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The Source with Kaitlan Collins
Trump Touts Accomplishments In Address To Nation; Trump Defends Economic Policies In Address To Nation; New Plaques On Trump's "Walk Of Fame" Troll Past Presidents. Aired 8:58-10p ET
Aired December 17, 2025 - 20:58 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[20:58:00]
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, CNN HOST, THE SOURCE WITH KAITLAN COLLINS: Good evening. I'm Kaitlan Collins, in Washington tonight, where we are waiting the President, who is set to address the nation in just moments.
The White House says we can expect President Trump to tout his accomplishments since taking office, and perhaps, the White House says, he'll tease new policy actions coming into the New Year.
I want to get straight to CNN's Kristen Holmes, who's at the White House, where we both spent the day, checking with our sources about this upcoming speech from the President.
And Kristen, what's the latest that you're hearing about what we can expect the President to say tonight?
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kaitlan, as you mentioned, White House officials saying that President Trump is going to use this opportunity to tout his achievements over the last year.
But we should also expect this speech to see President Trump using it, to take control of the narrative around the economy, which frankly they need to do. More polling is coming out every day that shows that the number of Americans who feel they are struggling financially is only growing, and they blame this administration.
So, we expect to see President Trump try to at least place some of the blame of the economy on his predecessor, President Joe Biden, saying that he inherited this economy, and trying to showcase what he has done, over the past 11 months, to try and change the economy, to try and give back to Americans, put more money back in their pockets.
As you noted, we are also told, that he is -- they're like -- he is likely to lay out some of the future actions that the administration is planning when it comes to the economy.
And Kaitlan, he is learning in real-time, it is much easier to run on the economy, when no one can hold you responsible, and you don't hold a position to power, than to actually be the one who is dictating the policy in the White House. [21:00:00]
COLLINS: Yes. We'll see how he navigates that tonight.
Kristen Holmes, thank you so much for that. We'll check back in with you, as we continue to wait for the President's speech tonight.
I've got my political sources here as we are waiting to hear from the President, inside the Diplomatic Reception Room at the White House. Van Jones and Scott Jennings are here.
Van, what are you going to be listening to, as the President addresses the nation?
VAN JONES, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think it's going to be a great speech for Democrats.
I am hoping that he will go out and say, The economy is A-plus-plus- plus-plus. We'll use that in the midterms. I hope he blows off all the concerns about people's health care costs going through the roof. And I hope he says affordability is a hoax.
This could be the greatest speech for Democrats to win the midterms ever, if he does any of those things.
SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, HOST, "THE SCOTT JENNINGS RADIO SHOW" ON SRN: Well, they need--
COLLINS: Scott Jennings?
JENNINGS: --they need something, because you got a 18 percent approval rating right now. So whatever you can get, I would advise you to try to get it.
JONES: We'll take it.
JENNINGS: Listen, I've spent most of the day at the White House today. I don't know how much ground he's going to break on policy. And I'll do what you should never do, which is to say, Here's what Trump's going to say. You don't really know.
But I think he's going to draw a bright line, and the line is, Here's what we had to do and why we had to do it, because of the mess that we inherited. And I think laying out the contours of the debate for an election year, only he can do it for the Republican Party. So it's, Here's what we inherited, here's what we did, here's why it's going to work. Maybe a little new ground.
Also, I don't believe we're going to war in Venezuela tonight. I think this is going to be focused on what's going on at home, and why he believes his policy prescriptions are better than what the Democrats left him.
COLLINS: Well and it's funny--
JONES: We'll see. COLLINS: --it's funny to hear what Kristen and I were talking about, what we've been hearing at the White House, because that was something that we were both getting texts about today, which was how much of this is going to focus on foreign policy and on Venezuela specifically. Because, I mean, there was just another boat strike shortly before we came on the air tonight.
There have been real questions about what the ultimate policy is, in Venezuela and with Maduro. But this is a criticism that the President has faced from some of his advisers on focusing on that.
We'll see what the President says.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Good evening, America.
A 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.
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. They were drug dealers, gang members and even 11,888 murderers, more than 50 percent of whom killed more than one person. This is what the Biden administration allowed to happen to our country, and it can never be allowed to happen again.
We had men playing in women's sports, transgender for everybody, crime at record levels, with law enforcement and words such as that just absolutely forbidden. We had the worst trade deals ever made, and our country was laughed at from all over the world. But they're not laughing anymore.
Over the past 11 months, we have brought more positive change to Washington than any administration in American history. There has never been anything like it, and I think most would agree.
I was elected in a landslide, winning the popular vote, and all seven swing states, and everything else, with a mandate to take on a sick and corrupt system. That ex-trade -- really just took the wealth from people and crushed the dreams of the American people.
For the last four years, the United States was ruled by politicians who fought only for insiders, illegal aliens, career criminals, corporate lobbyists, prisoners, terrorists and above all, foreign nations which took advantage of us at levels never seen before.
They flooded your cities and towns with illegal aliens. They decimated your hard-earned savings. They indoctrinated your children with hate for America, released -- really, I mean, they just released a level of violent felons that we had never seen, to prey on innocent. They caused war. They caused mayhem. They caused a horrible situation all over the globe.
But now, you have a president who fights for the law-abiding, hardworking people of our country, the ones who make this nation run, who make this nation work. And after just one year, we have achieved more than anyone could have imagined.
[21:05:00]
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 feet which everyone said was absolutely impossible.
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.
We inherited the worst border anywhere in the world, and we quickly turned it into the strongest border in the history of our country. In other words, in a few short months, we went from worst to best.
We're deporting criminals, restoring safety to our most dangerous cities. Just take a look at Washington, D.C. It's at levels of safety that we've never seen before, and they decimated the bloodthirsty foreign drug cartels. We did that all by ourselves, with our people, and we're so proud of it. Because they were poisoning and destroying our population. Drugs brought in by ocean and by sea are now down 94 percent.
We have broken the grip of sinister woke radicals in our schools, and control over those schools is back now in the hands of our great and loving states where education belongs.
After rebuilding the United States military in my first term, and with the addition we are adding right now, we have the most powerful military anywhere in the world, and it's not even close.
I have restored American strength, settled eight wars in 10 months, destroyed the Iran nuclear threat, and ended the war in Gaza, bringing for the first time in 3,000 years, peace to the Middle East, and secured the release of the hostages, both living and dead.
Here at home, we are bringing our economy back from the brink of ruin. 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.
Let's look at the facts. Under the Biden administration, car prices rose 22 percent and in many states 30 percent or more, gasoline rose 30 to 50 percent, hotel rates rose 37 percent, air fares rose 31 percent. Now, under our leadership, they are all coming down and coming down fast.
Democrat politicians also sent the cost of groceries soaring, but we are solving that too. The price of a Thanksgiving turkey was down 33 percent 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. Nobody can believe what's going on.
Here are just some of the efforts that we have underway. You will see in your wallets and bank accounts in the New Year, after years of record-setting falling incomes, our policies are boosting take-home pay at a historic pace.
Under Biden, real wages plummeted by $3,000. Under Trump, the typical factory worker has seen a wage increase of $1,300. For construction workers, it's $1,800. For miners, we're bringing back clean, beautiful coal. It's $3,300. And for the first time in years, wages are rising much faster than inflation. Remember that. Rate -- wages, just look at it. Wages are going up much faster than inflation. How big is that?
Very importantly, there are more people working today than at any time in American history, and 100 percent of all jobs created since I took office have been in the private sector. Think of that. 100 percent of all jobs have been in the private sector, rather than government, which is the only way to make a country powerful and great. This historic trend will continue.
Already, I have 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. 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.
[21:10:00]
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. A.I., automobiles, 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 fail. Now, we are the hottest country anywhere in the world, and that's said by every single leader that I've spoken to over the last five months.
Next year, you will also see the results of the largest tax cuts in American history that were really accomplished through our great, Big, Beautiful Bill, perhaps the most sweeping legislation ever passed in Congress.
We wrapped 12 different bills up into one beautiful bill. That includes no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, and no tax on Social Security for our great seniors. Under these cuts, many families will be saving between $11,000 and $20,000 a year, and next spring is projected to be the largest tax refund season of all time. 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, a Warrior Dividend. In honor of our nation's founding in 1776, we are sending every soldier $1,776. Think of that. And the checks are already on the way. Nobody understood that one until about 30 minutes ago. We made a lot more money than anybody thought because of tariffs, and the bill helped us along. Nobody deserves it more than our military, and I say congratulations to everybody.
And by the way, we now have record enlistment in our military. And last year, we had among the worst recruitment numbers in our military's history. What a difference a year makes.
In addition, I'm doing what no politician of either party has ever done. Standing up to the special interests to dramatically reduce the price of prescription drugs.
I negotiated directly with the drug companies and foreign nations, which were taking advantage of our country for many decades, to slash prices on drugs and pharmaceuticals by as much as 400, 500, and even 600 percent. In other words, your drug costs will be plummeting downward. And I used the threat of tariffs to get foreign countries who would never have done it to pay the cost of this giant dollar reduction. They stopped ripping us off. And it began as of four days ago.
There has never been anything like this in the history of our country. Drugs have only gone up, but now they'll be going down by numbers never conceived possible. It's called Most Favored Nation, and no president has ever had the courage or ability to get this done until now. The first of these unprecedented price reductions will be available starting in January through a new website, TrumpRx.gov. And these big price cuts will greatly reduce the cost of health care.
I'm also taking on the gigantic health insurance companies that have gotten rich on billions of dollars of money that should go directly to the people. The money should go to the people, that's you, so they can buy their own health insurance, which will give far better benefits at much lower costs. It will be far better health insurance.
The current unaffordable Care Act was created to make insurance companies rich. It was bad health care at much too high a cost, and you see that now in the steep increase in premiums being demanded by the Democrats, and they are demanding those increases, and it's their fault. It is not the Republicans' fault. It's the Democrats' fault. It's the unaffordable Care Act, and everybody knew it.
Again, I want the money to go directly to the people so you can buy your own health care. You'll get much better health care at a much lower price. The only losers will be insurance companies that have gotten rich, and the Democrat Party, which is totally controlled by those same insurance companies. They will not be happy, but that's OK with me because you, the people, are finally going to be getting great health care at a lower cost.
[21:15:00]
Another major focus is the cost of energy. For years, the radical-left Democrats exploited the green energy scam as an excuse to funnel many billions of dollars into their own massive slush funds, as their energy restrictions drastically drove up prices, and they drove them up at record levels. Electricity costs surged 30 to 100 percent under Biden, and the typical family lost $5,000 to $10,000 in higher energy costs. Think of that, $5,000 to $10,000 you lost.
On day one, I declared a national energy emergency. 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. And within the next 12 months, we will have opened 1,600 new electrical generating plants, a record, and it's a record that won't be beaten by practically, I would say, by anybody, or certainly not very soon. Prices on electricity and everything else will fall dramatically.
The Democrat inflation disaster, again, the worst in the history of our country, also robbed millions of Americans of homeownership and, indeed, the American Dream. The yearly cost of a typical new mortgage increased by $15,000 under Democrat rule. In 11 months, we've already gotten that annual cost down by $3,000, and it's coming down a lot lower. Wait till you see, the numbers are going to be shocking.
And I'll soon announce our next Chairman of the Federal Reserve, someone who believes in lower interest rates by a lot, and mortgage payments will be coming down even further. Early the New Year, and you will see this, in the New Year, I will announce some of the most aggressive housing reform plans in American history.
A major factor in driving up housing costs was the colossal border invasion. We have never been invaded. This is the worst thing that, frankly, in my opinion, the worst thing that the Biden administration did to our country is the invasion at the border.
The last administration and their allies in Congress brought in millions and millions of migrants and gave them taxpayer-funded housing, while your rent and housing costs skyrocketed. Over 60 percent of growth in the rental market came from foreign migrants.
At the same time, illegal aliens stole American jobs and flooded emergency rooms, getting free health care and education paid for by you, the American taxpayer. They also increased the cost of law enforcement by numbers so high that they are not even to be mentioned.
For the first time in 50 years, we are now seeing reverse migration as migrants go back home, leaving more housing and more jobs for Americans.
In the year before my election, all net creation of jobs was going to foreign migrants. Since I took office, 100 percent of all net job creation has gone to American-born citizens. 100 percent.
In the end, government either serves the productive, patriotic, hardworking American citizen, or it serves those who break the laws, cheat the system, and seek power and profit at the expense of our nation. Look at Minnesota, where Somalians have taken over the economics of the state and have stolen billions and billions of dollars from Minnesota and, indeed, from the United States of America. And we're going to put an end to it.
For so long as before my election, the vast majority of good and decent Americans were forced to watch as corrupt politician plundered the halls of power, exploited our taxpayers, and pillaged every system that makes civilized society function. But not anymore. And you see that every day. Not anymore.
We're putting America first, and we are making America great again. Very simple. We are making America great again.
Tonight, after 11 months, our border is secure, inflation has stopped, 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.
Soon, we will host the World Cup and the Olympics, both of which I got. But most importantly, we will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. There could be no more fitting tribute to this epic milestone than to complete the comeback of America that began just one year ago.
When the world looks at us next year, let them see a nation that is loyal to its citizens, faithful to its workers, confident to its identity, certain to its destiny, and the envy of the entire globe. We are respected again like we have never been respected before.
[21:20:00]
To each and every one of you, have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. God bless you all.
COLLINS: And that was President Trump, speaking from the Diplomatic Reception Room at the White House, addressing the nation, at a time when Americans' economic concerns have continued to last well into his second term in office, as he's approaching the one-year mark.
He directly spoke to Americans, and their wallets, as he's pledged that he is bringing down high prices, as he said, fast, as affordability has now become a winning message for Democrats, something that the White House has struggled to navigate.
The President began, in his first sentence, by blaming President Biden, and he continued to do so, throughout his entire speech.
And at one point, he credited his own success to tariffs. Of course, that comes despite what we heard from the Federal Reserve Chair, in recent days, saying that the tariffs are driving prices higher in the United States, and his own Chief of Staff acknowledging in an interview that they have also caused pain.
The President said, Democrats were to blame when it comes to the health care fight that is playing out here in Washington. And, as we saw today, his own party finds itself divided, over how to handle the expiring Obamacare subsidies that are going to send premiums spiking for more than 20 million Americans, in just a few weeks from now.
I've got my panel of political experts here with me.
And John King, obviously the President there, the speech was designed to talk about what these first 11 months have looked like. What did you make of what you heard tonight?
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Number one, blaming and grievances about Joe Biden, as you said, right from the first sentence. Number two -- maybe it was because he was rushing, because the White House promised the networks he would be 15 minutes or so. But the President seemed like he was shouting at times. He seemed a little angry, like, Why do I have to give this speech?
Number two, his point about next year. If you're a Republican? And we have two at the table. He better be right that this is all going to kick in next year, because it has not kicked in this year.
And I'll end with this. He keeps blaming Biden. I've traveled the country a lot. His supporters agree with him that he inherited a mess. But they also remember that he said he was brilliant, he would fix it, it would be easy. And they're losing patience. And this is on Donald Trump's watch. This is not on Joe Biden's watch.
The unemployment rate was 4 percent, when he took office. It's 4.6 percent now. He talked about miners and bringing coal back. It's a modest number. But mining jobs in America are down since Donald Trump took office.
Manufacturing jobs. He said his tariffs would create an American manufacturing Renaissance. It's only been a few months. If you agree with tariffs, he deserves time. But the numbers today are down. Manufacturing is down.
He talked about electricity, and he blamed Joe Biden. Since January, electricity costs in the United States of America are up 7 to 10 percent, depending on where you live in the country.
So, some things are getting better on his watch. That's a fact. But some things are not. And if you're an average working family, you are still struggling. A lot of those average working families voted for Donald Trump. A lot of those average working families have maxed out their credit cards.
So, if you have $7,000 in credit card debt, and you have one of the bad cards, because you're not wealthy, so you have high interest rates, and you pay $150 a month, guess what? You're going to be paying that debt for the next 10 years, and you're going to pay three times as much as you borrowed to pay it off. That's the life of an American paycheck-to-paycheck family. And that didn't answer their questions.
COLLINS: Well, and, when I was listening to that, a lot of that was similar to what he said on the campaign trail, over a year ago. It obviously worked for him in 2024. The question is for voters who, now that he is in office, is that a message that works going into 2026?
KRISTEN SOLTIS ANDERSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST & POLLSTER: So, it worked really effectively in 2024, because then-President Biden had fallen into a trap of trying to tell Americans to believe something about the economy, that they weren't feeling themselves.
And what I fear is that Donald Trump is falling into the same trap as his predecessor. That instead of, I feel your pain, I understand that things hurt, but here's what I'm doing to try to make it better, give me some time? This message was, I'm awesome. Don't you see how awesome I am?
It felt a little bit like a State of the Union on, you know, you can set a podcast to be like 1.2 speed. It felt a little bit like that. I don't think it was really his best, most charismatic work.
And I fear that it did not strike a note that the Americans who are saying, I don't think he's focused on the right issues, I wish that he was focused on cost of living, because that's why I voted for him. They need to hear him acknowledge that they're not seeing it in their wallets yet, so that he can give them hope that maybe they will for next year.
COLLINS: Yes.
Scott Jennings, I mean, you're very in touch with the President's base, and what those voters want to hear. Do you think they heard that tonight?
JENNINGS: Well, I think they wanted him to get back in the ring and start defining the contours of the election. I mean, I think he's spent a lot of last year on foreign affairs, to great success. But now we're moving into an election year.
And the first line, I inherited a mess, and I am fixing it. Reminding people that, We were in a deep hole. And that's why he got elected in the first place. He is going to have to ask for some forbearance from the American people. But you can tell, he does have a story to tell here. Some of it is in the Big, Beautiful Bill. That is the centerpiece of his domestic policy agenda. The tax cuts are good.
[21:25:00]
And he does have villains here. The health insurance companies are a good villain. The Democrats being at an 18 percent approval rating, that's a good villain.
And so, when you're going into an election, I think he's got two jobs. One, sell what you're doing. But two, you got to post up against the alternative. The American people just rejected the alternative a year ago, and now he needs them to reject the alternative again.
So, I guess, for Republicans, he's their salesman, and he has not been leading the sales fight on defining the contours of the election. But now he is, and I think you'll see a lot of Republicans saying, OK, the Salesman-in-Chief is back. He's our leader. Let's get behind him.
COLLINS: Van Jones?
JONES: I am not scared of that guy. I'm not. This is the first time I've seen a Donald Trump, I'm not afraid of. He is exaggerating how bad things were. That's OK. He's exaggerating how good things are. That is great for us. That is fantastic.
His big threat to Democrats is he was more in touch with ordinary people and everybody else. You had the Democratic elites sitting up here, talking big, fancy words. And coming up with some new thing to be worried about every day. And he was right there with the everyday people.
This is not how everyday people are experiencing this economy or the country. People are scared. They are worried. They see a bunch of things that are happening that seem completely out of control. They're seeing shootings happening all over the place.
This reverse migration is happening, because rather than going after the cartels, these ICE agents are going after nannies and stuff. So, the Latin community is backing off.
So, this is the first time you've seen a Donald Trump, he sounded a little scared. He sounded a little nervous. I don't know. Maybe he was just going too fast. I don't want to read anything into that.
But I think if you're a Democrat, who's sitting here tonight, biting your nails, Is this guy going to kill us, crush us? I think this is a beatable guy, next year, and I think he proved it tonight.
KING: And very quickly. A lot of Republicans wanted an answer on health care, because it's dividing the party right now. He didn't give it to them. He said, We're going to give you money. A, they can't pass that. And a lot of Republicans wanted to figure it. They're in a bind because they have legitimate philosophical ideological differences about Obamacare.
COLLINS: I mean, we saw this playing out today on Capitol Hill.
KING: Yes. Yes. Right.
COLLINS: Their -- moderate Republicans were saying--
KING: Yes.
COLLINS: --we're going to go with the Democrats on this, because they were frustrated with the House Speaker on it.
KING: Yes. To Scott's point about him being the leader. He is the leader of the party. On this one, he's kind of stepped back. Because he's said, in his first term, I'll repeal and replace, I'll have a plan. He said in this term, he would -- you know, he didn't use those words again, but they would do it.
JENNINGS: It's-- KING: And he's never put forward a plan to do it, in part because the Republican Party, the Trump Republican Party today -- the Republican Party in the Obama days, voted no. The Trump Republican party today is all over the place. They have so many different ideas they cannot come up with a consensus.
JENNINGS: Well, on the House floor tonight, the House Republicans did pass a health insurance bill. It's not a replacement for the subsidies, because most Republicans don't want to keep paying insurance companies, but they did pass a bill that the CBO says would lower premiums by 12 percent. So, you're starting to see something come into play. But villainizing the health insurance companies, I still think is good politics.
JONES: One good thing was, he's going to give money to soldiers. I think, listen, that's a good thing. So, that's the only thing I could find in there that I hadn't heard before. And giving some money to our soldiers is a good thing. Other than that, it was just a gift to Democrats.
COLLINS: Well, and given the numbers that he touted on the economy, and what he said about bringing down prices fast.
I want to bring in CNN's Chief Data Analyst, Harry Enten.
Because Harry, I think there are questions about what the President said tonight, what he touted, and how that squares with the numbers that you see.
HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Yes, what do I see? This is a little bit of a fact-check. He started off talking about affordability, and prices, and the idea that prices are coming down.
Well, we can just look at the inflation rate, year-over-year, Kaitlan. And what can we see? Back in January, the inflation rate, according to CPI, was 3.0 percent. You saw by April, it was dipping down. It was 2.3 percent. That was right around the time that the tariffs really started to get implemented.
Look at where we are now, in the latest reading, September. We'll get another reading out, I believe, tomorrow. But the latest reading, we get out, 3 percent. That matches where we were in January, Kaitlan. Prices have not, in fact, fallen according to the broadest measure of the inflation rate.
He also spoke about jobs, right? Well, John King was talking about the unemployment rate. Look, in January, it was 4.0 percent. By May, 4.2 percent. Now the latest reading that was out earlier this week, 4.6 percent. The highest unemployment rate since 2021.
Now, these are the measures of the economy, right? But how do Americans actually feel about it? And all I can say is they feel awfully about it. Because take a look here. Percentage who say that we're on the right track when it comes to inflation. Just 20 percent, just 2-0-percent of Americans say we're on the right track. The vast majority of Americans think we're on the wrong track when it comes to inflation.
What about jobs? Just 27 percent of Americans think we're on the right track when it comes to jobs in this country.
So, we're talking about under 30 percent on two key economic metrics.
And then I'll leave you with this, Kaitlan Collins. And that is Donald Trump's economic net approval rating. It is just flat-out awful, and it has declined precipitously since the beginning of his second term in office.
[21:30:00]
Look at this. Trump's net approval rating on the economy. In January, he was in positive territory at plus-6 percent. Way down he goes. Now, according to the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll, he is 25 points underwater.
Donald Trump was elected to fix the economy. It was a strength for him during his first term. But at this point, it is an anchor on him, and that is why we're seeing poll after poll after poll showing him with a net negative approval rating, and in some polls, the worst approval rating he has had in his entire second term.
COLLINS: Harry Enten, thank you for breaking down those numbers.
ENTEN: Thank you.
COLLINS: And Kristen, I think that's the key question here is, this is normally really strong territory for Donald Trump. It always, historically has been.
But when the President is coming out tonight, saying that he inherited a mess. As Harry noted, it's still 3 percent which is what it was a year ago when the President took office. Does anything he says tonight matter, if the prices don't come down, and the American people don't feel that?
SOLTIS ANDERSON: I think he's made a positive first step, in that he is talking about the right issue, even if, in my estimation, I don't think he's talking about it the right way. I would advise him differently.
It's clear that his advisers are seeing those numbers, and are saying, Mr. President, in your first term, even when your job approval was low, your economic job approval was always above it. And now that that dynamic is inverted, you have to fix this.
Because, I've done so many focus groups, where people will say, Look, I don't like the tweets. I don't -- I wish he would be nicer. I wish he would be less divisive. But you know what? He's a businessman. He's good on the economy.
That's the one thing that he cannot afford to lose, as a part of his identity and how voters think about him. And there's only so much you can message into it, if people aren't feeling it. But at least talking about this is a step in the right direction. I just wish he would talk about it in a way that I think would resonate with Americans more, than saying, Everything's great. Why don't you understand how great it is?
COLLINS: Yes.
Well, Van, I sat down with Marjorie Taylor Greene, last night, who obviously formerly was a huge ally of Trump's. Now they had a major split, and he calls her a traitor, regularly.
JONES: So I heard.
COLLINS: I don't know if you've noticed that.
But one thing I asked her, I said, What do you want to hear from the President, tomorrow night? Because her big thing has been focus on the domestic issues, not the foreign policy issues.
And she said, Donald Trump is a billionaire, and he needs to show empathy with what Americans are feeling.
I mean, do you think that, that he showed that empathy tonight?
JONES: No, I just think it's a mistake. And listen, if he stays there, Democrats are going to have a great year. He's going to have to move off of that, because right now, he just says, Everything is fantastic. And by the way, if it's not fantastic, blame Biden. That's not going to work.
And I think the other thing, I think, is going to be important for people to keep in mind, you have a bunch of young people who bet on Donald Trump. They graduate off a cliff into an economy where there is no hope for them. He's not talking to them.
You have a bunch of Latin people who bet on Donald Trump, and they wanted the bad guys taken out of their neighborhood. There's too much activity going on where normal people are scared.
A lot of people bet on Trump. And right now, they've got buyer's remorse.
If he stays on this message, it is great for Democrats.
COLLINS: I want to bring in someone who was invoked during the President's speech here on set.
That is Daniel Dale, our Senior Reporter and resident fact-checker.
Daniel, obviously, we heard a lot from the President, squeezed into those 15 minutes that were allotted to him. The White House makes that request to the networks. What did you hear in the President's remarks?
DANIEL DALE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Kaitlan, that was a fact-check-it- half-asleep kind of presidential speech. So many of these claims have been debunked so many times. For example, the President said inflation has stopped. As Harry pointed out, it's not stopped. It's 3 percent. In fact, September, that 3 percent rate was the fifth consecutive month inflation had increased.
President also said that he inherited the worst inflation, he said, some might say, in the history of the country. Again, he inherited 3 percent inflation in January. Even the 9.1 percent peak of the Biden era in June 2022 was about a 40-year high, not a 48-year high, nowhere close to the all-time high of more than 23 percent.
He spoke of cutting prescription drug prices by 400 to 600 percent. Those figures are mathematically impossible. If you cut it by more than a 100 percent, people would get paid to get their medications, which, of course, is not happening.
He said the price of eggs has fallen, which is true. But then he said, Everything else is falling rapidly.
Everything else is not falling rapidly. In fact, even on groceries in particular, far more products have increased in price this term than have decreased.
He said again, he secured $18 trillion in investment this year. That number is total fiction. Even the White House website uses a figure of $9.6 trillion. And my detailed review found that that figure was a wild exaggeration, accounting vague promises, vague -- not even promises, and so on.
He spoke of some states hitting $1.99 for gas. The lowest state average today is closer to $2.40. About 100 stations out of about 150,000 stations are below $2, according to the firm, GasBuddy.
He also talked about immigration, made false claims there, saying that an army of 25 million people invaded the country under President Biden. Leaving aside this army rhetoric, the number was not even close to 25 million. It was under 11 million, and that counts millions of people who were rapidly expelled from the country.
[21:35:00]
Crime was nowhere close to record high under President Biden.
He has not settled -- President Trump has not settled eight wars. That list includes various wars, various situations that were not even wars, and some conflicts that have not actually been resolved.
I could go on. I don't have time. So, visit CNN.com, and we'll have a full list later.
COLLINS: Daniel Dale, we are grateful for what you did have time for. Thank you very much for that.
Of course, we're going to continue analyzing the President's speech, because as he addressed the nation tonight, we're seeing new cracks inside his own party. The question is, how wide those could grow. I've got sources on Capitol Hill who are going to join me live, right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[21:40:00]
COLLINS: Welcome back to a special edition of THE SOURCE where, moments ago, you just heard from President Trump, as he addressed the nation, in prime time, placing the blame when it comes to the health care battle, that is playing out here in Washington, squarely on the shoulders of Democrats.
But his own party is splitting apart over that very issue on Capitol Hill, after the House Speaker, Mike Johnson, says he won't move on any votes to expend -- to extend those expiring Obamacare subsidies, happening in just a few weeks from now, that cover some 22 million Americans. Of course, Mike Johnson will then be forced to, after a handful of moderate Republicans defected today, and joined Democrats to force a vote.
My source tonight on Capitol Hill, is CNN's Manu Raju.
And so Manu, just to explain people how this is going to play out. They might be familiar with it because of the Jeffrey Epstein files discharge petition that just happened. The question is, whether we're going to see any action on that now or not until January, and if the President's speech helps those Republicans on Capitol Hill at all?
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the speech was very focused on messaging, and perhaps a message that a lot of Republicans will echo on the campaign trail in the midterm election season. But it was not a policy speech. And it is that policy that is badly dividing Republicans, particularly when it comes to the issue of health care. This is a party that has been divided over this issue for so many years.
And as so many Americans are seeing their premiums increase and many more, millions of more, set to see those enhanced Obamacare subsidies expire at the end of the year, there is growing angst within the ranks, particularly among swing district Republicans, people who are up for reelection in difficult reelection races.
The four Republicans who joined with Democrats today to circumvent the opposition of Speaker Mike Johnson, and force a bill on the floor of the United States House, to extend those subsidies for three years, joining all Democrats in doing so.
And this is the third time in the last several weeks that the rank and file has taken power away from the Speaker, to force a vote on the floor of the United States House, something that simply has not been done in the past.
And I asked the Speaker about the defiance within the ranks and whether he has lost control of this chamber.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: Have you lost control of the House?
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): I have not lost control of the House. There are--
RAJU: Because this is the third time.
JOHNSON: There are -- look, we have the smallest majority in U.S. history, OK? These are not normal times.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: And tonight, Kaitlan, the Speaker told me that he does plan to have a vote on this bill, he's being forced to have a vote on this bill, but not until January, because the House is set to recess at the end of this week. In fact, they're scrapping votes on Friday, leaving town tomorrow, the Senate also leaving town tomorrow, meaning this issue will be back in their laps, come January, with no clear end in sight.
Kaitlan.
COLLINS: He's definitely right. These are not normal times.
RAJU: Yes.
COLLINS: Manu Raju, thank you for that, on Capitol Hill.
My next source tonight joining us here at the table is Republican congressman, Kevin Kiley of California.
Congressman, first off, I want to ask about what's going on up in your neck of the woods. But what did you make of the President's speech tonight? Did he mark -- did he hit the right tone on affordability?
REP. KEVIN KILEY (R-CA): Well, he certainly hit the key issues when it comes to affordability, housing, energy taxes, and a whole host of groceries and a whole host of other areas.
I think that we can do a better job of really empathizing, though, with what people are going through right now. And so, on this health care issue, for example, people are about to see a massive increase in premiums. And we can have all the policy discussions we want. We can try to blame Obamacare. We can try to say we passed some other bill today that would, in theory, reduce premiums. But that doesn't change the fact that people are going to be experiencing these real hardships in a major way in just a few weeks.
COLLINS: But when the President says, We're bringing prices down, and we're doing so fast. Do you think that's how your constituents see it?
KILEY: I think people feel like things are way less affordable than they should be, and that's way too hard to get by than it should be right now in many parts of the country. And I do have to say, my constituents are in California, where we are the most unaffordable state in the entire country. We have the highest price of gas, of electricity, of water bills, of housing, taxes, you name it, and we have the highest real poverty rate as well. So, that does inform my perspective. I think that the way that we have over- regulated all of these sectors in California does hold some lessons for how we can reduce the cost of living for folks all across the country.
COLLINS: So, is the message from the President tonight one that Republicans can run on, in your view? It sounds like no.
KILEY: Well, I think that the fundamental message that the President was trying to get at tonight, and that all of us in Congress need to be focused on, is that the American people are concerned about the cost of living.
And so, we can quibble with how much of this was Biden's fault, how much of it has not been addressed adequately by the current administration, whether the numbers he cite are really being experienced by people on a day-to-day basis. But the reality is, I think we can all agree that it is far too hard to get by, for far too many families, in this country, right now. And so, we need to be focused, like a laser, on trying to reduce the cost of living.
COLLINS: Well, and on health care, specifically, you voted yes on that bill today. You said it's good policy. But you basically said it has no chance of becoming law. It'll pass the House--
KILEY: Yes.
COLLINS: --but it's not going anywhere after that. Why did you vote yes on it then?
[21:45:00]
KILEY: Well, it was good policy. So, I'll vote for what's in front of me, but not what's not in front of me. But it was a fundamental failure to actually bring to the floor a bill that would address the expiration of these subsidies, which is going to cause 22 million people to have a massive increase in costs.
COLLINS: Well, they're going to have to vote now on this discharge petition, which just to basically put it in regular terms, if it passes, would extend the subsidies for three years. If that comes to a vote, when it comes to a vote in January, will you vote yes on that?
KILEY: I would think about it. The problem with that -- and I want to be clear, I signed two discharge petitions on this issue, and I've proposed my own bill that has bipartisan cosponsors to extend the ACA subsidies.
And I have been extremely critical of Speaker Johnson for not bringing any of these compromise measures to the floor.
But Leader Jeffries hasn't supported any of the compromises, either. He told his own members not to sign on to those. Instead, to go with this other three-year proposal without reforms that we know isn't going to become law. How do we know that? The Senate already rejected it.
So, that's the problem we have right now, is we have the leaders, on both sides, who are trying to blame the other side for the problem rather than trying to solve the problem.
COLLINS: Yes, but one of the leaders can bring a vote to the floor. One cannot. Obviously, as you know.
And when it comes to what Mike Johnson said to Manu Raju tonight. If the House Speaker has to say, I haven't lost control of the House? Do you think he's lost control of the House?
KILEY: I think that a lot of our members have sensed that we haven't had the leadership that we would like, in terms of being involved in the key policy areas.
And by the way, Leader Jeffries could get a bill to the floor, if he actually endorsed one of these compromise measures, just like that other bill that the Senate has already rejected is going to come to the floor, because that's the one that he endorsed.
KING: You just mentioned, you can't get anyone to support the compromises, right? That the Republicans won't support what the Democrats will do. The Democrats won't support what Republicans do.
Sometimes, in American history, when you have an issue that's so important to millions of people, including more than 40,000 people in your district, get their health care through the exchange? A guy called the President of the United States might call everybody to the White House and say: This is a national emergency. This is a big deal. I disagree with Obamacare. I said I was going to repeal and replace it. But this is where we are today. I don't have the votes to repeal and replace it. Let's try something.
Where's that?
KILEY: Yes. Sure that would--
KING: Did you get -- did you get that tonight?
KILEY: I don't think he addressed the expiration of the subsidy issue, specifically, I mean. And a lot of what you hear from--
KING: But this -- is a point where he's like, I'm the President. Since you guys can't figure this out, come down here, and I'm going to bang some heads until we do?
KILEY: Sure, that's an approach he could have taken. He decided to, kind of talk about the ACA and the effect that's had on costs, which is maybe true as far as it goes. But it's of no help to the people who are about to experience a huge increase in premiums.
But to your point, I really think that it is -- the onus is on the Legislature, on the House, on Congress, to come up to a solution -- with a solution. There's a lot of the critique that we get right now is that the House is not being proactive enough. So, this really was an opportunity for us to take the lead.
And there is a large bipartisan group of members who have been trying to get one of these compromises through. Unfortunately, you just haven't had the leadership from the Speaker, and I would have to say, from the Minority Leader, to make that happen.
KING: In 2010 and 2012, Republicans used this issue, Obamacare, and made huge gains. In every election since then, Democrats have used it.
You have to be sitting there, thinking, we have the smallest majority, the Speaker is right, in history. You don't even know what district you're going to run, because of Prop. 50. They redrew the lines in your state.
If Republicans don't figure this out, and health care affordability remains on that list of other affordability issues, and it remains pretty high because of the cost of that? Aren't you going to get pummeled and lose the majority? Isn't that the incentive to try to figure something out in the short-term, or else you're going to get killed?
KILEY: Well, I would say the incentive is to stop our constituents from actually having to suffer. So that should be apart from the politics of this.
KING: Amen.
KILEY: We're talking about 22 million people, right? I think that they'll hold all of us accountable. Congress right now has a 15 percent approval rating. If we do not do something here, and people are forced to pay double, thousands of dollars more, people lose their health insurance? That might go down to single digits, and so.
And one final point. On the idea of this being the smallest majority in history, I agree, the Speaker has a very tough job. But that's only really a problem if you insist on doing everything in a strictly partisan way. If we actually have policy that's bipartisan from the beginning? Then maybe we could actually do some positive things to the American people.
COLLINS: You were criticized of him keeping the House out of session during the shutdown.
KILEY: Yes.
COLLINS: He's sending you all home a day early this week. Are you cool with that?
KILEY: I'm not too happy about that. I mean, I've been saying like, even when it looks like this vote isn't going to happen, we still have two more days, I even tried to bring an amendment to rules last night that would have gotten the subsidies extended. So just throwing away one of those days, I'm not happy with it. And I certainly wasn't happy with the six weeks that he canceled before
COLLINS: Congressman Kevin Kiley. A lot of time at home for y'all, these days. Thank you for joining us here on set tonight.
KILEY: You bet. Thanks for having me.
COLLINS: Up next. We're going to speak to a Democrat. How are they responding to what the President said in prime time tonight, where he blamed President Biden in the first sentence for those high prices and for health care issues when it comes to Democrats overall.
A top House Democrat will join me, right after this.
[21:50:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Just about a few moments ago, the President delivered his address to the nation, touting his own economic policies, despite widespread frustration that we've still seen among voters when it comes to the cost of living here in the United States.
Joining me now is Democratic congressman, Jamie Raskin, who is the Ranking Member on the House Judiciary Committee.
And thank you, sir, for being here.
What did you make of the speech that you heard out of the White House tonight?
[21:55:00]
REP. JAMIE RASKIN (D-MD): Well, first of all, it seemed as much a manic episode as a speech. I could not believe the delivery. But on the substance, it was like opposite day in third grade. It was just the exact inverse of the truth about everything.
I was thinking back to October, 19th, 2024, right before the election, and The Economist magazine had a cover story on the U.S. economy, and it said the Envy of the World. And it was talking about how the U.S., which had just surpassed all the other developed countries in every measure, whether it was inflation, or unemployment, or investment, infrastructure. And indeed, was the envy of the world, and Donald Trump has turned it into ruins.
And this manic, scrambling episode of firing a bunch of phony statistics at people is a reflection of the fact that the country understands that completely, and they understand the President has made a hash out of everything with his terrible, unconstitutional tariffs. Then he tries to compensate for the tariffs' ruinous effects on rural America by throwing money at farmers, and now he's trying to throw money at soldiers. But that's not how you build a strong economy.
And I mean, take his comments on immigration. Again, the exact opposite of the truth. I mean, if he and Stephen Miller really had their way, and they not only staged all of these conflicts all over the country and raided people's communities, but say they really got rid of 12 million undocumented people in the country? We would see a collapse of a whole bunch of sectors, including the farm sector, including seafood, including construction, including landscaping. And there are already serious labor shortages that have broken out all around the country.
COLLINS: Yes.
RASKIN: And yet, he always goes back to the well of stereotyping and demonizing people, instead of saying, Let's get together and pass an actual comprehensive immigration reform bill.
COLLINS: Well, can I--
RASKIN: And that's the last thing, I guess I'll say, Kaitlan, there were no plans, there were no programs, there were no policy proposals. There's nothing out there. It was -- it was just a bunch of meaningless rhetoric.
COLLINS: On that front. I think, obviously Democrats are critical of this.
There's a new poll today saying that Democrats in Congress, there's only an 18 percent approval for y'all from voters.
So, if the President doesn't have a plan, in your view, what is Democrats' plan?
RASKIN: We've got lots of plans. And in fact, we're pulling Republicans -- over four Republicans joined us today on the discharge petition, so we can continue the Affordable Care Act tax credits, to get people health insurance in the country.
It was amazing to me, to see Donald Trump attacking the insurance companies. The whole reason we've got the Affordable Care Act is because the Republicans insisted that the insurance companies be part of it.
If you want to oust the insurance companies, let's move to a Medicare for All plan. Let's move to health care for everybody.
But if you don't want to move to a single-payer public plan, where all American citizens are in, and you don't like the Affordable Care Act, and you don't like preexisting condition coverage, and you don't like everything we've been able to build over the last several years? You're just saying, Go back to whatever happens, happens, total free market approach, which does not work for health care.
And in fact, that is what they stand for, because they've had more than a decade when they've said, We'll get you our new plan in two weeks. And they've never come up with anything.
So, we're moving forward, Kaitlan. I mean, we're offering concrete, practical suggestions every single day, and we are making it happen. And they're just scrambling to catch up. But as you just saw, it's utterly incoherent.
COLLINS: One thing we saw at the White House today that I have to ask you about. There's this Presidential Walk of Fame, as you've seen, I'm sure, all the portraits of presidents. The one of President Biden is an autopen that the President has put up.
They now have plaques underneath them. Some of the -- I was looking at them today, some of them kind of read like a Truth Social post. The one under Biden's calls him Sleepy Joe, says he was the worst president in history. Barack Obama's calls him one of the most divisive figures in American politics.
What do you make of, of what we saw, of these plaques, and the fact that they put them up, and apparently the President himself dictated some of them.
RASKIN: I mean, it's just, it's a level of immaturity and petulance and confusion that has probably never been seen in the White House before.
But the revealing part of it is that he spends his time on this stuff, just like he spends his time bulldozing the East Wing of the White House, and then working on plans for building his Marie Antoinette ballroom, and collecting contributions from large corporations which have important business interests before his administration. He's spending his time on nonsense and corruption, and just promoting his own self-enrichment. That's all that's going on.
[22:00:00]
And as we saw in this speech tonight, they literally have no plans, they have no legislation, for the country. We have been waiting for their health care plan forever. There is nothing there.
So, what was their big legislation this week, before we're about to leave for the Christmas vacation? Their big legislation is Marjorie Taylor Greene wants to put doctors, and nurses, and medical providers, and parents, in prison, if they engage in gender-affirming care for their kids.
COLLINS: Congressman Jamie Raskin, thank you for joining us tonight.
And thank you all so much for joining us for this special edition of THE SOURCE.
"CNN NEWSNIGHT" starts now.
