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Thursday, Jul. 16, 2026

 

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The biggest problems ahead of Trump’s prime-time address tonight

By Hayes Brown

The biggest problems ahead of Trump’s prime-time address tonight

By Hayes Brown

President Donald Trump is planning to give a prime-time address tonight — but the White House is being coy about what exactly he’ll be addressing. A senior adviser told Axios on Monday that the speech “will be a potpourri” of whatever Trump feels the nation most needs to hear from him. If that’s the case, the only thing then differentiating this speech from any other time Trump is in front of cameras would be the timing.

Based on the reporting as of Wednesday night, we do have some indications about what Trump will touch upon in his remarks. He’s expected to talk, yet again, about the 2020 election and why he didn’t really lose. He might touch on the renewed fight with Iran which, according to his administration, should be considered an all-new conflict, not the same one that was launched in February, so he can once again restart the 60-day clock to use military action without congressional approval.

But nothing has changed on either of those fronts, at least not enough to warrant a major speech, despite Trump’s best efforts to claim otherwise. And prime-time addresses haven’t exactly been a format in which Trump excels.

 

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