to relocate manufacturing back to the US.“Much of this success has been accomplished by tariffs, my favorite word, tariffs, which, for many decades, have been used successfully by other countries against us, but not anymore. Companies know that if they build in America, there are no tariffs, and that’s why they’re coming home to the USA in record numbers. They’re building factories and plants at levels we haven’t seen, AI, automobiles.”The US President claimed that the economic turnaround had been dramatic.“We’re doing what nobody thought was even possible, not even remotely possible. There has never, frankly, been anything like it. One year ago, our country was dead. We were absolutely dead. Our country was ready to fail. Totally failed.”Alongside foreign policy claims, the president said the domestic economy had been brought back “from the brink of ruin”, again blaming previous leadership for rising prices across key sectors.“The last administration and their allies in Congress looted our Treasury for trillions of dollars, driving up prices and everything at levels never seen before. I am bringing those high prices down and bringing them down very fast,” he said.

Fuels, food, wages — What changed in Trump’s term?

Trump listed a series of price increases he attributed to the Biden years, including cars, fuel, hotel rates and airfares, before claiming those costs were now falling.

“Under the Biden administration, car prices rose 22% and, in many states, 30% or more. Gasoline rose 30 to 50%. Hotel rates rose 37%. Airfares rose 31%. Now, under our leadership, they are all coming down and coming down fast.”He also referred to food prices, citing declines in the cost of groceries.“The price of a Thanksgiving turkey was down 33% compared to the Biden last year. The price of eggs is down 82 percent since March, and everything else is falling rapidly. And it’s not done yet, but, boy, are we making progress.”Energy costs featured prominently in the speech, with Trump saying households had borne heavy losses under the previous administration.“Electricity costs surged 30 to 100 percent under Biden. And the typical family lost $5,000 to $10,000 in higher energy costs,” he said, adding that he had declared a national energy emergency on his first day in office.He claimed fuel prices had since dropped sharply. “Gasoline is now under $2.50 a gallon in much of the country. In some states, it, by the way, just hit $1.99 a gallon.”Turning to wages and incomes, Trump said his policies were boosting take-home pay after years of decline.“After years of record-setting falling incomes, our policies are boosting take-home pay at a historic pace,” he said, adding that “under Biden, real wages plummeted by $3,000”.He said factory workers were now seeing wage increases of $1,300, while construction workers were gaining $1,800, stressing that “wages are going up much faster than inflation”.The president also highlighted a major tax package, describing it as “one beautiful bill”, which combined multiple measures including “no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, and no tax on Social Security for our great seniors”.He said these changes would save many families between $11,000 and $20,000 a year and lead to what he described as the largest tax refund season on record.Linking tariffs to government revenue, Trump announced a special payment for military personnel.“Because of tariffs, along with the just-passed, one big, beautiful bill, tonight I am also proud to announce that more than 1,450,000 — think of this, 1,450,000 — military service members will receive a special we call warrior dividend before Christmas,” he said.“We are sending every soldier $1,776,” he added, stating that the payments were already being issued.Closing his address, Trump said the combination of falling prices, rising wages and trade-driven revenue had restored America’s economic position.“Wages are up. Prices are down. Our nation is strong. America is respected. And our country is back, stronger than ever before. We’re poised for an economic boom the likes of which the world has never seen.”