A fiery, combative President Trump — addressing Americans from a holiday-decked White House — insisted the economy is stronger than people think and any problems are Democrats' fault, Axios' Marc Caputo and Madison Mills write.

• It's a message that poll after poll says most voters don't believe.

Why it matters: Trump's speech was closer to a Festivus airing of grievances than a Christmas message of hope. He ran through a litany of problems — inflation, wage growth, the border, crime — that he said were entirely the fault of the Biden administration and that he insisted he'd already fixed.

🔎 Zoom in: Focused and delivered without meandering asides, Trump's 18-minute address was essentially the economic speech he was expected to give last week in Pennsylvania, where he went off-script.

• The speech was notable for what he didn't do: use the words "hoax" or "con job" when talking about affordability.

🪖 One announcement in the 18-minute speech: a "Warrior Dividend" of $1,776 (marking the nation's founding) for each of America's 1.45 million service members before Christmas Day — "the checks are already on the way."

• "We made a lot more money than anybody thought because of tariffs," Trump said. "Nobody deserves it more than our military."

🔮 Trump promised a zooming economy next year, built around tax cuts and other measures in his "big, beautiful bill." He said that "our policies are boosting take-home pay at a historic pace" after "years of record-setting falling incomes."

• But the November jobs report numbers, released Tuesday, show average hourly earnings growth at 3.5%, down from 4% in January when Trump took office.
• Trump also said the administration is "solving" soaring grocery prices — even as grocery costs are up in most categories — and said electricity costs will "fall dramatically." The government's own data shows prices rising by double digits year over year.

🔍 Behind the scenes: The rapid-fire tempo of the atypically short speech was a point of modest pride for Trump advisers, who say the president can stick to the script when he wants, and plans to drive his message home in 2026.

• "When the president addresses the nation like this, he can keep it short and sweet," one adviser said. "When he's on stage, he's going to freestyle. And people love it."

👀 Between the lines: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent often insists the Trump administration won't tell people how they're feeling, dismissing it as Biden-style gaslighting of voters.

• But Trump's message to the nation was effectively: Your vibes are off. The economy's fine.

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Seesawing government policy can wreak havoc on companies, Axios Future of Mobility author Joann Muller writes.

• Exhibit A: Ford Motor Co., which has written off tens of billions in stranded investments over 15 years.

Why it matters: Big shifts in political power tend to lead to extreme regulatory swings as policymakers try to steer consumer markets.

• For capital-intensive industries, that can mean billions wasted — and time lost while China keeps advancing.

🚘 Zoom in: Ford's stunning rollback of its massive planned electric vehicle and battery investments this week is the latest example of what happens when big bets chase ever-changing policy directives.

• Just four years ago, Ford announced an $11.4 billion plan to build an EV and battery manufacturing campus in Tennessee and two more battery plants in Kentucky.
• The project was supported by huge government loans and manufacturing incentives, plus tax credits for EV buyers — policies the Biden administration and industry experts thought would tip the scales toward EVs.

But the new Trump administration gutted those policies and gave automakers a green light to produce more gas-powered vehicles without penalty.

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The House GOP's long-simmering internal tensions burst open yesterday as Speaker Mike Johnson faced the prospect of temporarily ceding control of the floor at the start of next year, Axios' Hans Nichols and Kate Santaliz write.

• Why it matters: GOP frustration with Johnson (R-La.) isn't new. But infuriated House Republicans are taking out their anger on each other.

"Those members need not ask me for any help in their campaigns whatsoever," Rep. Eric Burlison (R-Mo.) told Axios of his centrist GOP colleagues who signed the discharge petition that will force a House vote on extending the Affordable Care Act's premium tax credits.

• Conservatives loathe the idea of doing anything to prop up the ACA. For some, that made yesterday's defections feel like a personal betrayal.

🔭 Zoom in: Centrist Republicans were furious that Johnson refused to allow a vote on their proposals to extend the subsidies, pushing some to conclude their only option was to side with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.).

• Four Republicans — Pennsylvania Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, Robert Bresnahan and Ryan Mackenzie, along with Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) — signed the discharge petition.
• "Our team should've put in the compromise. Now we're voting for the worse one. It's just sort of dumb," said Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.).

The big picture: Johnson insisted he hasn't "lost control of the House."

• "We have the smallest majority in U.S. history. These are not normal times," he told reporters yesterday.

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President Trump has added partisan plaques under the portraits along his new Presidential Walk of Fame on the White House colonnade. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said: "As a student of history, many were written directly by the President himself." Here's what some say:

• "Sleepy Joe Biden was, by far, the worst President in American History. ... Nicknamed both 'Sleepy' and 'Crooked,' Joe Biden was dominated by his Radical Left handlers."
• "Barack Hussein Obama was the first Black President, a community organizer, one term Senator from Illinois, and one of the most divisive political figures in American History."
• "George W. Bush ... created the Department of Homeland Security, but started wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, both of which should not have happened."
• "Bill Clinton served as Attorney General and Governor of Arkansas before winning the Presidency in what was called a major upset over President George H.W. Bush. ... In 2016, President Clinton's wife, Hillary, lost the Presidency to President Donald J. Trump!"
• "Ronald Reagan won the Cold War, and transformed American politics and the Conservative Movement. ... He was a fan of President Donald J. Trump long before President Trump's Historic run for the White House. Likewise, President Trump was a fan of his!"

• More on the plaques.

Nearly 3,000 new data centers are under construction or planned across the U.S. — adding to the more than 4,000 already in operation, Alex Fitzpatrick writes from a new analysis shared first with Axios.

• Why it matters: Big tech and many local leaders are full steam ahead on building as many data centers as possible to generate revenue and power the AI boom. But they're fueling a major political fight as local residents push back over energy use and other concerns.

Virginia leads the country in data centers, with 663 operational and 595 more either under construction or planned, according to a new report from the American Edge Project and the Technology Councils of North America.

• Texas is also up there, with 405 existing data centers and 442 planned or being built.

🔬 Zoom in: Georgia and Pennsylvania are among the states due for particularly big data center booms, if all goes to plan.

• Georgia currently has 162 data centers, and is slated for 285 more (a 176% increase, if all are built).
• Pennsylvania has 98, with 184 more potentially on the way (a 188% increase).
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🧀 Go deeper: Groundbreaking yesterday for a $15 billion Stargate data center campus outside Milwaukee in Port Washington, Wis., developed by OpenAI, Oracle and Vantage Data Centers.

Oracle is making investors nervous about Big Tech's enormous AI bet — the engine of our economic growth and the bull market, Axios Markets author Madison Mills and Jeffrey Cane write.

• Why it matters: With so much money at stake, any sign of delayed AI profits raises the risk that some players may never get there.

Oracle's stock, already in a deep slump, tumbled yesterday after the Financial Times reported that Blue Owl Capital, one of the biggest backers of the AI boom, walked away from talks with Oracle over investing in a planned data center in Michigan.

• Blue Owl was concerned about possible delays and didn't like the existing lease and debt terms, a person familiar with the matter told Axios' Dan Primack.
• Oracle told Bloomberg that its investment discussions about the data center were "on schedule" but did not involve Blue Owl.

👓 Between the lines: The tech giants that dominate the stock market are set to spend an estimated $700 billion on AI. But that money is going toward data centers and chips, the guts that power AI, not the applications that will make them money.

Peter Arnett, the AP war correspondent who won a Pulitzer for his reporting in Vietnam and became globally known for his CNN coverage during the Gulf War, died at 91 in Newport Beach, Calif. He had prostate cancer.

• Arnett spent decades dodging bullets and bombs to bring the world eyewitness accounts of war from the rice paddies of Vietnam to the deserts of Iraq, AP's John Rogers writes.

As a wire-service correspondent, Arnett was known mostly to fellow journalists when he reported in Vietnam from 1962 until the war's end in 1975.

• He became a household name in 1991 for broadcasting live on CNN from Iraq during the first Gulf War.

While almost all Western reporters had fled Baghdad in the days before the U.S.-led attack, Arnett stayed. As missiles began raining on the city, he broadcast a live account by cellphone from his hotel room.

• Watch a dispatch from Baghdad ... Read his Pulitzer-winning work ... Covering Vietnam.

Google search data shows America is craving peanut butter this Christmas, with recipes for Peanut Butter Blossoms and Peanut Butter Balls topping the holiday charts for fastest-rising cookies, Axios' Kelly Tyko writes.

• Spritz cookies — buttery, shortbread-like cookies pressed into festive shapes — also surged.

Searches for gingerbread houses more than quadrupled, while "yule log," "yule cookies" and "hot cocoa cookie recipe" are also trending, Google told Axios.

• The poinsettia cocktail — cranberry juice, orange liqueur and champagne — is the top-trending Christmas drink.

Go deeper: Top trending recipes for each state.