President Trump Trumpets Achievements In Farewell Message
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
(Worthy News) – Outgoing U.S. President Donald J. Trump, who became the voice to millions feeling voiceless, has trumpeted his administration’s accomplishments and wished his successor luck.
In a message on the YouTube video-sharing platform, Trump highlighted economic efforts, historic peace agreements in the Middle East, coronavirus vaccinations, and creating a new Space Force.
“As President, my top priority, my constant concern, has always been the best interests of American workers and American families,” he said.
Trump said his administration built “the greatest economy in the history of the world.” U.S. stock markets miraculously rebounded from the coronavirus pandemic, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq index up 42 percent in 2020 and the broader S&P 500 up 15 percent.
“Our agenda was not about right or left, it wasn’t about Republican or Democrat, but about the good of a nation, and that means the whole nation,” Trump said.
His opponents claim the rest of the economy still struggles with employees cutting jobs in December, ending a string of employment gains. Retail sales dropped in recent months, while jobless claims rise.
Trump, who billed himself as the non-politician, deal-making leader, defended controversies. “I did not seek the easiest course; by far, it was actually the most difficult. I did not seek the path that would get the least criticism. I took on the tough battles, the hardest fights, the most difficult choices because that’s what you elected me to do.”
And Trump exclaimed: “We did what we came to do – and so much more.”
He spoke while spending his final full day in office preparing to issue a flurry of pardons in a near-deserted White House. “This week, we inaugurate a new administration and pray for its success in keeping America safe and prosperous,” Trump said in the video “farewell address.”
The White House released it less than 24 hours before President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration. “We extend our best wishes. And we also want them to have luck — a very important word.”
Trump has not entirely accepted the result of last November’s election, which he claims he unfairly lost to Democrat Biden.
And the last two weeks of Trump’s term have been dominated by the fallout from the deadly riot on Capitol Hill when a mob claiming to be his supporters stormed Congress. “Political violence is an attack on everything we cherish as Americans. It can never be tolerated,” Trump stressed in the video in which he did not mention his successor by name.
Trump himself was impeached for “incitement of insurrection” over the attack and will face trial in the Senate after leaving office.
If convicted, he could be barred from standing for public office, a move critics will lead to more divisions in America.
He is the first president in U.S. history to be impeached twice. At his first trial, he was cleared on charges relating to dealings with Ukraine by the majority from his own Republican Party.
His supporters view the impeachment efforts as a political witch-hunt and a warning to those seeking to shake up the political establishment and Washington’s out-of-touch image.
“One can debate the significance of his accomplishments. Whether 400 miles (640 kilometers) of rebuilt border wall, tax cuts, regulatory rollbacks, confirmed judges, trade wars and modest Mid-East diplomatic agreements amount to much in the way of substantive achievement,” said the BBC network in an analysis. “But at least in one way, his boast is certainly true. Trump ran for president in 2016 to shake up the existing political order. He campaigned as an outsider giving voice to those who distrusted the establishment and felt the system no longer worked for them.”
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