WASHINGTON:
Setting the stage for his re-election bid, President Donald Trump in a self-congratulatory State of the Union speech on Wednesday underlined the economic gains of the US under his leadership, asserting that “the American Dream is back” and is “stronger than ever before”.
“The years of economic decay are over…Gone too are the broken promises, jobless recoveries, tired platitudes, and constant excuses for the depletion of American wealth, power and prestige,” Trump said on the eve of his likely acquittal by the Senate in the impeachment trial.
He said in just three “short” years, his administration has “shattered the mentality of American decline” and rejected “the downsizing of America’s destiny”. The president asserted his country’s economy is the best it has ever been.
“The American Dream is back – bigger, better, and stronger than ever before,” he said.
Asserting that the US is moving forward at a pace that was unimaginable just a short time ago, Trump, the first president to run for reelection after being impeached, said jobs are booming, incomes are soaring, poverty is plummeting, crime is falling, confidence is surging and the country is thriving and highly respected again. America’s fortunes are on the rise and its future is “blazing bright”, he said.
“From the instant I took office, I moved rapidly to revive the United States economy — slashing a record number of job-killing regulations, enacting historic and record-setting tax cuts and fighting for fair and reciprocal trade agreements,” Trump said.
The president said the agenda of his administration is relentlessly pro-worker, pro-family, pro-growth, and, most of all, pro-American.
“Since my election, we have created seven million new jobs — 5 million more than government experts projected during the previous administration. The unemployment rate is the lowest in over half a century.
“Incredibly, the average unemployment rate under my administration is lower than any administration in the history of our country. If we had not reversed the failed economic policies of the previous administration, the world would not now be witness to America’s great economic success,” Trump claimed.
He noted that the unemployment rates for African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, and Asian-Americans have reached the lowest levels in history. African-American youth unemployment has reached an all-time low.
“African-American poverty has declined to the lowest rate ever recorded. The unemployment rate for women reached the lowest level in almost 70 years — and last year, women filled 72 percent of all new jobs added. The veterans’ unemployment rate dropped to a record low. The unemployment rate for disabled Americans has reached an all-time low,” Trump asserted.
Underling that workers without a high school diploma have achieved the lowest unemployment rate recorded in US history, he claimed that record number of young Americans are now employed.
