The remarks came as the nation is preparing to settle down to celebrate the holidays, yet Trump was focused more on divisions within the country than a sense of unity. His speech was a rehash of his recent messaging that has so far been unable to calm public anxiety about the cost of groceries, housing, utilities and other basic goods.

Trump has promised an economic boom, yet inflation has stayed elevated and the job market has weakened sharply in the wake of his import taxes. Trump suggested that his tariffs — which are partly responsible for boosting consumer prices — would fund a new “warrior dividend” for 1.45 million military members, a payment that could ease some of the financial strains for many households. The amount of $1,776 was a reference to next year’s 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

“The checks are already on the way,” he said of the expenditure, which would total roughly $2.6 billion.

Presidential addresses to the nation carried on network television are traditionally less partisan than rally speeches, but Trump gave a condensed version of his usual political remarks.

Flanked by two Christmas trees with a portrait of George Washington behind him in the White House’s Diplomatic Reception Room, Trump sought to pin any worries about the economy on his predecessor, Joe Biden.

“Eleven months ago, I inherited a mess, and I’m fixing it,” Trump said. “We’re poised for an economic boom, the likes of which the world has never seen.”

Trump seeking to stop the slump in his approval ratings

His holiday wishes came at a crucial time as he tries to rebuild his steadily eroding popularity. Public polling shows most U.S. adults are frustrated with his handling of the economy as inflation picked up after his tariffs raised prices and hiring slowed.

In 2026, Trump and his party face a referendum on their leadership as the nation heads into the midterm elections that will decide control of the House and the Senate.

The White House remarks were a chance for Trump to try to regain some momentum after Republican losses in this year’s elections raised questions about the durability of his coalition. He openly leaned into the politics despite television networks’ past reluctance to broadcast presidential addresses loaded with campaign-style rhetoric.

For example, in September 2022, networks declined to give the Biden White House a prime-time slot for a speech the then-president gave about democracy because it was viewed as too political.

Trump spoke at a rapid-fire clip with a tone that bordered at times on anger. He responded to the public frustration this year over the economy by making even bolder promises on growth next year, saying that mortgage rates would be coming down and that he “would announce some of the most aggressive housing reform plans in American history.”

Trump brought charts with him to make the case that the economy is on an upward trajectory. He made claims about incomes growing, inflation easing and investment dollars pouring into the country as foreign leaders, he claimed, have assured him that “we’re the hottest country anywhere in the world,” a statement he has frequently repeated at public events.

If the argument seemed familiar, that’s because it has echoes of the case that Biden made about the U.S. economy with little success. He, too, in the face of inflation pointed to the enviable rate of U.S. economic growth compared to other nations.

The public sees the economy differently from Trump

The hard math internalized by the public paints a more complicated picture of an economy that has some stability but few reasons to inspire much public confidence.

The stock market is up, gasoline prices are down and tech companies are placing large bets on the development of artificial intelligence.

But inflation that had been descending after spiking to a four-decade high in 2022 under Biden has reaccelerated after Trump announced his tariffs in April.

The consumer price index is increasing at an annual rate of 3%, up from 2.3% in April.

The affordability squeeze is also coming from a softening job market. Monthly job gains have averaged a paltry 17,000 since April’s “Liberation Day,” when Trump announced import taxes that he later suspended and then readjusted several months later.

The unemployment rate has climbed from 4% in January to 4.6%.

Trump said that investment commitments for new factories will boost manufacturing jobs and that consumer activity will improve dramatically as people receive increased tax refunds next year.

While emphasizing the economy, he also faces challenges on other policy fronts.

Trump’s mass deportations of immigrants have proved unpopular even as he is viewed favorably for halting crossings along the U.S. border with Mexico. The public has generally been unmoved by his globe-trotting efforts to end conflicts and his attacks on suspected drug boats near Venezuela.

Trump sought to blame Democrats for the likely increase in health insurance premiums as the subsidies tied to the 2010 Affordable Care Act are expiring. Democratic lawmakers and some Republicans have sought to address that issue, but Trump has pushed back and suggested instead that payments should go directly to the buyers of health insurance instead of the companies. The president has yet to commit to a specific legislative fix.

After his speech ended and the video was no longer being broadcast, Trump turned to his gathered aides and asked them how his address to the nation went. The aides assured him it was great.

Trump then indicated that White House chief of staff Susie Wiles had told him he needed to address the nation. After some back and forth, he asked Wiles how he had done.

“I told you 20 minutes and you were 20 minutes on the dot,” Wiles said.

O’Neill is a Colorado native and Exxon Mobil veteran who grew Australia’s Woodside into a much bigger global natural gas player with expansions into the U.S. She is taking over the British energy behemoth at a time when it has fallen behind the other global oil and gas supermajors and was even a potential takeover target earlier this year by rival Shell.

Current BP CEO Murray Auchincloss is stepping down immediately on Thursday but will serve in an advisory role through all of 2026, BP announced. Auchincloss was hardly considered the top candidate to lead BP, but the former chief financial officer was thrust into the role in late 2023 when then-CEO Bernard Looney was abruptly forced to resign over relationships with colleagues.

Since then, Auchincloss has led a “hard reset” to cut costs, double down on fossil fuels, and take several steps back from its ambitious renewable energy goals. BP was targeted by activist investor Elliott Investment Management, which took a nearly 5% stake in the company early this year, as the Shell merger rumors escalated.

The writing may have been on the wall for Auchincloss when a new outsider chairman took over in the beginning of October, former CRH building materials leader Albert Manifold. And now there will be an outsider chief executive as well. Auchincloss confirmed as much in a statement: “When Albert became chair, I expressed my openness to step down were an appropriate leader identified who could accelerate delivery of BP’s strategy.”

O’Neill will take over as CEO on April 1. In the meantime, Carol Howle, current executive vice president of supply, trading, and shipping, will serve as interim CEO.

“Following a comprehensive succession planning process, the board believes this transition creates an opportunity to accelerate our strategic vision to become a simpler, leaner, and more profitable company,” Manifold said in a statement. “Progress has been made in recent years, but increased rigor and diligence are required to make the necessary transformative changes to maximize value for our shareholders.”

Translation: Auchincloss was making progress but not doing enough to truly turn the company around.

Manifold said O’Neill has a “proven track record of driving transformation, growth, and disciplined capital allocation [that] makes her the right leader for BP. Her relentless focus on business improvement and financial discipline gives us high confidence in her ability to shape this great company for its next phase of growth and pursue significant strategic and financial opportunities.”

O’Neill worked for more than two decades at Exxon Mobil, serving in various countries around the world and as executive advisor to former CEO Rex Tillerson. She left as a vice president in 2018 to become chief operating officer at Woodside, rising to CEO in 2021 coming out of the pandemic.

“With an extraordinary portfolio of assets, BP has significant potential to reestablish market leadership and grow shareholder value,” O’Neill said in a statement. “I look forward to working with the BP leadership team and colleagues worldwide to accelerate performance, advance safety, drive innovation and sustainability, and do our part to meet the world’s energy needs.”

At Woodside, she led the acquisition of Australia’s BHP Petroleum and, most recently, the purchase of Houston-based natural gas exporter Tellurian last year. Woodside is currently building a $17.5 billion export facility in Louisiana.

Earlier this year, when BP-Shell rumors escalated, Shell in June doubled down on its denials, even invoking a U.K. law that forbade it from bidding on BP for six months. That period expires in just a few days.

It turns out that Shell CEO Wael Sawan nixed any internal talks of buying BP, despite interest from Shell’s M&A team, the Financial Times reported this week. Sawan prefers focusing internally on improving Shell’s operations and financials and making smaller-scale acquisitions. Shell’s M&A chief left the company in September.

For its part, Woodside is naming Liz Westcott, executive vice president and COO Australia, as its interim CEO.

Ru, who has served as chief brand officer and been with the company for 20 years, is planning to retire on Jan. 1, according to a statement. He will continue to serve on the board. 

Sweetgreen’s share price has dropped nearly 80% since the start of 2025, while consumers have bristled at perceived high costs of the company’s food. Fast-casual chains have also broadly struggled in recent quarters. Operational stumbles, such as removing fries only months after they were introduced, have contributed to the market losing faith in Sweetgreen’s current management team.

Ru, who started the company alongside current Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Neman and Chief Concept Officer Nicolas Jammet, has overseen the company’s marketing and restaurant design. While Sweetgreen’s concept has been touted as innovative in the restaurant world, that creativity has sometimes hindered efficient operations.

The company has yet to turn a profit since going public in late 2021 and has amassed net losses totaling more than $500 million in the period. Despite this, the chain has continued to aggressively expand, with its store count growing 90% over the past four years.

The growth hasn’t led to better financial performance. Cava Group Inc., which sells Mediterranean-style bowls, has expanded more quickly than Sweetgreen while posting consistent quarterly profits.

Prioritizing branding and restaurant development has led to higher operating costs and hasn’t translated into increased foot traffic. Sales from existing restaurants has contracted three consecutive quarters, including a 9.4% drop most recently, the most since 2021. Analyst expect that trend to continue, and worsen, in the fourth period this year after the company warned weak traffic trends have continued.

In August, Neman said only one-third of locations were “consistently operating at or above standard,” while the remainder fell short on sourcing, cooking and uniformity.

This year, the company sold off its kitchen automation unit to Wonder Group Inc., generating $100 million in cash. That technology was supposed to help get restaurant unit economics under control and speed up service but was sacrificed to help shore up company finances. Sweetgreen will maintain a licensing agreement to use the tool.

In 2014, Ru told the business journal from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania that he and his partners started Sweetgreen with a single location in Washington DC. He said that the landlord initially hung up on him but eventually relented after months of pestering. He said the group came up with five business principles, including “win, win, win” and “keeping it real.”

In 2022, he told Marketing Brew that Sweetgreen seeks “intimacy at scale” as it expands while talking about the company’s collaborations with tennis player Naomi Osaka and NBA player Devin Booker.