The United States is booming, inflation has been halted, and wages are rising: in his televised address on Wednesday, Donald Trump went to great lengths to highlight the numerous victories of his first eleven months in the White House. Even if it meant bending the truth a little…

To convince Americans that the economy is doing well, when nearly two-thirds believe the opposite, Donald Trump delivered an aggressive speech Wednesday evening during prime time. Combative tone, aggressive remarks, concise length (18 minutes)... The delivery proved commensurate with the political stakes: the midterm elections could overturn the Republican majority in Congress in less than a year.

But instead of tackling the purchasing power crisis experienced by his fellow citizens head-on, and showing understanding for what they feel every day at the supermarket, the American president has returned to his favorite pastime: accusing his Democratic opponents, Joe Biden chief among them. To excess.

"I inherited a disaster."

“I inherited a disaster that I am now trying to fix,” he attacked, displaying a consummate art of falsehood. “When I arrived, inflation was at a level not seen in 48 years,” he asserted, conveniently forgetting that January’s 3% inflation was nothing compared to the peaks of the 1980s. And that inflation hasn’t fallen since.

He made a series of misleading claims to his own glory: "We are raising wages at an unprecedented rate," the head of state claimed... while since his arrival at the White House, the hourly wage has slowed its growth and November saw the highest unemployment rate in four years.

A drop of "600%"

The Trump administration is also reportedly on track to "solve" the problem of food prices, which nevertheless rose by 3% in September. And it is also said to soon "significantly reduce" the cost of electricity – which has been skyrocketing year after year.

Other claims, such as the price of medicines falling by up to "600%", are mathematically impossible; come out of nowhere ("I have solved eight wars in the world"); or are impossible to verify ("Zero illegal aliens have entered the USA" since he has been in power).