Top Three Takeaways – January 20th, 2021
- Peace. As Donald Trump’s Presidency comes to a close today, the impact of his presidency will endure. While commonly ignored by news media, President Trump time and again delivered on major agenda items. The first and most important job of the President of the United States is to protect it. While the cloud of recent chaos at the Capitol has made it easy for news media to ignore President’s Trump record on defense, by any objective measure, President Trump was extraordinarily successful as Commander-In-Chief. His administration featured a net de-escalation of military conflict around the world, with fewer troops deployed today, than on the day of his inauguration. This as his administration quickly crushed the caliphate of ISIS in the early months of his presidency - leading to the end of terror across the region and ending ISIS inspired attacks within the United States. He reached historic peace deals in the middle-east with the Abraham Accords as Bahrain, Morocco, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates now recognize Israel for the first time in history. This after he recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and moved the US embassy there as well. President Trump successfully built over 400 miles of border wall, prioritizing the highest impact areas which contributed to a greater than 50% decline in illegal immigration at our Southern Border last year. All of this doesn’t include discussion of the Space Force or the Afghan peace deal.
- Prosperity. During the final months of the 2016 campaign, then President Obama mocked Trump’s claims of being able to bring back 3%+ growth to the US economy along with an American resurgence in manufacturing. Obama dismissingly asked, does he have a magic wand? Instead, President Trump tapped into the actual magic wand of American free enterprise. With a lessening of regulations, comprehensive tax reform and strategic use of tariffs along with the renegotiation of trade deals, the United States enjoyed record prosperity prior to the pandemic. This included achieving 3%+ economic growth, record low unemployment rates and record high earnings for every minority group prior to the pandemic. Additionally, manufacturing jobs recovered to their best levels in twenty years. President Trump’s pre-pandemic economic record is demonstrably one of the best in American history.
- Opportunity. The record prosperity of all minority groups prior to the pandemic provided a view of the possible for all Americans but the pandemic didn’t dent President Trump’s resilience. Just as President Obama mocked President Trump’s economic claims, numerous “experts” mocked President Trump’s early pandemic claims of having a COVID-19 vaccine available by the end of 2020. Not only did President Trump’s private-public partnership known as Operation Warp Speed deliver on his promise of a vaccine by the end of 2020, it helped produce two with more on the way. While news reporting and the incoming Biden administration have attempted to find fault with the vaccine rollout, what’s lost in the conversation is the reality that without the Trump administration’s efforts we wouldn’t have any vaccines available for the foreseeable. President Trump’s effort will continue to provide opportunity and save lives well into the future. His administration delivered time and again on his promises often doing what critics said couldn’t be done. As President Trump returns home to South Florida, he does so with one of the most consequential one-term administrations in American history.
Photo Credit: Getty Images