The big tree is in the Blue Room:
Full room view is here.
Diplomatic Reception Room
State Dining Room
The Red Room
The Green Room
Welcome to Mike's America, a view of news and opinion that has caught my attention. You're welcome to share your thoughts by commenting on posts.
Democrats’ gift to American workers? Three years wasted obsessing over impeachment.— Senate Republicans (@SenateGOP) December 18, 2019
Republicans’ gift to American workers? See for yourself! 👇 pic.twitter.com/HJ9Po4V88c
Even more ridiculous are the demands from Senate Democrats for new witnesses. This after two Dems in both the House Judiciary and Intelligence Committees refused to allow a single GOP fact witness!U.S.A: Mitch McConnell signaled opposition to a Democratic request to call new witnesses in a Senate trial expected next month on whether to remove the Tribulation Trump from office, he would not allow a "fishing expedition" after a "slapdash" House impeachment process.17-12-2019 pic.twitter.com/b93Iw8J5kV— Rowan Van Dijk (@Lastkombo) December 17, 2019
Read Trump's letter to ... by kballuck1 on Scribd
Less than one year from now this anger for the hatred and division Dems have unleashed on the American people will be answered at the polls. Schiff may survive because the voters of his district are overwhelmingly left wing. But there will be DOZENS of Democrat Representatives who will be ripped from power and cast out because of the part they played in this #impeachmentfarce.#ShiftySchiff #TownHall— Ohiobelle (@Ohiobelle) December 17, 2019
"You're going to jail for treason!" "Don't impeach our President!"
"You're a fucking liar!" #RedWave2020#MAGA#ImpeachmentHoax #ImpeachmentScamhttps://t.co/DT4EB334Aq
More Nunes to Schiff: 'It's crucial that you admit you have a problem...' pic.twitter.com/X7nbPXzmau
— Byron York (@ByronYork) December 15, 2019
It's not just that these "journalists" were blatantly lying. It's how smug they are while lying and how much they mock those who pushed back on their false and republic-threatening propaganda. STUNNING to watch. There must be accountability. https://t.co/ff37r8yc3F
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) December 13, 2019
Homelessness is up 75 % since Schiff became Congressman and
— Andrew (@Andrew91319373) December 9, 2019
there are 59,000 homeless people
in his district.https://t.co/ja64uPsdt2
A PICTURE TELLS A 1000 WORDS ,#BarbosaForCongress Below is pic of the homeless living in Adam Schiff's District #CA28 . If that doesn't encourage voters to boot Schiff out,then nothing will. #VoterIDNow #VoterIntegrity #TurnCaRed #RedAwaken2020 @realDonaldTrump @DonaldJTrumpJr pic.twitter.com/jVn9fcLM9Z
— proud2bMARINE (@Greg_ggs51) August 21, 2019
Sorry to be the one to tell this to you Trump haters but left wing fascists and Hollywood celebrities do NOT represent the American people. You continue to insult us and attempt to overturn the will of the people with an impeachment farce then you can expect the same treatment Labour received in November 2020. Get ready for more disappointment!Johnson's victory was a genuinely seismic moment, and one whose forceful tremors will be felt most keenly across the Atlantic in America.Because make no mistake, the lessons from this election carry extraordinary pertinence for next year's US election.17.4 million people voted then to leave, a 52 percent majority of Britons, but scandalously the losing Remainers – who were quickly dubbed Remoaners - launched a concerted campaign to stop it happening.Rather like Democrats after Hillary Clinton lost to Trump, they wouldn't accept the result and have spent the past three-and-a-half years screaming their heads off about how unfair it all is - and demanding another vote.Since Johnson, one of the key architects of the Brexit win, became Prime Minister in the summer, Remoaner fury has grown ever more hysterical as they've branded him a lying cheating racist scumbag with a tawdry history involving women.And they've mocked all his supporters as thick, racist morons who are just too stupid to know what they're doing.Sound familiar?For Boris, read Trump.For Brexit, read the 2016 Election.And for Remainers, read Democrats.The similarities don't stop there.Like the Democrats when Hillary ran, Remainers enlisted the very vocal support of Hollywood luvvies to fight their cause.
Hollywood actors Hugh Grant and Steve Coogan led the way, backed up by the likes of grime artist Stormzy and pop singer Lily Allen.
'I don't want to sound dramatic,' he said, dramatically, 'but I really think we're facing a national emergency.'
The absurdly affected arrogant and pompous twerp believed he was the one to save us all from ourselves.
Instead, Britons responded exactly how I assumed they would to a jumped-up hectoring thespian trying to destroy democracy - and voted against everyone he supported.
There was a wonderful photo taken in a West London restaurant of the precise moment multi-millionaire Grant read the devastating (for him) 10pm exit poll on his cell-phone and his head sunk in abject disbelief.
Like the Trump-hating liberal celebrities who so raucously endorsed Hillary, he was hit by a sudden thunderbolt of reality that his views are not shared by most actual real people.
There was also another massive reason why Johnson won so big, and it was that his opponent, Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, is a hard-core socialist so far left he makes Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez look like a capitalist.
Corbyn pledged to spend £60 billion ($80 billion) investing in schools, hospitals, education, green energy and home-building.
But as with Ocasio-Cortez and her outlandish promises like free tuition, healthcare and a green new deal, he planned to pay for it all by punitively taxing the rich and middle class in a way that many economists feared would bankrupt the country.
Britons firmly rejected that hard-left agenda in this election, and this should also send a very firm message to Democrats as they choose their nominee to take on President Trump in 2020.
As I've been warning for months, there's not a cat-in-hell's chance of a socialist candidate beating Trump next November, especially not with the US economy doing so well.
Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren both share Jeremy Corbyn's socialist agenda and both appear to be as popular as him on Twitter.
The clear takeaway from this UK election is that a radical socialist candidate, backed by whining supercilious celebrities, against a populist opponent with a fervent base of support, will fail.
And if the only tactic they come up with to win is to try to thwart democracy, they will fail badly.
The sinister establishment-driven attempt to stop Brexit happening is not dissimilar to the current equally ill-advised Democrat impeachment move on Trump.
Those who voted for Brexit and Trump don't take kindly to their democratic vote being abused in this way.
And their retribution comes at the ballot box.
If people think Boris Johnson's earthquake was big, just wait until the Senate acquits President Trump and he uses that victory to storm to re-election.
Lesson for House GOP when they retake the House. Apply the same standard to business that Democrats employed during this farce. Make them live by the same rules they inflict on us!@RepDLesko nails it..House rules say we have a RIGHT to a Minority Hearing so we can get the TRUTH out instead of this one sided Sham..it’s no good to have a hearing in the future, we are 🗳today!— GaPeach🍑4Trump (@GA_peach3102) December 12, 2019
It continues to amaze me how CORRUPT & UNFAIR this process has been FROM the START pic.twitter.com/rjpqLZFsl5
None of this is a mystery after reading the texts that FBI officials were sending to each other regarding Trump. They all should go to jail!Horowitz:— Elizabeth Harrington (@LizRNC) December 11, 2019
"We're left trying to understand how could all these errors have occurred over a 9 month period or so among 3 teams, hand-picked, the highest profile case in the FBI, going to the very top of the organization involving a presidential campaign"pic.twitter.com/uA05o5xDcn
"It’s Trump today, it could be you or me tomorrow. And imagine, ladies and gentlemen, if they can do this to the candidate for the president of the United States, what could they do to you?"
— Trump War Room (Text TRUMP to 88022) (@TrumpWarRoom) December 11, 2019
- @LindseyGrahamSC on DOJ IG report regarding FISA abuse. pic.twitter.com/vQWNd1auWA
Comey the LIAR:Inspector General Horowitz: "We are deeply concerned that so many basic and fundamental errors were made by three separate, hand-picked investigative teams, on one of the most sensitive FBI investigations." https://t.co/pphGDW1l2C pic.twitter.com/B3aQIwPFpP— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) December 11, 2019
"I have total confidence that the FISA process was followed and that the entire case was handled in a thoughtful, responsible way... I think the notion that FISA was abused here is nonsense."— Ben Williamson (@_WilliamsonBen) December 11, 2019
- James Comey, 12/7/18 pic.twitter.com/dPz0d3MpNU
"The FISA process was not used appropriately/properly and the rules were not followed." https://t.co/nDgskLkI20
— Megan Barth (@ReaganBabe) December 11, 2019
"Former FBI Director James Comey said this week that your report vindicates him. Is that a fair assessment?" Sen. Lindsey Graham asks.— ABC News (@ABC) December 11, 2019
"I think the activities we found here don't vindicate anybody who touched this," IG Horowitz replies. https://t.co/c868WmzANb pic.twitter.com/PMjysJBnGm
Michael Horowitz, the Department of Justice Inspector General testified today before the Senate Judiciary Committee. His findings confirm the worst of what we imagined was done to Trump by the FBI in starting their phony Russia probe. Horowitz also confirms the findings of Rep. Devin Nunes. The phony Russian dossier WAS the central reason flawed FISA warrants were issued. 17 major errors all to Trump's detriment.IG Horowitz referred the ENTIRE chain of command of Obama's FBI for further investigation— Elizabeth Harrington (@LizRNC) December 11, 2019
Incredible pic.twitter.com/kXI1agEcoD
The Washington Post called the Nunes Memo "A joke and a sham." Guess what. Every word was true. Schiff, the Post and Dems LIED!AG Barr says this is the "first time in history" that "these counter-intelligence techniques" have been used against a presidential campaign. https://t.co/gpXffZd52N— MediaResearchCenter (@theMRC) December 11, 2019
BOMBSHELL:— Trump War Room (Text TRUMP to 88022) (@TrumpWarRoom) December 11, 2019
Inspector Horowitz admits that the warrant to spy on the Trump campaign was based "entirely" on information from the debunked Steele Dossier.
The media continues to deny this fact! pic.twitter.com/Crpn28dW1P
4)In fact, IG report says dossier played "central and essential role" in getting FISA warrants. Schiff had access to same documents as Nunes, yet chose to misinform the public. This is the guy who just ran impeachment proceedings.— Kimberley Strassel (@KimStrassel) December 10, 2019
Most of the media still can’t see through this guy? What will it take? https://t.co/22huCb9JtJ— Brit Hume (@brithume) December 10, 2019
IG Horowitz: cannot rule out political bias as motivation for FISA abuseshttps://t.co/Oaj0Hc1DYo pic.twitter.com/s0yBdsgYQI— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) December 11, 2019
Here’s a challenge for lib denialists over the reality of the FBI plot to destroy Trump-— Buck Sexton (@BuckSexton) December 11, 2019
Find one FBI agent who made any of 17 egregious FISA mistakes- just one- who was sending around “I like Trump” texts in 2016
You won’t, as that person doesn’t exist
Not a coincidence
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEMonday, December 9, 2019Statement by Attorney General William P. Barr on the Inspector General's Report of the Review of Four FISA Applications and Other Aspects of the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane Investigation
Attorney General William P. Barr issued the following statement:"Nothing is more important than the credibility and integrity of the FBI and the Department of Justice. That is why we must hold our investigators and prosecutors to the highest ethical and professional standards. The Inspector General’s investigation has provided critical transparency and accountability, and his work is a credit to the Department of Justice. I would like to thank the Inspector General and his team.The Inspector General’s report now makes clear that the FBI launched an intrusive investigation of a U.S. presidential campaign on the thinnest of suspicions that, in my view, were insufficient to justify the steps taken. It is also clear that, from its inception, the evidence produced by the investigation was consistently exculpatory. Nevertheless, the investigation and surveillance was pushed forward for the duration of the campaign and deep into President Trump’s administration. In the rush to obtain and maintain FISA surveillance of Trump campaign associates, FBI officials misled the FISA court, omitted critical exculpatory facts from their filings, and suppressed or ignored information negating the reliability of their principal source. The Inspector General found the explanations given for these actions unsatisfactory. While most of the misconduct identified by the Inspector General was committed in 2016 and 2017 by a small group of now-former FBI officials, the malfeasance and misfeasance detailed in the Inspector General’s report reflects a clear abuse of the FISA process.FISA is an essential tool for the protection of the safety of the American people. The Department of Justice and the FBI are committed to taking whatever steps are necessary to rectify the abuses that occurred and to ensure the integrity of the FISA process going forward.No one is more dismayed about the handling of these FISA applications than Director Wray. I have full confidence in Director Wray and his team at the FBI, as well as the thousands of dedicated line agents who work tirelessly to protect our country. I thank the Director for the comprehensive set of proposed reforms he is announcing today, and I look forward to working with him to implement these and any other appropriate measures.With respect to DOJ personnel discussed in the report, the Department will follow all appropriate processes and procedures, including as to any potential disciplinary action."
“I have the utmost respect for the mission of the Office of Inspector General and the comprehensive work that went into the report prepared by Mr. Horowitz and his staff. However, our investigation is not limited to developing information from within component parts of the Justice Department. Our investigation has included developing information from other persons and entities, both in the U.S. and outside of the U.S. Based on the evidence collected to date, and while our investigation is ongoing, last month we advised the Inspector General that we do not agree with some of the report’s conclusions as to predication and how the FBI case was opened.”
When Trump called the media the enemy of the people the press went bonkers. When Dems spied on and released the phone records of a journalist they said nothing!“The same people who...claimed that it was a moral and patriotic imperative to protect the identity of a whistleblower...are now fine with a congressman unmasking the conversation of an adversarial journalist who isn’t under criminal investigation. https://t.co/anvsAfO1Si— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) December 7, 2019
The Trump Economy is CRUSHING it!— Mad Liberals (@mad_liberals) December 6, 2019
✅266K jobs created
✅54K new manufacturing jobs
✅50-year low unemployment: 3.5%
✅Wages up 3.1% over the last year pic.twitter.com/l973BVjJJI
More Incredible November Job Report information to note:— Rep. David Schweikert (@RepDavid) December 6, 2019
✅U6 data matched its lowest level in 19 years
✅Revisions show thousands of added jobs
✅Women are now making up half of our labor force
✅Wage growth is surging for bottom 10% of earners
Hey @JustinTrudeau are you laughing now? #Canada loses 71,200 jobs in the biggest drop in employment since 2009. #Unemployment rate jumps to to 5.9%— Sara A. Carter (@SaraCarterDC) December 6, 2019
More: https://t.co/cWChhALGS6 pic.twitter.com/JWsOU5H1xu
Trump threatens to have Schiff, Bidens, Pelosi testify in Senate trial as he dares House to impeach https://t.co/hajzKNqS8x The Dems accused Republicans of not honoring subpoenas but in the interest of truth let's see if Biden, Pelosi and Schiff will testify, I doubt it !
— Lou Pelosi (@LouPelosi) December 5, 2019
Biden says he will not testify in impeachment hearings https://t.co/zmlA4bhe5A
— Disrn (@DisrnNews) December 5, 2019
And that was the most important thing this fool said today. She has no direct knowledge of Trump's call with the Ukrainian leader. But she does have a long record of hating Trump. She's not sky about saying so. Who in their right mind would call her as a witness knowing how utterly biased she is? Democrats.So 49-year old Hunter Biden is off limits but 13-year old Barron Trump is fair game?— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) December 4, 2019
🤔
pic.twitter.com/qEbYk3djIk
And as ever with class, First Lady Melania Trump simply pointed out:"When you invoke the president’s son’s name here, when you try to make a little joke out of referencing Barron Trump, that does not lend credibility to your argument- it makes you look mean."#ImpeachmentHearing #ImpeachingHearings pic.twitter.com/tHk3mcBioH— Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) December 4, 2019
Democrats latest clown show is another bomb. They have no evidence with which to charge Trump so they drag up these nuts. The only witness who was not a Trump hater was Jonathon Turley. He destroyed the twisting nonsense of the Dems with FACTS, not theory:A minor child deserves privacy and should be kept out of politics. Pamela Karlan, you should be ashamed of your very angry and obviously biased public pandering, and using a child to do it.— Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) December 4, 2019
I thought Dems cared about the poor and homeless? Apparently not so much as they do about taxpayer funded junkets to Spain hobnobbing with celebrities. https://t.co/sfurSILvwH
— mikesamerica (@mikesamerica) December 3, 2019
'Indisputable evidence shows that senior Ukrainian government officials sought to influence the 2016 election in favor of Secretary Clinton and against then-candidate Trump,' the write. The report cites mostly public statements and an op-ed, but leans heavily on a January 2017 article in Politico that described a Ukrainian effort to 'sabotage' the Trump campaign.
'Although Democrats reflexively dismiss the information presented in this article, neither Politico nor [the reporter] have retracted the story.'
House Republicans - Report ... by The Conservative Treehouse on Scribd
“By the end of next year, European Allies and Canada will have invested well over 100 billion U.S. dollars more since 2016,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Friday. “I can announce that the accumulated increase in defense spending by the end of 2024, will be 400 billion U.S. dollars.”
In the 3 decades before my election, NATO spending declined by two-thirds, and only 3 other NATO members were meeting their financial obligations. Since I took office, the number of NATO allies fulfilling their obligations more than DOUBLED, and NATO spending increased by $130B!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 2, 2019
“This baseless and highly partisan inquiry violates all past historical precedent, basic due process rights, and fundamental fairness,” wrote White House counsel Pat Cipollone. "As for the hearing scheduled for December 4, we cannot fairly be expected to participate in a hearing while the witnesses are yet to be named and while it remains unclear whether the Judiciary Committee will afford the president a fair process through additional hearings," Cipollone said.Here is the entire letter:
He continued: "When the Judiciary Committee scheduled a similar hearing during the Clinton impeachment process, it allowed those questioning the witnesses two-and-a-half weeks' notice to prepare, and it scheduled the hearing on a date suggested by the president's attorneys. Today, by contrast, you have afforded the president no scheduling input, no meaningful information and so little time to prepare that you have effectively denied the administration a fair opportunity to participate."
"Your letter also wrongly claims an equivalence between the procedures applicable to past impeachment inquiries and the procedures adopted by H. Res. 660. Past inquiries, however, did
not authorize one set of committees to conduct two rounds of hearings with witnesses (one round in secret and another in public) while prohibiting the President from any opportunity to
participate. Nor did these past inquiries eontinue to deny those rights to the President even in a third round of hearings before yet another committee, the Judiciary Committee. In other
impeachment proceedings, the President's counsel was not excluded from the hearings that took testimony from fact witnesses, nor was the President denied the right of cross examination
during those hearings."
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi responded to President Trump calling violent MS-13 gang members "animals," at her weekly press briefing Thursday morning. Pelosi says Trump's comments as reported are a new low, and make her wonder if the president believes "we are all God's children" or not.Here's another example of Pelosi's "God's children" with that "spark of divinity:"
"When the president of the United States says about undocumented immigrants, 'these are not people, these are animals,' you have to wonder, does he not believe in the spark of divinity? In the dignity and worth of every person? 'These are not people, these are animals,' from the president of the United States."
"Every day you think you've seen it all, along comes another manifestation of why their policies are so inhumane," she said.
"Calling people animals is not a good thing," she said, before ending the news conference and walking out.
Villa Union City Hall is riddle with bullet holes after a gun battle between Mexican security forces and suspected cartel gunmen on Saturday |
Bullet holes were everywhere in Villa Union, where an untold number of people were missing after the hour-long violence |
This is peak 2019. Protesters in Hong Kong fighting for their rights against the totalitarian communist Chinese regime holding up the Rocky Trump meme. I am thankful to live in the greatest nation the world has ever known. #HongKong #HongKongHumanRightsDemocracyAct pic.twitter.com/vR3dTWKB8b— Charles Farley (@CUFarley8) November 29, 2019
Other signs say "Thank you Americans."The scene in Hong Kong 🇺🇸 🇭🇰— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) November 29, 2019
pic.twitter.com/jlU7XDrtla
Got this in return:Yeah, Putin wants America to be the world's leader in energy production doesn't he? And Putin wants the U.S. military to get a huge budget increase and ditto for NATO.— mikesamerica (@mikesamerica) November 24, 2019
Whatever flavor Jule you are smoking you better stop. Brain damage can't be far behind!
Then the clown blocked my reply.And Putin wanted an airbase in Syria, lack of support for NATO, and unprecedented intrusion into our elections... got em all. God Bless ‘Merica 🇺🇸✌🏼🍑— Jdubbs (@Jdubbs60) November 24, 2019
#BOMBSHELL:
— Sara A. Carter (@SaraCarterDC) November 22, 2019
How do you walk back the entire #RussianHoax if you are @CNN?
You ask @PreetBharara, here is his take on the latest investigation @FBI: https://t.co/cWChhALGS6 pic.twitter.com/TXPpq5dKlt
But we are not done. NO ONE gave any hint that Trump or any other Administration official or Rudy Guiliani was communicating any quid pro quo:Gordon Sondland was clear: "I've never heard from President Trump that the aid (to Ukraine) was conditioned on the investigations."— Mark Meadows (@RepMarkMeadows) November 20, 2019
So what did @realDonaldTrump say when Sondland DID talk to him?
Sondland, quoting POTUS: "I want nothing. I want no quid pro quo." pic.twitter.com/ZuaCybXJj1
And it's not just Ambassador Sundland. Not a single witness in this Democrat farce has said anything about bribery, extortion or threats to Ukraine:There it is folks!— Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) November 20, 2019
Ambassador Sondland CONFIRMED that nobody on earth told him @realDonaldTrump was tying aid to investigations.
So this is all based on presumptions that turned out to be wrong.
Why is this impeachment circus still going on? pic.twitter.com/7C5RNowLIp
Then there's this:Courtesy of @EliseStefanik, a complete takedown of Pelosi and Schiff’ bogus narrative.— Ronna McDaniel (@GOPChairwoman) November 20, 2019
Both Morrison & Volker agree: no quid pro quo, no bribery, and no extortion!pic.twitter.com/Yrd30BILyK
The American people are not as stupid as the average CNN or MSNBC viewer. They've seen one lie after another about Trump exposed. Meanwhile, The Department of Justice Inspector General has begun releasing his findings. We are now seeing that it was Democrats who broke the law and this impeachment farce is cover for the coup they waged against Trump and the U.S. Constitution!BOOM! @DanaPerino says: "The people are paying attention to the Hearings. Gallop's new poll numbers that show President @realDonaldTrump is up 2 points & in Wisconsin he beats every possible candidate in 2020! People against impeachment rose 8%!" YES!! pic.twitter.com/wfxFwWH6KP— JamieR {🎗} Army Girl ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (@Jamierodr14) November 20, 2019
Obama administration knew Hunter Biden was shady, witness admits https://t.co/4xME41oD4P via @nypost
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) November 16, 2019
WATCH: @RepChrisStewart blasts House Democrats for their "weak" impeachment case, says "there is zero evidence" for their claims of extortion and obstruction against President Trump. pic.twitter.com/yn08Bx42f1
— NewsBusters (@newsbusters) November 15, 2019
Goodwin: Adam Schiff's dull impeachment hearings are a flop https://t.co/DYf1CUUBS8 via @nypost
— mikesamerica (@mikesamerica) November 15, 2019
"Under Obama, ambassadors were coming back in body bags. Now everyone is upset because one got fired," says Fox's @JesseBWatters. "So what?"
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) November 15, 2019
But it gets worse:Dems shut down @EliseStefanik again. Seems like they are afraid of tough Republican women! pic.twitter.com/Cf39hDGTsc— Devin Nunes (@DevinNunes) November 15, 2019
This farce has gone on long enough. Not a single witness who had first hand knowledge about any of the facts. If 4th person hearsay is the new standard of judicial proof we are all in trouble.Rep. Jim Jordan: "Great question for you all to ask Mr. Schiff is when is he going to release those transcripts so that we can actually use that information in the public hearings?" pic.twitter.com/V0eoSe2obR— The Hill (@thehill) November 15, 2019
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Three years ago, I came to speak before this storied forum as a candidate for President. And at that time, America was stuck in a failed recovery and saddled with a bleak economic future. And it was bleak. Under the last administration, nearly 200,000 manufacturing jobs had been lost; almost 5 million more Americans had left the labor force, and jobs were not exactly what you would call plentiful; and 10 million people had been added to the food stamp rolls.
In 2016, the Department of Labor predicted that Americans would continue dropping out of the workforce in record numbers. They predicted and projected a decade of sluggish growth, and they expected unemployment over 5 percent — and, really, 6, 7, and even, in some cases, 8 percent — for many years to come. The so-called experts said the Americans had no choice but to accept stagnation, decay, and a shrinking middle class as the new normal. That was said all the time. In short, the American people were told to sit back and accept a slow, inevitable decline.
But I never believed for one moment that our magnificent nation was destined for a diminished future. I knew that our destiny was in our own hands; that we could choose to reject a future of America and, really, look at a future of American decline unacceptable, and to build a future of American dominance, which is what I wanted. It couldn’t be any other way, or I would have never done this. I refused to accept that Americans had to lower their expectations or give up on their dreams. America is the single greatest country in the world, and I knew that working together we could make it even greater.
In 2016, I stood before you supremely confident in what our people could achieve if government stopped punishing American workers and started promoting American workers and American companies. Our middle class was being crushed under the weight of a punitive tax code, oppressive regulations, one-sided trade deals, and an economic policy that put America’s interest last, and a very deep last at that.
I knew that if we lifted these burdens from our economy, and unleashed our people to pursue their ambitions and realize their limitless potential, then economic prosperity would come thundering back to our country at a record speed. And that’s what’s happening.
Today, I’m proud to stand before you as President of the United States to report that we have delivered on our promises and exceeded our expectations by a very wide margin. We have ended — (applause) — thank you. I was waiting for that. Thank you. I was waiting for that. (Laughter.) I almost didn’t get it.
We have ended the war on American workers, we have stopped the assault on American industry, and we have launched an economic boom the likes of which we have never seen before.
...
Back in 2016, before I took office, the Congressional Budget Office projected that fewer than 2 million jobs would be created by this time in 2019. Instead, my administration has created nearly 7 million jobs, and going up rapidly. We beat predictions — (applause) — thank you. We beat predictions more than three times the highest estimate that I saw during the campaign. Nobody thought it was even possible to get close to a 7 million number. Two million was maxed out, if you were lucky and if you did a great job.
Unemployment has recently achieved the lowest rate in 51 years. African American unemployment, Hispanic American unemployment, and Asian American unemployment, have all reached the lowest rates in history. Women’s unemployment, the best numbers in 71 years. We expect that that number of 71 years — which isn’t good compared to the other numbers, is it? But women also will soon be “historic,” we think.
Blue-collar jobs are leading the way in our middle class boom. We’ve added 25,000 mining jobs, 128,000 energy jobs, and 1.2 million manufacturing and construction jobs. And manufacturing was supposed to be dead in our country. You would need, according to a past administration representative at the highest level of that past administration — you would need a magic wand to bring back manufacturing jobs. Well, we brought them back, and we brought them back to over 600,000 manufacturing jobs as of today. (Applause.) And those are very important jobs.
...
Nearly 7 million people have been lifted off, very importantly, food stamps. Seven million people off of food stamps. (Applause.) And we’re getting Americans off of welfare and back into the workforce. (Applause.) Nearly 2.5 million Americans have risen out of poverty. That’s a record. The rate of African American and Hispanic American families in poverty has plummeted to the lowest level ever recorded, by far. (Applause.) And most of you people wouldn’t know these numbers because most of you aren’t very active in the market. (Laughter.)
But since my election, the S&P 500 is up over 45 percent, the Dow Jones is up over 50 percent, and the NASDAQ is up 60 percent, slightly more.
...
American markets have vastly outpaced the rest of the world. This exceptional growth is boosting 401(k)s, pensions, and college savings accounts for millions and millions of hardworking families. You hear so much about inequality and all of the differences and all of the problems. The single biggest benefactors of what we’ve done are middle-class workers and low-income families. It’s been amazing, actually.
Altogether, we’ve added nearly $10 trillion of new value to our economy. That’s in a short period of time. Remember, I only use numbers from the time of the election because I can’t go to January 20th. It’s not fair. We picked up tremendous stock market and economic numbers. They actually went wild the day after I won. I think that should be attributed to us, not attributed to somebody else, because it would’ve gone in the opposite direction. (Applause.) It would’ve gone in the opposite direction had the other result taken place, which, fortunately, it didn’t.
Last year, GDP growth matched the fastest rate in more than a decade, and it was the best of the G7 countries by far. By far.
...
The average median income under President Bush rose only $400 over an eight-year period. Under President Obama, it rose $975 over an eight-year period. And under my administration, it rose $5,000 over slightly more than just two and a half years. That’s a big difference. (Applause.)
...
So, we’ve achieved this stunning turnaround because we’ve adopted a new economic policy that finally puts America first. As President, I understand and embrace the fact that the world is a place of fierce competition. We’re competing against other nations for jobs and industry, growth and prosperity. Factories and businesses will always find a home. It’s up to us to decide whether that home will be in a foreign country, or right here in our country, our beloved USA. And that’s where we want them to stay, and be, and move to. (Applause.)
...
To fuel our economic boom, we are bolding — and boldly pursuing American energy independence. And you see that in the Middle East, where ships are at great danger. And they keep saying, “What happened to the American ships?” They don’t see too many American ships over there anymore. Do you notice that?
We stopped the radical crusade to dismantle U.S. energy production and empower rogue regimes. We withdrew from the one-sided, horrible, horrible, economically unfair, “close your businesses down within three years,” “don’t frack, don’t drill, we don’t want any energy” — the horrible Paris Climate Accord that killed American jobs and shielded foreign polluters. It was a disaster for this country. Ask them, “How are they doing in Paris with your Paris Accord?” Not too good.
...
According to the Council of Economic Advisers, the astonishing increase in production, made possible by the shale revolution, saves Americans $2,500 for a family of four in lowering electric bills and prices at the pump. And the number is actually now even higher than that.
...
They recently came out with a poll that President Obama is much more popular in Germany than I am. I said, “Guess what? He should be. He should be.” (Laughter.) The day I’m more popular than him, you know I’m not doing my job. Let’s put it that way. (Applause.) Because we’re treated very badly by countries. They take advantage of us, and they have for many, many years. It’s hard to break that cycle. But we’re breaking it and we’re getting along with them, believe it or not. We’re actually — I think they respect us far more today than they ever have, if you want to know the truth.
...
Since the election, real wages have gone up 3.2 percent for the median American worker. But for the bottom income group, real wages are soaring — a number that’s never happened before — 9 percent. And that means you might make a couple of bucks less in your companies. You know what? That’s okay. That’s okay. This is a great thing for our country when you talk about equality. This is a great thing for our country.
Our tight labor market is helping them the most. Yet, Democrats in Washington want to erase these gains through an extreme policy of open borders, flooding the labor market, and driving down incomes for the poorest Americans, and driving crime right through the roof. They want nothing to do with looking at the people that are coming in. And some very, very bad people are trying to get in.