'Inherited a mess, fixing it': Donald Trump hits out at Biden — top quotes from White House speech

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday (local time) addressed the nation, outlining what he described as major achievements on foreign policy, the economy, border security and domestic governance during his presidency. The 47th POTUS began his address by lashing out at his predecessor, Joe Biden for what he called the "worst" border crisis in US history.

"We inherited the worst border anywhere in the world, and we quickly turned it into the strongest border in the history of our country,” he said.

"Eleven months ago, I inherited a mess, and I'm fixing it," Trump said.

In his address, Trump claimed credit for resolving multiple international conflicts and reshaping US global standing. “I restored American strength, settled 8 wars in 10 months, destroyed the Iran nuclear threat and ended the war in Gaza - bringing for the first time in 3000 years peace to the Middle East and secured the release of the hostages, both living and the dead,” he said.



The US president also highlighted economic gains, attributing investment inflows to his trade policies. “Already I have secured a record-breaking 18 trillion dollars of investment into the United States, which means jobs, wage increases, growth, factory openings and far greater national security. Much of this success has been accomplished by tariffs; my favourite word - tariffs, which for many decades have been used successfully by other countries against us. But not anymore,” Trump said.

He added that companies were increasingly shifting manufacturing back to the US. “Companies know that if they build in America, there are no tariffs. That's why they are coming home to the USA in record numbers. They are building factories and plants at levels we haven't seen,” he said.

Trump also spoke about narcotics control and cultural issues, claiming sharp reductions in drug inflows. “Drugs brought in by Ocean and Sea are down 94%. We have broken the grip of sinister woke radicals in our schools,” he said, reiterating, “I've restored American Strength, settled 8 wars in 10 months, destroyed the Iran Nuclear Threat, and ended the war in Gaza—bringing, for the first time in 3,000 years, Peace to the Middle East.”

On immigration, Trump said his administration had transformed border security. “We inherited the worst border anywhere in the world, and we quickly turned it into the strongest border in the history of our country. In other words, in a few short months, we went from worst to best,” he said.

The president concluded by contrasting his leadership with that of previous administrations. “For the last four years, the United States was ruled by politicians who fought only for the insiders, illegal aliens, career criminals, corporate lobbyists, prisoners, terrorists, and above all, foreign nations, which took advantage of us at levels never seen before,” Trump said. “But now, you have a president who fights for the law-abiding, hardworking people of our country—the ones who make this nation run.”