Jonathan Bernstein: “Donald Trump may have finally killed off the presidential prime time address with his lecture at the American people Wednesday night.”

“For better or worse, it’s a ritual that no longer makes much sense. It worked during the era (roughly from Dwight Eisenhower through Ronald Reagan) when most voters were watching television at night and tuned in to one of the big three networks. Once that eroded, it became essentially impossible to assemble huge audiences – or to signal, via the TV networks breaking into the regular programming that everyone (almost) was watching, that the president’s words were important.”

The final Emerson national survey of 2025 finds President Trump with a 41% job approval rating and 50% job disapproval.

The president’s approval and disapproval numbers have flipped since his inaugural survey, from 41% disapproving to 41% approving, and 49% approving to 50% disapproving.

New York Times: “Mr. Trump, always more comfortable with what he calls his ‘weave’ of free association rather than reading from a teleprompter, raced through his talk as if he was late to an important dinner. There were no digressions, unlike his speech in Pennsylvania a week ago when he repeatedly veered from the topic. At times he seemed to be yelling — almost as if he didn’t believe he had to take the time to convince his audience of how well his first 11 months had gone.”

Washington Post: “Trump crammed his usual 90-minute rally routine into 18 minutes of prime-time broadcast television on Wednesday, perplexing ‘Survivor’ finale viewers and his own allies alike.”

“He spoke more than 2,600 words in that time, markedly faster than his usual plodding pace at the teleprompter. His purpose was to ease concerns about the economy and to persuade Americans that he gets it. Afterward, even his own allies puzzled over whether the president did more harm than good with his rushed delivery and harsh tone.”

“When President Trump ran for re-election in 2024, he and his family already had vast business interests stretching from Manhattan office towers to a golf course in Ireland to hotel deals as far away as Vietnam,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The president’s second term has brought a major expansion of that empire, with forays into cryptocurrency, communications and financial products. Ventures launched since Trump’s re-election generated at least $4 billion in proceeds and paper wealth for the family as of December, according to company statements and securities filings.”

“It’s unprecedented for a president to have such far-reaching business interests while in office, including in areas his administration regulates.”

President Trump will address the nation at 9 p.m. ET from the White House.

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