Whose Undermining Democracy? In Senate #Impeachment Farce Schiff Says We Can't Trust Voters in Elections

Sounds to me like he's questioning validity of our elections. I thought that was a no no!

Democrats claim they are impeaching Trump to save democracy and the Constitution. Here's Schiff admitting exactly the opposite. Democrats refuse to accept the will of the American people at the ballot box. That's FASCISM! https://t.co/B4uXf3lUJk

— mikesamerica (@mikesamerica) January 22, 2020

Democrat Whistleblower Overheard Planning to Impeach Trump Two Weeks After President Inaugurated

Democrat's #impeachmentfarce has deep roots in the deep state!

If democrats want witnesses, the “whistleblower” and his coconspirator Adam Schiff should go first.

Whistleblower Was Overheard in '17 Discussing With Ally How to Remove Trumphttps://t.co/GGi3qX6XCw

— Arthur Schwartz (@ArthurSchwartz) January 22, 2020

Ukraine specialist Eric Ciaramella poses for a photo with former President Barack Obama at the White House. 

Whistleblower Was Overheard in '17 Discussing With Ally How to Remove Trump

By Paul Sperry, RealClearInvestigations
January 22, 2020

Barely two weeks after Donald Trump took office, Eric Ciaramella – the CIA analyst whose name was recently linked in a tweet by the president and mentioned by lawmakers as the anonymous “whistleblower" who touched off Trump's impeachment – was overheard in the White House discussing with another staffer how to remove the newly elected president from office, according to former colleagues.

Sean Misko: He spoke with Ciaramella about the need to "take out," or remove, President Trump. Later he went to work for Rep. Adam Schiff's committee.

Center for a New American Security

Sources told RealClearInvestigations the staffer with whom Ciaramella was speaking was Sean Misko. Both were Obama administration holdovers working in the Trump White House on foreign policy and national security issues. And both expressed anger over Trump’s new “America First” foreign policy, a sea change from President Obama’s approach to international affairs.

“Just days after he was sworn in they were already talking about trying to get rid of him,” said a White House colleague who overheard their conversation.

“They weren’t just bent on subverting his agenda,” the former official added. “They were plotting to actually have him removed from office.”

Misko left the White House last summer to join House impeachment manager Adam Schiff’s committee, where sources say he offered “guidance” to the whistleblower, who has been officially identified only as an intelligence officer in a complaint against Trump filed under whistleblower laws. Misko then helped run the impeachment inquiry based on that complaint as a top investigator for congressional Democrats.

The probe culminated in Trump’s impeachment last month on a party-line vote in the House of Representatives. Schiff and other House Democrats last week delivered the articles of impeachment to the Senate, and are now pressing the case for his removal during the trial, which began Tuesday.

The coordination between the official believed to be the whistleblower and a key Democratic staffer, details of which are disclosed here for the first time, undercuts the narrative that impeachment developed spontaneously out of the “patriotism" of an “apolitical civil servant."

Two former co-workers said they overheard Ciaramella and Misko, close friends and Democrats held over from the Obama administration, discussing how to “take out,” or remove, the new president from office within days of Trump’s inauguration. These co-workers said the president’s controversial Ukraine phone call in July 2019 provided the pretext they and their Democratic allies had been looking for.

“They didn’t like his policies,” another former White House official said. "They had a political vendetta against him from Day One.” 

Impeachment manager Adam Schiff speaks during the impeachment trial of President Trump in the Senate on Tuesday.

(Senate Television via AP)

Their efforts were part of a larger pattern of coordination to build a case for impeachment, involving Democratic leaders as well as anti-Trump figures both inside and outside of government.

All unnamed sources for this article spoke only on condition that they not be further identified or described. Although strong evidence points to Ciaramella as the government employee who lodged the whistleblower complaint, he has not been officially identified as such. As a result, this article makes a distinction between public information released about the unnamed whistleblower/CIA analyst and specific information about Ciaramella.

Democrats based their impeachment case on the whistleblower complaint, which alleges that President Trump sought to help his re-election campaign by demanding that Ukraine’s leader investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter in exchange for military aid. Yet Schiff, who heads the House Intelligence Committee, and other Democrats have insisted on keeping the identity of the whistleblower secret, citing concern for his safety, while arguing that his testimony no longer matters because other witnesses and documents have “corroborated" what he alleged in his complaint about the Ukraine call.

Hunter and Joe Biden: Subjects of the Ukraine phone call at the center of Trump's impeachment.

AP Photo

Republicans have fought unsuccessfully to call him as a witness, arguing that his motivations and associations are relevant – and that the president has the same due-process right to confront his accuser as any other American.

The whistleblower’s candor is also being called into question.  It turns out that the CIA operative failed to report his contacts with Schiff’s office to the intelligence community’s inspector general who fielded his whistleblower complaint. He withheld the information both in interviews with the inspector general, Michael Atkinson, and in writing, according to impeachment committee investigators. The whistleblower form he filled out required him to disclose whether he had “contacted other entities” -- including “members of Congress.” But he left that section blank on the disclosure form he signed.

The investigators say that details about how the whistleblower consulted with Schiff’s staff and perhaps misled Atkinson about those interactions are contained in the transcript of a closed-door briefing Atkinson gave to the House Intelligence Committee last October. However, Schiff has sealed the transcript from public view. It is the only impeachment witness transcript out of 18 that he has not released.

Schiff has classified the document “Secret,” preventing Republicans who attended the Atkinson briefing from quoting from it. Even impeachment investigators cannot view it outside a highly secured room, known as a “SCIF," in the basement of the Capitol. Members must first get permission from Schiff, and they are forbidden from bringing phones into the SCIF or from taking notes from the document.

Sen. Rand Paul: Among the few lawmakers who have publicly demanded that Ciaramella testify regarding the whistleblower's complaint.

AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File

While the identity of the whistleblower remains unconfirmed, at least officially, Trump recently retweeted a message naming Ciaramella, while Republican Sen. Rand Paul and Rep. Louie Gohmert of the House Judiciary Committee have publicly demanded that Ciaramella testify about his role in the whistleblower complaint.

During last year’s closed-door House depositions of impeachment witnesses, Ciaramella’s name was invoked in heated discussions about the whistleblower, as RealClearInvestigations first reported Oct. 30, and has appeared in at least one testimony transcript. Congressional Republicans complain Schiff and his staff counsel have redacted his name from other documents.

Lawyers representing the whistleblower have neither confirmed nor denied that Ciaramella is their client. In November, after Donald Trump Jr. named Ciaramella and cited RCI's story in a series of tweets, however, they sent a “cease and desist” letter to the White House demanding Trump and his “surrogates" stop “attacking" him. And just as the whistleblower complaint was made public in September, Ciaramella’s social media postings and profiles were scrubbed from the Internet. 

‘Take Out’ the President

An Obama holdover and registered Democrat, Ciaramella in early 2017 expressed hostility toward the newly elected president during White House meetings, his co-workers said in interviews with RealClearInvestigations. They added that Ciaramella sought to have Trump removed from office long before the filing of the whistleblower complaint.

Michael Flynn: Ciaramella and Misko were alarmed by Trump's "America First" foreign policy, outlined by the president's first national security adviser.

AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta

At the time, the CIA operative worked on loan to the White House as a top Ukrainian analyst in the National Security Council, where he had previously served as an adviser on Ukraine to Vice President Biden. The whistleblower complaint cites Biden, alleging that Trump demanded Ukraine’s newly elected leader investigate him and his son "to help the president’s 2020 reelection bid.”

Two NSC co-workers told RCI that they overheard Ciaramella and Misko - who was also working at the NSC as an analyst - making anti-Trump remarks to each other while attending a staff-wide NSC meeting called by then-National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, where they sat together in the south auditorium of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, part of the White House complex.

The “all hands” meeting, held about two weeks into the new administration, was attended by hundreds of NSC employees.

“They were popping off about how they were going to remove Trump from office. No joke,” said one ex-colleague, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

A military staffer detailed to the NSC, who was seated directly in front of Ciaramella and Misko during the meeting, confirmed hearing them talk about toppling Trump during their private conversation, which the source said lasted about one minute. The crowd was preparing to get up to leave the room at the time.

“After Flynn briefed [the staff] about what ‘America first’ foreign policy means, Ciaramella turned to Misko and commented, ‘We need to take him out,’ ” the staffer recalled. “And Misko replied, ‘Yeah, we need to do everything we can to take out the president.’ “

Added the military detailee, who spoke on condition of anonymity: “By ‘taking him out,’ they meant removing him from office by any means necessary. They were triggered by Trump’s and Flynn’s vision for the world. This was the first ‘all hands’ [staff meeting] where they got to see Trump’s national security team, and they were huffing and puffing throughout the briefing any time Flynn said something they didn’t like about ‘America First.’ ”

He said he also overheard Ciaramella telling Misko, referring to Trump, ‘We can’t let him enact this foreign policy.’ “

Alarmed by their conversation, the military staffer immediately reported what he heard to his superiors.

“It was so shocking that they were so blatant and outspoken about their opinion,” he recalled. “They weren’t shouting it, but they didn’t seem to feel the need to hide it.”

The co-workers didn’t think much more about the incident.

“We just thought they were wacky,” the first source said. “Little did we know.”

Neither Ciaramella nor Misko could be reached for comment.

Alexander Vindman: The National Security Council aide leaked to Ciaramella details of the July 25 Trump-Ukraine phone call. Like Ciaramella, Vindman expressed disdain for Trump, co-workers said.

AP Photo/Susan Walsh

A CIA alumnus, Misko had previously assisted Biden’s top national security aide Jake Sullivan. Former NSC staffers said Misko was Ciaramella’s closest and most trusted ally in the Trump White House.

“Eric and Sean were very tight and spent nearly two years together at the NSC,” said a former supervisor who requested anonymity. “Both of them were paranoid about Trump."

“They were thick as thieves,” added the first NSC source. “They sat next to each other and complained about Trump all the time. They were buddies. They weren’t just colleagues. They were buddies outside the White House.”

The February 2017 incident wasn’t the only time the pair exhibited open hostility toward the president. During the following months, both were accused internally of leaking negative information about Trump to the media.

But Trump’s controversial call to the new president of Ukraine this past summer -- in which he asked the foreign leader for help with domestic investigations involving the Obama administration, including Biden -- gave them the opening they were looking for.

A mutual ally in the National Security Council who was one of the White House officials authorized to listen in on Trump's July 25 conversation with Ukraine’s president leaked it to Ciaramella the next day — July 26 —  according to former NSC co-workers and congressional sources. The friend, Ukraine-born Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, held Ciaramella’s old position at the NSC as director for Ukraine. Although Ciaramella had left the White House to return to the CIA in mid-2017, the two officials continued to collaborate through interagency meetings.

Vindman leaked what he’d heard to Ciaramella by phone that afternoon, the sources said. In their conversation, which lasted a few minutes, he described Trump’s call as “crazy,” and speculated he had “committed a criminal act.” Neither reviewed the transcript of the call before the White House released it months later.

NSC co-workers said that Vindman, like Ciaramella, openly expressed his disdain for Trump whose foreign policy was often at odds with the recommendations of "the interagency" — a network of agency working groups comprised of intelligence bureaucrats, experts and diplomats who regularly meet to craft and coordinate policy positions inside the federal government.

Before he was detailed to the White House, Vindman served in the U.S. Army, where he once received a reprimand from a superior officer for badmouthing and ridiculing America in front of Russian soldiers his unit was training with during a joint 2012 exercise in Germany. 

His commanding officer, Army Lt. Col. Jim Hickman, complained that Vindman, then a major, “was apologetic of American culture, laughed about Americans not being educated or worldly and really talked up Obama and globalism to the point of [It being] uncomfortable.”

“Vindman was a partisan Democrat at least as far back as 2012,” Hickman, now retired, asserted. “Do not let the uniform fool you. He is a political activist in uniform.”

Attempts to reach Vindman through his lawyer were unsuccessful.

Fred Fleitz: Former chief of staff to John Bolton says it was obvious the whistleblower had coaching in writing his complaint.

fredfleitz.com/Wikimedia

July 26 was also the day that Schiff hired Misko to head up the investigation of Trump, congressional employment records show. Misko, in turn, secretly huddled with the whistleblower prior to filing his Aug. 12 complaint, according to multiple congressional sources, and shared what he told him with Schiff, who initially denied the contacts before press accounts revealed them.

Schiff’s office has also denied helping the whistleblower prepare his complaint, while rejecting a Republican subpoena for documents relating to it. But Capitol Hill veterans and federal whistleblower experts are suspicious of that account.

Fred Fleitz, who fielded a number of whistleblower complaints from the intelligence community as a former senior House Intelligence Committee staff member, said it was obvious that the CIA analyst had received coaching in writing the nine-page whistleblower report.

"From my experience, such an extremely polished whistleblowing complaint is unheard of,” Fleitz, also a former CIA analyst, said. “He appears to have collaborated in drafting his complaint with partisan House Intelligence Committee members and staff.” 

Fleitz, who recently served as chief of staff to former National Security Adviser John Bolton, said the complaint appears to have been tailored to buttress an impeachment charge of soliciting the “interference” of a foreign government in the election.

And the whistleblower’s unsupported allegation became the foundation for Democrats' first article of impeachment against the president. It even adopts the language used by the CIA analyst in his complaint, which Fleitz said reads more like “a political document.”

Outside Help

After providing the outlines of his complaint to Schiff’s staff, the CIA analyst was referred to whistleblower attorney Andrew Bakaj by a mutual friend "who is an attorney and expert in national security law,” according to the Washington Post, which did not identify the go-between.

Andrew Bakaj: Whistleblower lawyer worked with Ciaramella at the CIA.

Compass Rose Legal Group

A former CIA officer, Bakaj had worked with Ciaramella at the spy agency. They have even more in common: like the 33-year-old Ciaramella, the 37-year-old Bakaj is a Connecticut native who has spent time in Ukraine. He's also contributed money to Biden’s presidential campaign and once worked for former Sen. Hillary Clinton. He’s also briefed the intelligence panel Schiff chairs.

Bakaj brought in another whistleblower lawyer, Mark Zaid, to help on the case. A Democratic donor and a politically active anti-Trump  advocate, Zaid was willing to help represent the CIA analyst. On Jan. 30, 2017, around the same time former colleagues say they overheard Ciaramella and Misko conspiring to take Trump out, Zaid tweeted that a “coup has started” and that “impeachment will follow ultimately.”

Neither Bakaj nor Zaid responded to requests for an interview.

Mark Zaid: This whistleblower lawyer tweeted that a “coup has started” around the same time former colleagues say they overheard Ciaramella and Misko conspiring to remove Trump.

Compass Rose Legal Group

It’s not clear who the mutual friend and national security attorney was whom the analyst turned to for additional help after meeting with Schiff’s staff. But people familiar with the matter say that former Justice Department national security lawyer David Laufman involved himself early on in the whistleblower case.

Also a former CIA officer, Laufman was promoted by the Obama administration to run counterintelligence cases, including the high-profile investigations of Clinton’s classified emails and the Trump campaign’s alleged ties to Russia. Laufman sat in on Clinton’s July 2016 FBI interview. He also signed off on the wiretapping of a Trump campaign adviser, which the Department of Justice inspector general determined was conducted under false pretenses involving doctored emails, suppression of exculpatory evidence, and other malfeasance. Laufman’s office was implicated in a report detailing the surveillance misconduct.

Laufman could not be reached for comment.

Laufman and Zaid are old friends who have worked together on legal matters in the past. “I would not hesitate to join forces with him on complicated cases,” Zaid said of Laufman in a recommendation posted on his LinkedIn page.

David Laufman: Fellow lawyer defended Mark Zaid on Twitter against attacks by President Trump.

wiggin.com

Laufman recently defended Zaid on Twitter after Trump blasted Zaid for advocating a “coup” against him. “These attacks on Mark Zaid’s patriotism are baseless, irresponsible and dangerous,” Laufman tweeted. “Mark is an ardent advocate for his clients."

After the CIA analyst was coached on how to file a complaint under Intelligence Community whistleblower protections, he was steered to another Obama holdover -- former Justice Department attorney-turned-inspector general Michael Atkinson, who facilitated the processing of his complaint, despite numerous red flags raised by career Justice Department lawyers who reviewed it. 

The department's Office of Legal Counsel that the complaint involved “foreign diplomacy,” not intelligence, contained “hearsay” evidence based on “secondhand” information, and did not meet the definition of an “urgent concern” that needed to be reported to Congress. Still, Atkinson worked closely with Schiff to pressure the White House to make the complaint public.

Fleitz said cloaking the CIA analyst in the whistleblower statute provided him cover from public scrutiny. By making him anonymous, he was able to hide his background and motives. Filing the complaint with the IC inspector general, moreover, gave him added protections against reprisals, while letting him disclose classified information. If he had filed directly with Congress, it could not have made the complaint public due to  classified concerns. But a complaint referred by the IG to Congress gave it more latitude over what it could make public.

Omitted Contacts With Schiff

The whistleblower complaint was publicly released Sept. 26 after a barrage of letters and a subpoena from Schiff, along with a flood of leaks to the media.

Michael Atkinson: Was the intelligence community inspector general misled by the whistleblower? And was Atkinson "evasive" to congressional investigators?

AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana

However, the whistleblower did not disclose to Atkinson that he had briefed Schiff’s office about his complaint before filing it with the inspector general. He was required on forms to list any other agencies he had contacted, including Congress. But he omitted those contacts and other material facts from his disclosure. He also appears to have misled Atkinson on Aug. 12, when on a separate form he stated: “I reserve the option to exercise my legal right to contact the committees directly,” when he had already contacted Schiff’s committee weeks prior to making the statement.

“The whistleblower made statements to the inspector general under the penalty of perjury that were not true or correct,” said Rep. John Ratcliffe, a Republican member of the House Intelligence Committee.

Ratcliffe said Atkinson appeared unconcerned after the New York Times revealed in early October that Schiff’s office had privately consulted with the CIA analyst before he filed his complaint, contradicting Schiff’s initial denials. Ratcliffe told RealClearInvestigations that in closed door testimony on Oct. 4, “I asked IG Atkinson about his ‘investigation’ into the contacts between Schiff’s staff and the person who later became the whistleblower."  But he said Atkinson claimed that he had not investigated them because he had only just learned about them in the media.

On Oct. 8, after more media reports revealed the whistleblower and Schiff’s staff had concealed their contacts with each other, the whistleblower called Atkinson’s office to try to explain why he made false statements in writing and verbally, transgressions that could be punishable with a fine of up to $10,000, imprisonment for up five years, or both, according to the federal form he signed under penalty of perjury.

In his clarification to the inspector general, the whistleblower acknowledged for the first time reaching out to Schiff’s staff before filing the complaint, according to an investigative report filed later that month by Atkinson.

“The whistleblower got caught,” Ratcliffe said. "The whistleblower made false statements. The whistleblower got caught with Chairman Schiff.”

He says the truth about what happened is documented on pages 53-73 of the transcript of Atkinson’s eight-hour testimony. Except that Schiff refuses to release it.

“The transcript is classified ‘Secret’ so Schiff can prevent you from seeing the answers to my questions,” Ratcliffe told RCI.

Atkinson replaced Charles McCullough as the intelligence community’s IG. McCullough is now a partner in the same law firm for which Bakaj and Zaid work. McCullough formerly reported directly to Obama’s National Intelligence Director, James Clapper, one of Trump’s biggest critics in the intelligence community and a regular agitator for his impeachment on CNN. 

Hidden Political Agenda?

Atkinson also repeatedly refused to answer Senate Intelligence Committee questions about the political bias of the whistleblower. Republican members of the panel called his Sept. 26 testimony “evasive.” Senate investigators say they are seeking all records generated from Atkinson’s “preliminary review” of the whistleblower’s complaint, including evidence and “indicia” of the whistleblower’s “political bias” in favor of Biden.

Mary McCord: The Justice Department official worked with inspector general Atkinson during the Trump-Russia probe. She pushed the White House to fire Michael Flynn.

AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File

Republicans point out that Atkinson was the top national security lawyer in the Obama Justice Department when it was investigating Trump campaign aides and Trump himself in 2016 and 2017. He worked closely with Laufman, the department’s former counterintelligence section chief who’s now aligned with the whistleblower’s attorneys. Also, Atkinson served as senior counsel to Mary McCord, the senior Justice official appointed by Obama who helped oversee the FBI’s Russia “collusion” probe, and who personally pressured the White House to fire then National Security Adviser Flynn. She and Atkinson worked together on the Russia case. Closing the circle tighter, McCord was Laufman’s boss at Justice.

As it happens, all three are now involved in the whistleblower case or the impeachment process.

After leaving the department, McCord joined the stable of attorneys Democrats recruited last year to help impeach Trump. She is listed as a top outside counsel for the House in key legal battles tied to impeachment, including trying to convince federal judges to unblock White House witnesses and documents.

"Michael Atkinson is a key anti-Trump conspirator who played a central role in transforming the ‘whistleblower' complaint into the current impeachment proceedings,” said Bill Marshall, a senior investigator for Judicial Watch, the conservative government watchdog group that is suing the Justice Department for Atkinson’s internal communications regarding impeachment.

Atkinson’s office declined comment.

Another 'Co-Conspirator'?

During closed-door depositions taken in the impeachment inquiry, Ciaramella’s confederate Misko was observed handing notes to Schiff’s lead counsel for the impeachment inquiry, Daniel Goldman – another Obama Justice attorney and a major Democratic donor – as he asked questions of Trump administration witnesses, officials with direct knowledge of the proceedings told RealClearInvestigations. Misko also was observed sitting on the dais behind Democratic members during last month’s publicly broadcast joint impeachment committee hearings.

Rep. Louie Gohmert: Publicly singled out Sean Misko and Abby Grace as Ciaramella's "co-conspirators." 

AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, Pool

Another Schiff recruit believed to part of the clandestine political operation against Trump is Abby Grace, who also worked closely with Ciaramella at the NSC, both before and after Trump was elected. During the Obama administration, Grace was an assistant to Obama national security aide Ben Rhodes.

Last February, Schiff recruited this other White House friend of the whistleblower to work as an impeachment investigator. Grace is listed alongside Sean Misko as senior staffers in the House Intelligence Committee’s “The Trump-Ukraine Impeachment Inquiry Report” published last month.

Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert, who served on one of the House impeachment panels, singled out Grace and Misko as Ciaramella’s “co-conspirators” in a recent House floor speech arguing for their testimony.

“These people are at the heart of everything about this whole Ukrainian hoax,” Gohmert said. “We need to be able to talk to these people."

A Schiff spokesman dismissed Gohmert’s allegation.

“These allegations about our dedicated and professional staff members are patently false and are based off false smears from a congressional staffer with a personal vendetta from a previous job,” said Patrick Boland, spokesman for the House Intelligence Committee. “It’s shocking that members of Congress would repeat them and other false conspiracy theories, rather than focusing on the facts of the president’s misconduct.”

Boland declined to identify "the congressional staffer with a personal vendetta."

Schiff has maintained in open hearings and interviews that he did not personally speak with the whistleblower and still does not even know his identity, which would mean the intelligence panel's senior staff has withheld his name from their chairman for almost six months. Still, he insists that he knows that the CIA analyst has "acted in good faith,” as well as “appropriately and lawfully.”

The CIA declined comment. But the agency reportedly has taken security measures to protect the analyst, who has continued to work on issues relating to Russia and Ukraine and participate in interagency meetings.

Meanwhile, there are more questions about what Obama officials were doing in Ukraine and whether they are covering up for Biden's corruption. 

.@GlennBeck .@FoxNews #IngrahamAngle exposes a January 2016 Obama White House meeting, as well as a State Department email chain, adding more fuel to the corrupt Biden - Burisma - Ukraine fire. #ImpeachmentHoax https://t.co/2GqTkEbUwQ via @YouTube

— 💧💧 Tom Thorp 💧💧 - ❌💉 (@real_TomThorp) January 23, 2020

Two Short Videos You MUST See. Trump as Road Runner and Schiff as Wylie Coyote and on Serious Side Senate GOP

pic.twitter.com/zl0F8Efmu7

— Dan Scavino (@DanScavino) January 22, 2020

Trump the Rock Star of Davos Brags on U.S. Economic Miracle and Dismisses Phony Scaremongering of Climate Change Alarmists

Meanwhile, Dems in the #impeachmentfarce look like pygmies on parade!

President Donald J. Trump delivers the opening remarks at the 50th Annual World Economic Forum meeting Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2020, at the Davos Congress Centre in Davos, Switzerland.

US President @realDonaldTrump spoke at #wef20, telling the audience the United States is in the midst of an economic boom.

Find out more: https://t.co/91BiDmegfv @POTUS #wef20 pic.twitter.com/4Q1jXrxDTU

— World Economic Forum (@wef) January 21, 2020

In his remarks President Trump gave other leaders the roadmap for prosperity that he used to create the U.S. economic miracle:

PRESIDENT TRUMP: I knew that if we unleashed the potential of our people, if we cut taxes, slashed regulations — and we did that at a level that’s never been done before in the history of our country, in a short period of time — fixed broken trade deals and fully tapped American energy, that prosperity would come thundering back at a record speed. And that is exactly what we did, and that is exactly what happened.
...
For the first time in decades, we are no longer simply concentrating wealth in the hands of a few. We’re concentrating and creating the most inclusive economy ever to exist. We are lifting up Americans of every race, color, religion, and creed.

Unemployment rates among African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Asian Americans have all reached record lows. African American youth unemployment has reached the lowest it’s ever been in the history of our country. African American poverty has plummeted to the lowest rate ever recorded. The unemployment rate for women reached the lowest level since 1953. And women now comprise a majority of the American workforce; that’s for the first time.

The unemployment rate for veterans has dropped to a record low. The unemployment rate for disabled Americans has reached an all-time record low. Workers without a high school diploma have achieved the lowest unemployment rate recorded in U.S. history. Wages are rising across the board. And those at the bottom of the income ladder are enjoying the percentage, by far, largest gains.

Workers’ wages are now growing faster than management wages. Earnings growth for the bottom 10 percent is outpacing the top 10 percent — something that has not happened. Paychecks for high school graduates are rising faster than for college graduates.

Young Americans just entering the workforce are also sharing in America’s extraordinary prosperity. Since I took office, more than 2 million millennials have gotten jobs, and their wages have grown by nearly 5 percent annually — a number that was unthinkable. Nobody would have ever thought it was possible three years ago. A record number of Americans between the ages of 25 and 34 are now working.

In the eight years before I took office, over 300,000 working-age people left the workforce. In just three years in my administration, 3.5 million people have joined the workforce. Ten million people have been lifted off welfare in less than three years. Celebrating the dignity of work is a fundamental pillar of our agenda.

This is a blue-collar boom. Since my election, the net worth of the bottom half of wage earners has increased by plus-47 percent — three times faster than the increase for the top 1 percent. Real median household income is at the highest level ever recorded.

The American Dream is back — bigger, better, and stronger than ever before. No one is benefitting more than America’s middle class.

We have created 1.2 million manufacturing and construction jobs — a number also unthinkable. After losing 60,000 factories under the previous two administrations — hard to believe when you hear “60,000 factories” — America has now gained, in a very short period of time, 12,000 new factories under my administration. And the number is going up rapidly. We’ll be beating the 60,000 number that we lost, except these will be bigger, newer, and the latest.

Years of economic stagnation have given way to a roaring geyser of opportunity. U.S. stock markets have soared by more than 50 percent since my election, adding more than $19 trillion to household wealth, and boosting 401(k)s, pensions, and college savings accounts for millions of hardworking families.

And these great numbers are many things, and it’s despite the fact that the Fed has raised rates too fast and lowered them too slowly. And even now, as the United States is by far the strongest economic power in the world, it’s not even close. It was going to be close, but a lot of good things happened to us, and some not-so-good things happened to certain other places.

Trump also addressed climate change alarmism:

WATCH: President Trump calls climate scientists "perennial prophets of doom" at World Economic Forum in Davos. #wef20 https://t.co/YEKXBSbEeL pic.twitter.com/acmbJbs9LA

— CBS News (@CBSNews) January 21, 2020

Dems are trying to impeach the President who created millions of new jobs for African Americans and helped lower income workers get a huge boost in their income.  I'd say we should impeach THEM!

Three Years Ago President Trump was Inaugurated and America's Miracle Recovery Began

Just think what great things he will do with another four years!

President Trump's inaugural address—Jan. 20, 2017 “America will start winning again, winning like never before. We will bring back our jobs. We will bring back our borders. We will bring back our wealth. And we will bring back our dreams.”

PROMISES MADE. PROMISES KEPT!

We are making America stronger, prouder, and greater than ever before.

President Donald J. Trump

PROMOTING ECONOMIC PROSPERITY FOR ALL: President Trump’s pro-growth policies have led to an economic boom that is lifting up Americans of all backgrounds.

• Since President Trump’s election, more than 7 million jobs have been added to the economy.
• For the first time on record there are more job openings than unemployed Americans.
  • There are more than 7 million job openings, outnumbering job seekers by more than 1 million.
  • Nearly two-thirds of Americans rate now as a good time to find a quality job, empowering more Americans with rewarding careers.
• This year, the unemployment rate reached its lowest level in half a century.
  • The unemployment rate has remained at or below 4 percent for the past 21 months.
  • The unemployment rate for women reached its lowest rate in 65 years under President Trump.
• Under President Trump, jobless claims hit their lowest level in half a century.
• The number of people claiming unemployment insurance as a share of the population is the lowest on record.
• American workers of all backgrounds are thriving under President Trump.
  • The unemployment rates for African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, veterans, individuals with disabilities, and those without a high school diploma have all reached record lows under President Trump.
• The booming economy is putting more money in Americans’ pockets.
  • Wages are growing at their fastest rate in a decade, with year-over-year wage gains exceeding 3 percent for the first time since 2009.
  • November 2019 marked the 16th consecutive month that wages rose at an annual rate of at or over 3 percent.
  • Median household income surpassed $63,000 in 2018 – the highest level on record.
• President Trump’s policies are helping forgotten Americans across the country prosper, driving down income inequality.
  • Wages are rising fastest for low-income workers.
  • Middle-class and low-income workers are enjoying faster wage growth than high-earners.
  • When measured as the share of income earned by the top 20 percent, income inequality fell in 2018 by the largest amount in over a decade.
• Americans are being lifted out of poverty as a result of today’s booming economy.
  • Since President Trump took office, over 2.4 million Americans have been lifted out of poverty.
  • Poverty rates for African Americans and Hispanic Americans have reached record lows.
  • Since President Trump’s election, nearly 7 million Americans have been lifted off of food stamps.
• Americans are coming off of the sidelines and back into the workforce.
  • The prime age labor force has grown by 2.1 million under President Trump.
  • In the third quarter of 2019, 73.7 percent of workers entering employment came from out of the labor force rather than from unemployment, the highest share since the series began in 1990.
• President Trump’s pro-growth policies are helping businesses of all sizes thrive like never before.
  • Small business optimism broke a 35-year old record in 2018 and remains historically high.
  • The DOW, S&P 500, and NASDAQ have all repeatedly notched record highs under President Trump.
• President Trump is following through on his promise to revitalize American manufacturing, with more than a half million manufacturing jobs added since the election.
• President Trump has prioritized workforce development to ensure American workers are prepared to fill high quality jobs.
  • The President has worked to expand apprenticeship programs, helping Americans gain hands-on training and experience with no student debt.
  • Since President Trump took office, over 660,000 apprentices have been hired across the country.
  • President Trump established the National Council for the American Worker, tasked with developing a workforce strategy for the jobs of the future.
  • Over 370 companies have signed the President’s “Pledge to America’s Workers,” pledging to provide more than 14.4 million employment and training opportunities.
  • President Trump signed an Executive Order prioritizing Cyber Workforce Development to ensure that we have the most skilled cyber workforce of the 21^st century.
• President Trump signed the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act in 2017 – the largest tax reform package in history.
  • More than 6 million American workers received wage increases, bonuses, and increased benefits thanks to the tax cuts.
  • $1 trillion has poured back into the country from overseas since the President’s tax cuts.
• President Trump is revitalizing distressed communities through Opportunity Zones, which encourage investment and growth in underserved communities.
  • More than 8,760 communities in all 50 States, the District of Columbia, and 5 Territories have been designated as Opportunity Zones.
  • The White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council has taken more than 175 actions to encourage investment and promote growth within Opportunity Zones.
  • The White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council is engaging all levels of government to identify best practices and assist leaders, investors, and entrepreneurs in using the Opportunity Zone incentive to revitalize low-income communities.
• The President is ensuring that America is prepared to lead the world in the industries of the future, by promoting American leadership in emerging technologies like 5G and AI.
  • The Administration named artificial intelligence, quantum information science, and 5G, among other emerging technologies, as national research and development priorities.
  • President Trump launched the American AI Initiative to invest in AI research, unleash innovation, and build the American workforce of the future.
  • President Trump signed an Executive Order that established a new advisory committee of industry and academic leaders to advise the government on its quantum activities.
• President Trump has made supporting working families a priority of his Administration.
  • President Trump signed legislation securing historic levels of funding for the Child Care and Development Block Grant, helping low-income families access child care.
  • During his Joint Address to Congress and each State of the Union Address, the President called on Congress to pass a nationwide paid family leave plan.
  • The President signed into law 12-weeks of paid parental leave for federal workers.
  • President Trump’s tax reforms provided a new tax credit to incentivize businesses to offer paid family leave to their employees.
  • The President’s historic tax reforms doubled the child tax credit, benefitting nearly 40 million American families with an average of over $2,200 dollars in 2019.

LIFTING THE BURDEN OF OVERREGULATION: President Trump’s historic deregulation efforts are driving economic growth, cutting unnecessary costs, and increasing transparency.

• President Trump has delivered on, and far exceeded, his promise to slash two existing regulations for every new regulation.
  • Since taking office, President Trump has rolled back nearly 8 regulations for every new significant one.
• The Trump Administration’s deregulatory efforts have slashed regulatory costs by more than $50 billion.
• In the coming years, the average American household is projected to see an income gain of $3,100 per year thanks to President Trump’s historic regulatory reform.
• Once fully in effect, 20 major deregulatory actions undertaken by the Administration are expected to save American consumers and businesses over $220 billion per year.
• President Trump signed 16 pieces of deregulatory legislation that are expected to result in a $40 billion increase in annual real incomes.
• President Trump established the Governors Initiative on Regulatory Innovation.
  • This initiative is working to reduce outdated regulations at the State, local, and tribal levels, advance occupational licensing reform, and align Federal and State regulation.
• The President signed legislation eliminating regulatory barriers that made offering retirement benefits difficult for small businesses.
• The President took action to increase transparency in Federal agencies and protect Americans from administrative abuse.
  • This year, President Trump signed two Executive Orders to guard against secretive or unlawful interpretations of rules and prevent Americans from being hit with unfair and unexpected penalties.
• President Trump has followed through on his promise to repeal the Obama-era Waters of the United States Rule, lifting a burden off American farmers.
• President Trump ended the previous Administration’s war on coal.
  • President Trump signed legislation repealing the harmful Obama-era Stream Protection Rule.
  • President Trump replaced the overreaching Obama-era Clean Power Plan with the Affordable Clean Energy Rule, which respects States’ rights and promotes economic growth while lowering power-sector CO2 emissions.
• In 2017, the President announced the United States’ withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement, which would have killed millions of American jobs.
• The Administration has worked to undo the Obama-era fuel economy regulations by proposing the SAFE Vehicles Rule to lower the cost of new and safer cars.
• President Trump helped community banks by signing legislation that rolled back costly provisions of Dodd-Frank.
• President Trump established the White House Council on Reducing Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Housing Development to bring down the costs of housing across the country.
• The President’s deregulatory actions are removing government barriers to personal freedom and consumer choice in healthcare.
• In 2017, President Trump corrected Obama Administration overreach by right-sizing Bears Ears National Monument and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

FIGHTING FOR FAIRER TRADE: President Trump is negotiating better trade deals for the American people after years of our country being taken advantage of.

• President Trump negotiated the U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement (USMCA) to replace the outdated North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
  • USMCA includes tremendous wins for American workers, farmers, and manufacturers, generating over $68 billion in economic activity and creating 176,000 new jobs.
• President Trump negotiated two tremendous deals with Japan to boost America’s agricultural and digital trade with the world’s third largest economy.
  • Thanks to President Trump’s efforts, Japan will open its market to approximately $7 billion in American agricultural exports.
  • The President’s negotiations will boost the already approximately $40 billion worth of digital trade between our two countries.
• President Trump fulfilled his promise to renegotiate the United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement, providing a boost to American auto exports.
  • These efforts doubled the number of American autos that can be exported to South Korea using United States safety standards.
• President Trump reached a historic phase one trade agreement with China that will begin rebalancing our two countries’ trade relationship.
• As a result of President Trump’s leadership, China has agreed to structural reforms in areas of intellectual property, technology transfer, agriculture, financial services, and currency and foreign exchange.
• China will be making substantial purchases of American agricultural products, marking a monumental win for American farmers.
• President Trump fulfilled his promise to withdraw from the disastrous Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
• President Trump achieved a mutual agreement with the European Union to work together towards zero tariffs, non-tariff barriers, and subsidies on certain goods.
• President Trump has worked to prepare for post-Brexit trade and made Congress aware of his intent to negotiate a free trade agreement with the United Kingdom (UK).
• President Trump imposed tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum to protect our vital industries and support our national security.
• President Trump imposed tariffs to protect American-made washing machines and solar products that were hurt by import surges.
• The United States scored an historic victory by overhauling the Universal Postal Union (UPU), whose outdated policies were undermining American interests and workers.
• President Trump has expanded markets for American farmers to export their goods worldwide, for example:
  • The European Union has opened up to more American beef and increased imports of American soybeans.
  • China lifted its ban on American poultry and opened up to American beef.
  • South Korea lifted its ban on American poultry and eggs and agreed to provide market access for the greatest, guaranteed volume of American rice.
• The Trump Administration has authorized a total of $28 billion in aid for farmers who have been subjected to unfair trade practices.

SECURING THE BORDER: President Trump has taken historic steps to confront the crisis on our Nation’s borders and protect American communities.

• President Trump is following through on his promise to build a wall on our southern border.
  • The Administration expects to have approximately 450 miles of new border wall by the end of 2020.
• The President struck new agreements with Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras to help stop the flood of illegal immigration.
  • The President worked with Mexico to ensure they would improve their border security.
  • The United States is working with Mexico and others in the region to dismantle the human smuggling networks that profit from human misery and fuel the border crisis by exploiting vulnerable populations.
  • The Administration negotiated agreements with El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras to stem the surge of aliens arriving at our border.
  • President Trump negotiated the Migrant Protection Protocols, requiring certain migrants to wait in Mexico during their immigration proceedings instead of allowing them to disappear into our country.
• Thanks to the President’s swift action, border apprehensions fell by more than 70 percent from May – the peak of the crisis – to November.
• The Trump Administration is stopping deadly drugs and violent criminals from flowing across our borders and into our communities.
  • Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seized more than 163,000 pounds of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and fentanyl at the southern border in FY 2019.
  • The United States Coast Guard seized more than 458,000 pounds of cocaine at sea in FY 2019 and referred nearly 400 suspected drug smugglers for prosecution.
  •  U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) seized over 1.4 million pounds of narcotics and made more than 12,000 narcotic-related arrests in FY 2019.
  • Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) seized over 50,000 kilograms of methamphetamine and over 2,700 kilograms of fentanyl in FY 2019.
  • CBP apprehended 976 alien gang members in FY 2019, including 464 aliens affiliated with MS-13.
  • ICE HSI made over 4,000 arrests of gang members in FY 2019, including over 450 arrests of MS-13 members.

RESTORING THE RULE OF LAW: President Trump is upholding the rule of law, restoring integrity to our asylum system, and promoting immigrant self-sufficiency.

• President Trump released an immigration plan to fully secure our border, modernize our laws, and promote an immigration system based on merit.
• President Trump is working to combat the abuse of our asylum system that drives illegal immigration.
  • The Administration took action to close the Flores Settlement Agreement loophole and ensure alien families can be kept together through their proceedings.
  • The President released an order that makes aliens ineligible for asylum if they passed through another country in transit to our border and did not apply for asylum in that country first.
• Since taking office, President Trump has stepped up enforcement to ensure there are consequences for breaking our laws.
  • In FY 2019, the Department of Justice prosecuted a record breaking number of immigration related crimes.
  • ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) arrested 143,099 aliens in FY 2019, 86 percent of whom had criminal records.
  • ICE ERO removed more than 267,000 illegal aliens from the United States in FY 2019.
• The Trump Administration is cracking down on sanctuary cities and increasing cooperation at the local level on immigration enforcement.
  • The Administration has more than doubled the number of jurisdictions participating in the 287(g) program, enhancing local cooperation on immigration enforcement.
• The Administration took action to protect taxpayers by ensuring that aliens wishing to enter or remain in our country are able to support themselves and not rely on public benefits.
• The President issued a proclamation to ensure immigrants admitted to America do not burden our healthcare system.
• The President has taken action to reduce nonimmigrant visa overstays, a problem that undermines the rule of law, impacts public safety, and strains resources needed for the border.
• President Trump made our country safer by ordering the enhanced vetting of individuals attempting to come to America from countries that do not meet our security standards.
• The President is taking a responsible approach to refugee admissions, prioritizing refugee resettlement in jurisdictions where both State and local governments consent to receive them.
  • This order is designed to ensure that refugees are placed in an environment where they will have the best opportunity to succeed in their new homes.

CREATING SAFER COMMUNITIES: President Trump’s policies are supporting our brave law enforcement officers and making America’s communities safer.

• Violent crime fell in 2017 and 2018, after rising during each of the two years prior to President Trump taking office.
  • Since 2016, the violent crime rate in America has fallen nearly 5 percent and the murder rate has decreased by over 7 percent.
• President Trump signed the First Step Act into law, making our criminal justice system fairer for all while making our communities safer.
• President Trump has promoted second-chance hiring to give former inmates the opportunity to live crime-free lives and find meaningful employment, all while making our communities safer.
  • The Department of Education is expanding an initiative that allows individuals in Federal and State prisons to receive Pell Grants to better prepare themselves for the workforce.
  • The Department of Justice and Bureau of Prisons launched a new “Ready to Work” Initiative to help connect employers directly with former prisoners.
  • The Department of Labor awarded $2.2 million to states to expand the use of fidelity bonds, which underwrite companies that hire former prisoners.
• President Trump has revitalized Project Safe Neighborhoods, bringing together Federal, State, local, and tribal law enforcement officials to develop solutions to violent crime.
• The President is standing up for our Nation’s law enforcement officers, ensuring they have the support they need to keep our communities safe.
  • The President established a new commission to evaluate best practices for recruiting, training, and supporting law enforcement officers.
  • The Administration has made available hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of surplus military equipment to local law enforcement.
  • President Trump has signed an Executive Order to help prevent violence against law enforcement officers.
  • The President also signed legislation permanently funding the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund, aiding our Nation’s brave first responders.
• The President has taken action to combat the scourge of hate crimes and anti-Semitism rising in America.
  • President Trump signed an Executive Order making it clear that Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 applies to discrimination rooted in anti-Semitism.
  • The Administration launched a centralized website to educate the public about hate crimes and encourage reporting.
  • Since January 2017, the Civil Rights division at the DOJ has obtained 14 convictions in cases involving attacks or threats against places of worship.
• The President signed the Fix NICS Act to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous criminals.
• President Trump signed the STOP School Violence Act and created a Commission on School Safety to examine ways to make our schools safer.
• The Trump Administration is fighting to end the egregious crime of human trafficking.
  • In FY 2019, ICE HSI arrested 2,197 criminals associated with human trafficking and identified 428 victims.
  • The President signed the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, which tightened criteria for whether countries are meeting standards for eliminating trafficking.
• President Trump established a task force to help combat the tragedy of missing or murdered Native American women and girls.

ADVANCING AMERICA’S INTERESTS ABROAD: President Trump is putting America first and advancing our interests across the world.

• President Trump’s maximum pressure campaign is countering Iran’s influence and pressuring the corrupt regime to abandon its malign activities.
  • The President removed the United States from the horrible, one-sided Iran nuclear deal and re-imposed all sanctions that were lifted by the deal.
  • In response to Iran’s aggression and gross human rights violations, the President authorized crippling sanctions on the regime’s leadership, including the Supreme Leader.
  • President Trump is working to vigorously enforce all sanctions to bring Iran’s oil exports to zero and deny the regime its principal source of revenue.
• President Trump has held two historic summits with North Korea and earlier this year became the first President to cross the DMZ into North Korea.
  • The Administration has maintained tough sanctions on North Korea while negotiations have taken place.
• Since taking office, President Trump has taken historic steps to support and defend our cherished ally Israel.
  • This year, President Trump acknowledged Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights and declared Israeli settlements in the West Bank are not inconsistent with international law.
  • The President made good on his promise to recognize Jerusalem as the true capital of Israel and move the United States Embassy there.
  • The President removed the United States from the United Nations (U.N.) Human Rights Council due to the group’s blatant anti-Israel bias.
• President Trump has successfully urged North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) members to increase their defense spending and to focus on modern priorities.
  • NATO Allies will increase defense spending by $130 billion by the end of next year.
• The Administration has worked to reform and streamline the U.N., cutting spending and making the organization more efficient.
• Earlier this year, the President took action to protect our Second Amendment rights by announcing the United States will not join the misguided Arms Trade Treaty.
• President Trump has promoted democracy throughout the Western Hemisphere and imposed heavy sanctions on the regimes in Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua.
• The President reversed the previous Administration’s disastrous Cuba policy.
  • President Trump has enacted a new policy aimed at stopping any revenues from reaching the Cuban military or intelligence services, imposed stricter travel restrictions, and reaffirmed the focus ensuring the Cuban regime does not profit from U.S. dollars.
  • Earlier this year, the Trump Administration put a cap on remittances to Cuba.
  • President Trump is enabling Americans to file lawsuits against persons and entities that traffic in property confiscated by the Cuban regime, the first time that these kind of claims have been available for Americans under the Helms-Burton Act.
• President Trump has stood with the democratically elected National Assembly and the Venezuelan people and worked to cut off the financial resources of the Maduro regime.
  • President Trump recognized Juan Guaido as the Interim President of Venezuela and rallied an international coalition of 58 countries to support him.
  • Earlier this year, President Trump blocked all property of the Venezuelan Government in the jurisdiction of the United States.
  • President Trump has sanctioned key sectors of the Venezuelan economy exploited by the regime, including the oil and gold sectors.
  • The Administration sanctioned Maduro’s key financial lifelines, including the Venezuelan Central Bank, the Venezuelan Development Bank, and Petroleos de Venezuela.
• The Trump Administration has secured the release of Americans unjustly imprisoned abroad, including Kevin King, Xiyue Wang, Danny Burch, and more.
• The President and his Administration have worked to advance a free and open Indo-Pacific region, promoting new investments and expanding American partnerships.
• The President negotiated the return from Finland of approximately 600 tribal ancestral remains and other sacred objects for the American Indian and Pueblo communities from which they came.
• The Trump Administration released an economic plan to empower the Palestinian people and enhance Palestinian governance through private investment.
• The President created the first-ever whole-of-government approach to women’s economic empowerment through his Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative.
• In June of 2019, the President released the U.S. Strategy on Women, Peace, and Security, which focuses on increasing women’s participation to prevent and resolve conflicts.

REBUILDING OUR NATION’S DEFENSE: President Trump is investing in our military and ensuring our forces are able to defend against any and all threats.

• President Trump signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year (FY) 2020, authorizing a historic $738 billion in defense spending.
  • President Trump continued to invest in rebuilding our military, after signing legislation to provide for $700 billion in defense spending in FY18 and $716 billion in FY19.
• President Trump signed a 3.1% pay raise for our troops, the largest increase in a decade.
• The President signed legislation establishing the Space Force as a new branch of the Armed Forces, the first new branch since 1947.
• The United States Space Command was relaunched in August 2019.
• The President is modernizing and recapitalizing our nuclear forces and missile defenses to ensure they continue to serve as a strong deterrent.
• The President upgraded our cyber defenses by elevating the Cyber Command into a major warfighting command and reducing burdensome procedural restrictions on cyber operations.
• President Trump is protecting America’s defense-industrial base, directing the first whole-of-government assessment of our manufacturing and defense supply chains since the 1950s.
• Under the President’s leadership, the United States is taking the fight to terrorists all around the globe.
  • ISIS’ territorial caliphate has been defeated and all territory recaptured in Iraq and Syria.
  • The United States has brought Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the founder of ISIS, to justice.
• The President has taken decisive military action to punish the Assad regime in Syria for the barbaric use of chemical weapons on its own people.
  • The President also authorized sanctions against those tied to Syria’s chemical weapons program.

HONORING OUR VETERANS: President Trump is standing up for America’s veterans by ensuring they receive the proper care and support they deserve.

• President Trump signed the VA MISSION Act, revolutionizing the VA system, increasing choice, and providing quality care for our veterans.
  • This legislation reformed and expanded many of the existing programs to give veterans improved access to healthcare providers and offered entirely new options such as allowing veterans to get urgent care in their local communities.
  • The VA MISSION Act put veterans at the center of their healthcare decisions, not bureaucracy.
• The Trump Administration has expanded veterans’ ability to access telehealth services, including through the “Anywhere to Anywhere” VA health care initiative.
• President Trump has brought accountability to the VA, as promised.
  • President Trump signed the Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act to ensure VA employees are held responsible for poor performance.
  • Over 8,000 VA employees have been relieved of their duties at the VA since the beginning of the Administration.
• Veterans are seeing an improvement in quality of care under President Trump.
  • In the last year, the VA saw its highest patient experience ratings in history.
  • The Veterans of Foreign Wars found in its annual survey that more than 90 percent of respondents would recommend VA care to other veterans.
• President Trump signed the Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act of 2017 to expedite the veteran appeals process.
• The Administration is working to seamlessly align the VA’s and DoD’s electronic health records.
  • This new electronic health record system is on pace to launch next year in select areas.
• Under President Trump, the VA launched a new tool that provides veterans with online access to average wait times and quality-of-care data.
• Just as he promised, President Trump opened up a 24/7 White House VA Hotline to provide veterans access to help at all times.
• President Trump has committed his Administration to addressing the horrible tragedy of veteran suicide.
  • President Trump signed the PREVENTS Initiative, which created a task force to develop a revolutionary roadmap to tackle the problem of veteran suicide.
  • President Trump signed an executive order to improve access to suicide prevention resources for veterans.
• President Trump is expanding educational resources, promoting economic opportunity, and making sure our veterans have the support they need when they return home.
  • This year, the veteran unemployment rate reached its lowest level since 2000.
  • President Trump signed an executive order that paves the way for veterans to more easily join the Merchant Marine, providing quality job opportunities.
  • President Trump signed the Forever GI Bill, allowing veterans to use their educational benefits at any point in their lives.
  • President Trump expedited the process of discharging Federal student loan debt for our Nation’s totally and permanently disabled veterans.
  • President Trump signed the HAVEN Act to ensure that veterans who’ve declared bankruptcy don’t lose their disability payments.
• President Trump signed legislation providing a pathway for Alaska Natives who served in Vietnam to receive the land allotments to which they are legally entitled.

COMBATING THE OPIOID CRISIS: President Trump has made battling the opioid crisis a top priority for his Administration, and the results couldn’t be clearer.

• President Trump brought attention to the opioid crisis by declaring it a nationwide public health emergency.
• To address the many factors fueling the drug crisis, President Trump launched an Initiative to Stop Opioid Abuse and Reduce Drug Supply and Demand.
• Thanks to the President’s efforts, landmark new Federal funding and resources have been dedicated to help end this crisis.
• President Trump signed the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act, the largest and most comprehensive piece of legislation to combat the opioid crisis in history.
• The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has awarded nearly $9 billion over 2016 to 2019 in grants to address the opioid crisis and improve access to prevention, treatment, and recovery services in partnership with State and local officials.
• Nearly $1 billion in grants were recently awarded for the HEAL Initiative to support development of scientific solutions to help prevent and treat addiction.
• President Trump announced a Safer Prescriber Plan that seeks to decrease the amount of opioids prescription fills by one third within three years.
  • From January 2017 to September 2019, the total amount of opioids prescriptions filled in America dropped by 31%.
• This year, the President launched FindTreatment.gov, a newly designed website that makes it easier to find substance abuse treatment locations.
• The President implemented new efforts to educate Americans about the dangers of opioid misuse.
  • These efforts include an ad campaign on youth opioid abuse that reached 58 percent of young adults in America.
• President Trump and his Administration aggressively worked to cut off the flow of deadly drugs into our communities.
  • In FY 2019, ICE HSI seized 12,466 pounds of opioids including 3,688 pounds of fentanyl, an increase of 35% from FY 2018.
  • The Administration shut down the country’s biggest Darknet distributer of drugs, seizing enough fentanyl to kill 105,000 Americans in the process.
  • Under President Trump, a DOJ strike force charged more than 65 defendants collectively responsible for distributing over 45 million opioid pills.
  • The Administration has brought kingpin designations against traffickers operating in China, India, Mexico and more who have played a role in the epidemic in America.
  • The Administration secured the first-ever indictments against Chinese fentanyl traffickers.
  • This year, President Trump convinced China to enact strict regulations to control the production and sale of all types of fentanyl.
• Evidence suggests that President Trump’s efforts are making a real difference across the Nation.
  • Preliminary data shows overdose deaths fell nationwide in 2018 for the first time in decades.
  • Many of the hardest hit states – including Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia – saw drug overdose deaths drop in 2018.
  • Since 2016, there has been a nearly 40 percent increase in the number of Americans receiving medication-assisted treatment.

PUTTING PATIENTS FIRST: President Trump is working hard to give Americans better quality care at a lower cost.

• The Administration is delivering quality healthcare and promoting innovative treatment options for American patients.
  • Earlier this year, President Trump signed an order to protect and improve Medicare for our seniors, encouraging even more competition and promoting innovative benefits.
  • President Trump signed and implemented the Right to Try Act, which has expanded treatment options for terminally ill patients.
  • The President has taken action to combat childhood cancer, initiating an effort to provide $500 million over the next decade to improve pediatric cancer research.
  • The President signed legislation providing an additional $1 billion in Alzheimer’s disease research funding.
  • The Administration launched a plan to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic in America in the next decade.
  • President Trump took action to increase the availability of organs for patients in need of transplants and provide more treatment options and improve care for patients suffering from kidney disease.
  • The President signed an order to modernize the influenza vaccine.
• The Administration is making healthcare more affordable and transparent.
  • The Administration is requiring hospitals to make their prices negotiated with insurers publicly and easily available online.
  • The President is working to expand Association Health Plans, which would make it easier for employers to join together and offer more affordable health coverage to their employees.
  • President Trump extended access to short-term, limited-duration health plans, giving Americans more flexibility to choose plans that suit their needs.
  • The Administration expanded the use of Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs). Now, HRAs allow employers to help their employees pay for the cost of insurance that they select in the individual market.
  • The Administration has successfully worked to reduce Medicare Advantage and Part D premiums to their lowest in years.
  • The Administration has improved access to health savings accounts for individuals with chronic conditions.
  • The President has worked to reduce the burden felt by Americans due to Obamacare and eliminated Obamacare’s individual mandate penalty.
  • President Trump released legislative principles to end surprise medical billing and is working with Congress to give patients the control they deserve.
• President Trump is following through on his pledge to combat high drug prices.
  • President Trump released a blueprint to reduce drug prices and expand affordability for American patients.
  • The Administration’s efforts to lower drug prices led to the largest year-over-year decrease in drug prices ever recorded.
  • The President has advanced efforts to import prescription drugs from Canada in partnership with several states, including Florida and Colorado.
  • The President launched an initiative to stop global freeloading in the drug market, proposing a new way for Medicare to pay for certain drugs based on prices other developed nations pay.
  • The President signed legislation to end pharmacy gag clauses, which prevented pharmacists from letting patients know when it would be cheaper to buy drugs without their insurance.

SAFEGUARDING LIFE AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY: President Trump has made it a priority of his Administration to uphold the sanctity of life and safeguard religious liberty for all.

• President Trump is unequivocally committed to protecting the sanctity of every human life.
  • The Administration issued a rule preventing Title X family planning funds from supporting the abortion industry.
  • President Trump has called on Congress to end late-term abortions.
  • The Trump Administration cut all funding to the U.N. population fund, due to the fund’s support for coercive abortion and forced sterilization.
  • HHS rescinded an Obama-era guidance that prevented states from taking certain actions against abortion providers.
  • President Trump reinstated and expanded the Mexico City Policy in 2017, ensuring that taxpayer money is not used to fund abortion globally.
  • The President has taken action to end federal research using fetal tissue from abortions.
• President Trump is protecting healthcare entities and individuals’ conscience rights—ensuring that no medical professional is forced to participate in an abortion in violation of their beliefs.
• The Administration provided relief to American employers like Little Sisters of the Poor, protecting them from being forced to provide coverage that violate their conscience.
• President Trump has taken unprecedented action to support the fundamental right to religious freedom.
  • In 2018, President Trump signed an Executive Order establishing the White House Faith and Opportunity Initiative.
  • In 2017, President Trump signed an Executive Order upholding religious liberty and the right to engage in religious speech.
  • The Department of Justice created a Religious Liberty Task Force in 2018.
  • The Trump Administration continues to vigorously defend religious liberty in the courts at every opportunity.
  • President Trump reversed the Obama-era policy that prevented the government from providing disaster relief to religious organizations.
  • The Administration is preserving a space for faith-based adoption and foster care providers to continue to serve their communities consistent with their beliefs.
  • The Administration reduced burdensome barriers to Native Americans being able to keep spiritually and culturally significant eagle feathers found on their tribal lands.
  • The Administration has allowed greater flexibility for Federal employees to take time off work for religious reasons.
• The Trump Administration has stood up for religious liberty around the world.
  • The Administration has partnered with local and faith-based organizations to provide assistance to religious minorities persecuted in Iraq.
  • President Trump hosted the Global Call to Protect Religious Freedom at the 2019 U.N. General Assembly, calling on global and business leaders to bring an end to religious persecution and stop crimes against people of faith.
  • The Administration dedicated $25 million to protect religious freedom, religious sites and relics.
  • The State Department has hosted two Religious Freedom Ministerials, with the 2019 Ministerial becoming the largest religious freedom event of its kind in the world.
  • In 2019, the Administration imposed restrictions on certain Chinese officials, internal security units, and companies for their complicity in the persecution of Uighur Muslims and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang.

TRANSFORMING THE COURTS: President Trump is transforming the Federal judiciary by appointing a historic number of Federal judges who will interpret the Constitution as written.

• Working with the Senate, President Trump has now had 187 judicial nominees confirmed to the Federal bench.
  • President Trump’s remaking of the judiciary is only accelerating with 103 Federal judges confirmed in 2019, more than 2017 and 2018 combined.
• The President named Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, fulfilling his promise to appoint justices who will uphold the constitution as written.
• President Trump has appointed 50 Circuit Court judges – more than any other President at this point in their Administrations.
  • More than a quarter of all active Circuit Court judges were appointed by President Trump.
  • The average age of Trump-appointed circuit judges is less than 50 years old, ensuring that these qualified jurists will continue to have an impact for decades to come.
• President Trump has flipped the Second, Third, and Eleventh Circuits from Democrat-appointed majorities to Republican-appointed majorities.

USHERING IN AN ERA OF ENERGY DOMINANCE: President Trump’s policies are ushering in a new era of American energy dominance.

• President Trump has rolled back the burdensome regulations of the past Administration and implemented policies that are unleashing American energy.
• The United States is the largest oil and natural gas producer in the world.
• American oil production reached its highest level in history in 2019.
  • The United States became a net exporter of crude oil and petroleum products in September 2019, the first time this has occurred since records began in 1973.
• Natural gas production is projected to set a record high in 2019, marking the third consecutive year of record production.
• President Trump is opening up more access to our country’s abundant natural resources in order to promote energy independence.
  • Department of the Interior energy revenues soared in fiscal year FY 2019, nearly doubling since FY 2016 to $12 billion.
  • Applications to drill on public lands have increased by 300 percent since FY 2016, and the time it takes to complete these permits has dropped by half.
  • President Trump signed legislation to open up Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to energy exploration.
• President Trump is promoting energy infrastructure to ensure American energy producers can deliver their products to the market.
  • This year, President Trump signed two Executive Orders to streamline processes holding back the construction of new energy infrastructure, like pipelines.
  • In 2017, the Administration took action to approve the Dakota Access pipeline and the Keystone XL pipeline.
  • The Administration issued permits for the New Burgos Pipeline that will export American petroleum products to Mexico.
  • The Administration has streamlined Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal permitting.
  • In 2019, the Department of Energy granted 11 new long-term LNG export approvals.
• American energy exports have reached historic highs.
  • LNG exports have increased by 247% since 2017, hitting record highs in 2019 and are projected to continue increasing next year.
  • In 2017, the United States became a net natural gas exporter for the first time in 60 years.
  • The United States has exported LNG to five continents and 37 countries, marking 19 additional countries from the beginning of the Trump Administration.
• President Trump strengthened America’s domestic energy production and supported our Nation’s farmers by approving year-round E-15.
• President Trump worked to ensure greater transparency and certainty in the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).
• President Trump has promoted domestic energy production and economic growth while working to ensure Americans have access to safe drinking water and a clean environment.
  • The United States environmental record is one of the strongest in the world and America continues to make environmental progress in clean air and clean water.
  • Under President Trump’s leadership, the EPA took action to protect vulnerable Americans from lead exposure by proposing changes to the Lead and Copper rule.
  • Under President Trump’s leadership, in FY 2019 the EPA completed cleanup on the most superfund sites on the National Priority List in 18 years.
  • Emissions of all criteria pollutants dropped between 2016 and 2018.

PROMOTING EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY: President Trump is working to ensure all Americans have access to quality education.

• President Trump signed into law a modernization of our country’s career and technical education system to ensure more Americans have access to high-quality vocational education.
• This year, the Administration proposed Education Freedom Scholarships to expand education options for students of all economic backgrounds.
  • This plan will invest up to $5 billion in students through a tax credit for donations for state-based, locally-controlled scholarships.
• President Trump is expanding education and training opportunities for incarcerated individuals to learn how to make a living before their release.
• The President signed legislation reauthorizing the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship program.
• Thanks to President Trump’s historic tax reform, parents can now withdraw up to $10,000 tax-free per year from 529 education savings plans to cover K-12 tuition costs.
• President Trump has made supporting Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) a priority of his Administration.
  • President Trump signed the Farm Bill that included more than $100 million dollars for scholarships, research, and centers of excellence at HBCU land-grant institutions.
  • The Administration has enabled faith-based HBCUs to enjoy equal access to Federal support.
  • President Trump signed legislation providing $255 million dollars of permanent annual funding for HBCUs and other Minority Serving Institutions.

It was exactly three years ago today, January 20, 2017, that I was sworn into office. So appropriate that today is also MLK jr DAY. African-American Unemployment is the LOWEST in the history of our Country, by far. Also, best Poverty, Youth, and Employment numbers, ever. Great!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2020

Only in America could a President achieve the lowest ever black and Hispanic unemployment, have black business startups skyrocket 400%, see wages go up for black workers, advocate for prison reform, pardon wrongfully convicted people of color, and still be called a racist

— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) January 18, 2020