WASHINGTON: US President
Donald Trump boasted in his State of the Union address on Tuesday that he had ushered in "the golden age of America," seeking to project an aura of approval ratings and deepening voter frustration ahead of success despite sagging November's midterm election.
Heeding calls from Republi-can lawmakers worried they could lose their congressional spent the first hour of his tele-majority later this year, Trump vised speech focused on the economy, saying he had slowed inflation, driven the stock mar-ket to record heights, signed sweeping tax cuts and lowered drug prices.
But it was unclear whether his rosy assessment would assuage Americans' anger about the cost of living. Trump sought to blame his Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden, for high prices, but opinion polls show voters hold Trump responsible affordability crisis after he cam for not doing more to ease an paigned relentlessly on the
issue. better, richer and stronger than "Our nation is back--bigger, better and better and better. ever before...We're going to do This is the golden age of Amer-ica," Trump said after taking the stage to cheers of "USA, USA" from fellow Republicans in Con-gress, with dozens of empty seats on the Democratic side a reminder that many lawmakers skipped the speech for anti-Trump rallies outside.
The annual speech to Con-gress came at a fraught moment for Trump's presidency, with
