Trump’s Primetime Address: Which Shows Will Be Interrupted?

Amanda Bell
16 Comments
WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 08: U.S. President Donald Trump participates in a roundtable discussion with farmers in the Cabinet Room of the White House on December 08, 2025 in Washington, DC. President Trump is expected to announce a $12 billion farm aid package, which includes one-time payments to those affected by the administration’s trade policies. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Alex Wong / Getty Images

Donald Trump announced that he will be speaking to the nation in a previously unexpected primetime address on Wednesday (December 17) night at 9/8c. In a statement posted to his social media page, he announced, “My Fellow Americans: I will be giving an ADDRESS TO THE NATION tomorrow night, LIVE FROM THE WHITE HOUSE, at 9 P.M. EST. I look forward to ‘seeing’ you then.”

“It has been a great year for our Country,” the statement continues, “and THE BEST IS YET TO COME! PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP.”

The announcement was unexpected and immediately resulted in some major changes to network TV.

What shows will be affected by Trump’s primetime address on Wednesday night?

CBS will reportedly pause the airing of its three-hour-long Survivor Season 49 finale to accommodate the presser at 9/8c, and other networks are expected to do the same. The second part of Fox’s two-hour The Floor finale is now expected to pause the airing at 9/8c and resume after the speech.

The address may also interfere with some pre-planned holiday specials on broadcast as well. ABC is currently scheduled to air its iHeartRadio Jingle Ball 2025 music special during that time, and NBC’s Christmas in Nashville special was scheduled to begin at 9/8c. Representatives for ABC and NBC did not immediately share their accommodation plans, but those networks traditionally do carry presidential addresses from the Oval Office live.

What is Trump’s primetime address about?

While we don’t know the full extent of what Trump will say during the address, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News he will talk “about the historic accomplishments” Trump’s administration claims to have made on border security and inflation. She also said Trump “will be talking about what’s to come” in his address, “and maybe teasing some policy that will be coming in the New Year as well as we head into the Christmas season.”

The address comes amid a Reuters report indicating that Donald Trump’s national approval rating dropped to 39% in new polling, with the economy as a number-one issue according to participants.




Conversation16 Comments

Please read the TV Insider Community Guidelines.

Register or sign in to join the conversation.

  1. L

    Lark

    He'll dither and go off script for at least 2 hours. Will make lewd comments about Levitt and other women. Will drag up old, old grievances, especially about Biden. Will brag about ballroom and arch and other unnecessary builds. Will tell us we're stupid for not realizing the price of everything has gone down when we know better. Do I plan to watch this? Hell no.

    22

  2. J

    Jena

    He's trying to claw back some respectability (🙄) after that horrendous post he made about Rob Reiner's death. Good luck with that. I know it'll never happen, but I'd love for one or a couple or more major news outlets to decline to air the egomaniac's appearance.

    Needless to say, I'll be watching something else.

    21

    1. F

      Freddy

      Can't claw back what he never had

      15

      1. J

        Jena

        True!!

        4

    2. D

      David

      Or at the very least, cut out after he starts rambling off script.

  3. C

    Cabas10

    I think we’ve listened to that yapping bunch of lies for too damn long.

    17

  4. M

    Mr.

    Thank God I get the Hallmark channel.

    10

  5. L

    LD

    I don't know why all the networks think they have to air all of his lies. I will not be watching. I can catch all of the lies later on the news

    9

  6. G

    Guest

    Won’t be watching never do for any potus

    7

  7. E

    Ealgylden

    TCM is celebrating Jane Austen's 250th birthday, so that's where I'll be.

    6

    1. J

      Jena

      That's an excellent place to be!! However, in my opinion, the BEST version of any Austen novel is the 1995 miniseries of Pride & Prejudice, with Colin Firth & Jennifer Ehle. It's perfect because the extended length allowed it to be a very complete and true adaptation of the entire novel, not just condensing it into 2 hours.

      6

      1. E

        Ealgylden

        Okay, I can't disagree, because that's 100% true. I do still love Emma Thompson's Sense and Sensibility and Amanda Root's Persuasion, though. And it's been years since I've seen Gwyneth Paltrow's Emma, so I'm curious about that one.

        1

  8. D

    David

    He has the freaking State of the Union next month to do that. And with as much as he continues to attack CBS, they should defer his "speech" to its streaming service.

    3

  9. S

    Scoop65

    Can't wait, looking forward to it. Wish people would compare facts only. Gas prices are way down, grocery prices are dropping, US sales are up across the nation. Unemployment is lower than Biden, inflation is lower than any year under Biden. Whether you like him or not doesn't matter, just compare facts. If your state is not economically better you need to look at your state government.

    2

  10. B

    bjoel

    only hope he doesnt get off the prompter and go on and on about nothing for an hour

    1

  11. K

    Kmd

    The only "lies" are from the main stream media attempting to discredit the president. And all of you fools suffering from TDS are so grossly uninformed. Refusing to look at the facts and blindly swallow everything you're fed by the main stream media.

    God help you all.