Trump touts 'Warrior Dividend,' record in address to nation

​​​​​​​By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - US President Donald Trump struck a triumphal tone Wednesday as he addressed the nation, touting his record and announcing a new payment for military families.

Though not officially billed as a year-end speech, Trump's televised address served as a nearly 20-minute review of the first year of his second term, running through a wide swathe of topics, claiming success and promised future "progress" for Americans as he repeatedly tore into his predecessor, Joe Biden.

"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," Trump said in remarks broadcast from the White House.

Trump repeatedly criticized Biden, in particular, blaming him for what he called an immigrant "invasion."

"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 Biden 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% of growth in the rental market came from foreign migrants," he said.

During his speech, the US president announced what he is calling a "Warrior Fividend" payment for US service member families of $1,776 -- a reference to the year of the country’s founding -- which he said will be paid from tariff revenues.

"The checks are already on the way," he said.