"Many times in the past decade, Donald Trump's public addresses have reminded me of old TV commercials for the electronics chain Crazy Eddie that I used to watch as a kid in suburban New Jersey-the rat-a-tat delivery, the breathless hype, the memorably absurdist slogans. ("His prices are INSAAAANE!") But somehow this was never more the case than on Wednesday night, when the President spoke to the nation from the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House."
"That's an awful lot of words to string together without much in the way of periods or common sense, though, by now, we all know there's only one form of punctuation that Trump has truly embraced: the exclamation point. "I am bringing those high prices down and bringing them down very fast!" he declared on Wednesday night. "Boy, are we making progress!" "There's never been anything like it!""
"The centerpiece of the President's speech was his announcement of a no-strings-attached deal for 1.4 million members of the U.S. military to receive year-end bonus checks of $1,776 each, in honor of next year's celebration of the two-hundred-and-fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. "And the checks," he said, "are already on the way!" More financial presents were promised by Santa Trump in the New Year: a great new housing policy, a great new health-care plan."
Trump's public addresses often resembled old Crazy Eddie TV commercials, featuring rat-a-tat delivery, breathless hype, and absurdist slogans. He spoke from the Diplomatic Reception Room, flanked by Christmas trees and a portrait of George Washington. The speech ran as an eighteen-minute-and-thirty-three-second run-on sentence heavy on exclamation points and promotional language. The centerpiece announced a no-strings bonus for 1.4 million U.S. military members of $1,776 each to mark the Declaration of Independence's 250th anniversary. He declared the checks were already on the way and promised additional year‑end and New Year measures, including housing and health-care proposals.
Read at The New Yorker
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