President Trump’s address to the nation Wednesday night was a mini-State of the Union address. It was a progress report on the first year of his second term, and he has many accomplishments to celebrate. One of the biggest accomplishments is the border.
 
America suffered through four years of record-breaking illegal immigration under Joe Biden’s open border policy. Millions of illegal aliens walked across our open borders year after year after year. Not all of them were coming here for a better life.
 
Some were terrorists. Many were drug dealers and members of vicious gangs. Others were violent criminals. President Trump is getting them off our streets, out of our communities, and out of our country!
 
Joe Biden claimed he was powerless without new laws from Congress. That was a lie, and everyone knew it. Donald Trump secured the border and stopped illegal immigration in just a few months. We didn’t need new laws—just a new president with the will to enforce the law.
 
Thanks to his commitment to secure borders and the rule of law, 2.5 million illegal aliens have left the country since Trump took office. The vast majority of them self-deported because they knew Donald Trump is a serious president.
 
In his remarks Wednesday night, President Trump also addressed the “affordability crisis.”
 
Trump reminded the American people that he inherited a huge mess when he took office. Inflation was the worst it had been in fifty years. Joe Biden and the Democrats did that! And just like illegal immigration, it took a new president to turn things around. (See next item.) 

• Under Trump, the price of a Thanksgiving turkey was down 33%. Egg prices are down 82%. Gas prices are down 43%. 

• More Americans are working today than at any time in our history. Since Trump took office, 687,000 private sector jobs have been created—the vast majority of those jobs are going to American citizens, not illegal aliens. 

• And because millions of illegal aliens have left the country, rent prices are falling. 

• Since Trump took office, 271,000 government jobs have been eliminated. Those jobs are a burden on the economy and taxpayers. 

• Under Biden, real wages fell by three thousand dollars. Under Trump, wages are up at least $1,300 and even more in some industries. 

Thanks to this economic growth and booming tariff revenues, the president is giving our active-duty military personnel a special Christmas bonus. They will each receive a “Warrior Dividend” of $1,776 in honor of America’s founding in 1776, 250 years ago.
 
 
 
Trump Tames Inflation
 
Yesterday’s report on inflation for the month of November was a pleasant surprise. The consumer price index (CPI) for November was 0.2% for an annualized rate of 2.7% for the last 12 months, down from 3% in September. Most so-called “experts” had predicted November’s inflation rate would rise to an annualized 3.1%.
 
Yesterday’s report goes a long way toward removing the excuse the Federal Reserve is using to resist additional interest rate cuts. This is great economic news, but it is very unlikely the media will present it that way.
 
 
 
Reckless In Rhode Island
 
The daily press conferences from officials in Providence, Rhode Island, are total disasters. Calling them a menagerie would be an insult to animals!
 
Can someone explain to me why the police chief suddenly breaks out into Spanish in the middle of an answer? Is there something I’m missing? The responses from all of these clowns are so stupid it seems like they must be dividing them all up so everyone gets their fair share of idiotic remarks.
 
They are essentially telling residents, “We have no one in custody. We have no idea who the murderer is. We have no idea where the murderer is. But we want to assure the public that there is absolutely no danger.”
 
That’s insane! How could anyone with half a brain possibly say that? Well, Mayor Smiley said, “Since the initial call came in at 4:05 p.m. on Saturday, we have not received a single credible specific threat.”
 
Oh, okay. Maybe that works in Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, but tell me, Mayor Smiley, did you receive a credible specific threat before the students were murdered?
 
Wednesday’s press conference was abruptly ended when a reporter from a Hispanic publication in Providence asked about claims that Brown University may have turned its camera off or won’t supply certain information because they don’t want to give federal immigration police any evidence to detain and deport people. Why wouldn’t they answer that question?
 
Now we’re learning that Brown University Police Chief Rodney Chatman may not be up to the job. He lost his last public safety job at the University of Utah for failing to have the proper certifications for the position. He was also investigated for impersonating a police officer.
 
Since accepting the position at Brown University, he has faced multiple no-confidence votes from the university’s police unions. That might have something to do with his anti-police views. When accepting his current position at Brown, Chatman said, “Communities don’t want policing done to them.”
 
 
 
Transtifa Update
 
Some reporters at the Washington Post apparently decided it was time to do some real journalism. They did extensive interviews with 21 people who knew Charlie Kirk’s assassin, Tyler Robinson.
 
Their reporting confirms what we already knew about Robinson—that he became ideologically radicalized after he started a romantic relationship with a male roommate who claimed to be transgender and was part of the “furry” subculture.
 
While it took them three months to find the truth, I am pleasantly surprised to see that the Post was willing to print it. Consider these excerpts:
 
“The roommate viewed Trump’s election as a loss for trans rights and was distraught, according to the person. More than once, the person said, he saw Robinson cradling his sobbing roommate in his arms…
 
"The person who spent a significant amount of time at the apartment in that period said that after Robinson started dating his roommate, Robinson began criticizing conservatives for fearmongering on trans issues. Robinson also complained about right-wing figures in the news, including Trump…”
 
In related news, real journalist Andy Ngo reports that at least two of the far-left extremists arrested for plotting terrorist attacks in Los Angeles on New Year’s Eve are transgender.
 
 
 
Red Alert!
 
A poll was released this week showing that socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez would beat J.D. Vance 51% to 49% in a hypothetical presidential matchup. It’s only one poll, and, in some ways, it means nothing this far out. But it would be a mistake to dismiss it.
 
One thing that will blow your mind is that AOC wins college-educated voters by 12 points over Vance. That speaks volumes about the state of “higher ed” these days.
 
Here’s another statistic that might shock you: 8% of Trump voters said they would vote for AOC, and I think that may be the most accurate part of the poll.
 
Too many people are stuck in the old Left/Right paradigm. But it doesn’t capture the populism that is sweeping America, Europe, and Latin America and is the preeminent political development of modern times.
 
That’s why I keep saying, as much as I loved Ronald Reagan, Ronald Reagan wouldn’t sell today. If he did, it would only be because he had a populist streak in him and also used tariffs.
 
Going forward, it’s either going to be left-wing populism or right-wing populism that prevails. It’s not going to be traditional liberalism or traditional conservatism. It turns out that conservative populism gives traditional conservatives virtually everything they want.