President Donald Trump is planning to give a primetime address Thursday evening — but the White House is being coy about what exactly he’ll be addressing. A senior adviser told Axios on Monday that the speech “will be a potpourri” of whatever Trump feels the nation most needs to hear from him. If that’s the case, the only thing then differentiating this speech from any other time Trump is in front of cameras would be the timing.

The only thing then differentiating this speech from any other time Trump is in front of cameras would be the timing.

Based on the reporting as of Wednesday night, we do have some indications about what Trump will touch upon in his remarks. He’s expected to talk, yet again, about the 2020 election and why he didn’t really lose. He might touch on the renewed fight with Iran which, according to his administration, should be considered an all-new conflict, not the same one that was launched in February, so he can once again restart the 60-day clock to use military action without congressional approval.

But nothing has changed on either of those fronts, at least not enough to warrant a major speech, despite Trump’s best efforts to claim otherwise. The task force the White House has pulled together to re-re-rexamine the 2020 election is unlikely to have produced the kind of shocking developments the president teased Tuesday: “What we’re going to be talking about Thursday is, it doesn’t get bigger, because without free and fair elections, you don’t have a country.” Meanwhile, none of his continued threats against Iranian infrastructure have frightened Tehran into offering an unconditional surrender.

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Anything new that is presented cannot be taken at face value. The Washington Post reported that the speech “will highlight claims that China accessed U.S. voter data” and that “Trump is also expected to discuss findings related to Venezuela.” MS NOW likewise reported that the president will likely release declassified documents about “voting machine security and alleged efforts by foreign nations to influence U.S. elections.” Every other (much more extensive) examination of the 2020 election found no irregularities that would have changed the results.

It’s easy to imagine the kernels of information that will be spun into a broader story of how Trump was robbed. It’s also simple to glean why Trump might feel this address is a savvy move. He’s always believed that he’s the greatest communicator his movement has to offer and is keen to prove that he knows exactly what he’s doing, especially when he’s stumbled as hard as he has with Iran.

But primetime addresses haven’t exactly been a format in which Trump excels. As my colleague Steve Benen has noted, when he has delivered them, they’ve tended to flop. If he wants to do more of them, as Axios reported, then the appeal will quickly bottom out. Even his former press secretary, Sean Spicer, is skeptical of the idea that Trump should lean into making these addresses routine.

What we’re forced to do then is pretend that Trump playing a remix of his greatest hits is particularly interesting. The White House had yet to announce the exact contents of Trump’s speech as of Wednesday evening, but they had already begun pushing back on reporting about the potential topics. “The truth is, nobody knows yet what President Trump will ultimately say, which is why everyone should tune in,” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told MS NOW.

What we’re forced to do then is pretend that Trump playing a remix of his greatest hits is particularly interesting.

Television writers used to run into this problem all the time, back when sitcoms required 22 episodes every season. There are only so many outrageous situations and wacky miscommunications that a series can sustain after several seasons. But after a few seasons, when enough episodes had aired, writers could occasionally take a break from churning out fresh work in favor of the humble clip show.

Only the loosest narrative framework was needed for these filler episodes. All the heavy lifting would come in the editing suite as old scenes with proven punchlines were recycled into something familiar enough to be comfortable but not exactly breaking new ground. It’s a trope that’s fallen out of favor as series have become less episodic and seasons have become shorter — but Trump has always loved a throwback. And this primetime address promises to be a presidential clip show, stitching together something not fully satisfying out of old material.