Quiet, Piggy…

A deep dive examination of Trump’s panicked December 17th televised speech

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The Setup

On December 16, 2025, Donald Trump posted the following message to his Truth Social account:

“My Fellow Americans: I will be giving an ADDRESS TO THE NATION tomorrow night (Dec. 17), LIVE FROM THE WHITE HOUSE, at 9 P.M. EST. I look forward to ‘seeing’ you then. It has been a great year for our Country and THE BEST IS YET TO COME!”

Historically, when a president wanted to or felt a need to address the nation, it was typically for the purposes of making a major announcement, perhaps a shift in foreign policy or perhaps an action against a known adversary (think Obama’s announcement of the killing of Osama bin Laden…). Some presidents have even used time requested of the television networks to give messages of hope in times of great stress.

But not Donald John Trump. Nope. That’s simply not his style, now, is it?

Firstly, no formal request was made of the networks for the time…it was more of a demand. The tone of Trump’s Truth Social post, wrapped in an expectation of action as it was, seemed to carry a threat. The major networks agreed to air the speech, choosing to preempt the season finales of Survivor and The Floor, slotting him in at 9pm ET. Every major news outlet and commentator threw out their theories as to the subject matter, hypothesizing that perhaps the country was going to war with Venezuela, perhaps an even more aggressive mobilization of ICE.

Nope.

For 18 minutes, the current president spewed forth the most pathetic, obvious, and cringe-inducing series of statements chastising the American people for not giving him the credit he felt he is due. The rapid-fire delivery was indicative of someone desperately trying to convince others that he has achieved heights of accomplishment that he simply has not…and pushed forward lie after lie in the attempt. Let’s examine just a few of his “statements,” shall we?

Claim #1: Wages vs. Inflation

"Wages are going up much faster than inflation.”

“Much” is debatable. In January 2025, average wages were increasing at a rate of 4.1%, but that pace fell to 3.5% after the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the jobs report for October and November…with inflation currently at or around 2.7%, rising every month since April. What was the inflation rate in January 2025 when Trump took office? Approximately 3.0%.

Claim #2: Gas Prices

“Gasoline is now under $2.50 a gallon, and in much of the country, in some states, it by the way just hit $1.99 a gallon.”

Um, no. The week of December 15^th, 2025, the national average price for a gallon of gas was $2.90, with the lowest average appearing in Oklahoma ($2.34). In California, the average price of gas statewide was $4.16 per gallon.

Claim #3: Drug Prices Cut by 600%

“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%. In other words, your drug costs will be plummeting downward.”

Statistically impossible. From the most basic perspective, when one lowers the cost of something by 100%, they make whatever it is they are selling…free. To claim you are lowering the cost of medication by 400%, 500%, “and even 600%,” means that those who manufacture said medications will not only be providing their products free of charge, but will also be paying patients to take their medications…and that’s simply not going to happen.

Claim #4: Ending Wars and Bringing “Peace to the Middle East”

“I've restored American strength, settled 8 wars in 10 months, destroyed the Iran nuclear threat, and ended the war in Gaza, bringing for the first time in 3000 years peace to the Middle East and secured the release of the hostages, both living and dead.”

One “war” was between Egypt and Ethiopia…which wasn’t actually a war, but rather a long-running dispute about a major Ethiopian dam project on a tributary of the Nile River. Another conflict he claims to have ended was between Serbia and Kosovo, which didn’t occur during either of his terms. Then we have the war between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, which has actually continued despite an alleged peace agreement brokered by his administration…but never signed by the leading rebel coalition doing the fighting. Oh, there is also battles waged between Thailand and Cambodia where fighting erupted again even after the administration had presented a peace agreement earlier in the year.

Let’s not even get started on what is happening in Gaza between Hamas and Israel, where Israel continues its brutal genocide of an entire people and Trump is actively involved with trying to lock in a deal to develop the area into a new high-end territory that will undoubtedly displace thousands of Palestinians.

And then there’s that whole Venezuelan situation…

Claim #5: Immigration and “Decimated Savings”

“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.”

This entire statement is false, misleading, or dripping with nothing more than partisan political opinion. That first sentence alone is nothing but a rhetorical device and completely unverifiable…so let’s just throw that one out right off the bat.

While it can be shown that the numbers related to undocumented immigrants entering the U.S. was high during the Biden administration, “flooded” is quite subjective. The result of many of the encounters involving undocumented immigrants resulted in expulsion or removal, debunking the claim that the number of unauthorized immigrants “flooding” across the border has exploded. Additionally, the claim that foreign nations are emptying their prisons and mental institutions and sending them to the U.S. is patently false. There just isn’t any evidence of this occurring. Statistically, immigrants – including undocumented immigrants – are less likely to commit crimes than actual U.S. citizens.

The administration is on the record as stating, “We are going to go after the worst of the worst.” Hardly. Since late 2024 through late 2025, 73% of the individuals arrested by ICE had no criminal convictions. Only 5% to 8% of those taken into custody had any sort of conviction at all, with the majority of those being vice, immigration…or traffic violations.

Even before Trump took office in January of 2025, the U.S. economy was experiencing growth and a stronger job market. High inflation can and will reduce the spending power of savings, but there is no data to support that undocumented immigrants affected this. Saying that “illegal aliens decimated” citizens’ “hard earned savings” is a broad generalization used for nothing more than political effect.

“18 lies in 18 minutes…”

Almost every major media outlet was glued to Trump’s speech in anticipation of the expected lies, or exaggerations. While reported figures vary, the general consensus was that there were about 18 lies spewed forth during the 18-minute speech.

There was almost a frenzied speculation about what Trump might say during the hastily scheduled speech, and it has been generally characterized as “partisan,” “combative,” and “self-congratulatory,” an angry attempt to tout what he claimed were the “many success” of his first year...and to continue to blame Joe Biden for everything “bad.” If no other conclusion could be made, it is noticeably clear that even after winning the election, Joe Biden lives rent free inside Trump’s head. Somebody needs to come get Grandpa before he hurts himself.

That’ll do, pig…that’ll do.

Author

Sean Thompson

Club Member, Democratic Club of Greater Tracy