Donald Trump’s farewell: We did what we came to do

Outgoing US President, Donald Trump has delivered his farewell address yesterday before leaving office, stating: “We did what we came to do and so much more.”

And explaining, he said he took on “the tough battles, the hardest fights… because that’s what you elected me to do.”

Trump who has still not fully accepted the result of last November’s election, which he lost to Democrat Joe Biden, said “Our agenda was not about right or left, it wasn’t about Republican or Democrat, but about the good of a nation, and that means the whole nation.”

According toTrump, his administration built “the greatest economy in the history of the world”. US stock markets have rebounded from the coronavirus pandemic, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq index up 42% in 2020, and the wider S&P 500 up 15%.

However notwithstanding, the rest of the economy is facing more of a struggle. Employers cut jobs in December, ending a string of job gains. Retail sales have dropped in recent months, while jobless claims rise.

The last two weeks of Mr Trump’s term have been dominated by the fallout from the deadly riot on Capitol Hill, when a mob of his supporters stormed Congress, seeking to overturn the election result.

Apparently, given the multiple criticism of Trump for inciting the Capitol riot, he doubled down in his condemnation: “Political violence is an attack on everything we cherish as Americans. It can never be tolerated.”

Trump is the first president in US history to be impeached twice. First was on charges relating to dealings with Ukraine though cleared by the majority from his own Republican party. Second for incitement of insurrection over the attack of Capitol Hill, a facility for congress of the United States.

The last few days of Trump in office was busy flip flopping from renewed relationship with Taiwan and pardoning some folks including his ex-aid, Steve Barnon.

Trump who leaves office with an approval rating of 34%, a record low for a departing president, has followed through his decision not to be part of the ceremony thus breaking up with tradition not turning up in Biden’s inauguration.

Joe Biden will be sworn in as president today in a few hours’ time in Washington DC. He is expected according to report, to sign 15 executive orders in his first day in office.