Trump lauds U.S. economy at forum
DAVOS, Switzerland — President Donald Trump on Tuesday turned his speech at an economic forum in the Swiss Alps into an unabashed sales pitch for the “blue-collar boom” in the U.S. economy that he says took place on his watch.
Trump kept his focus on the economy in his address, never mentioning impeachment during half an hour on stage at the annual World Economic Forum in Switzerland.
Later in the day, he tweeted: “READ THE TRANSCRIPTS!” on the way back to his hotel in response to the impeachment trial getting under way in the U.S. Senate.
Trump’s two-day stay in Davos is a test of his ability to balance anger over being impeached with a desire to project leadership on the world stage. He reminded the audience of business and government leaders that when he spoke here in 2018, “I told you that we had launched the great American comeback.”
“Today I’m proud to declare the United States is in the midst of an economic boom, the likes of which the world has never seen before,” the president said.
The economy grew 2.9 percent in 2018, the same pace it reached in 2015 under Barack Obama, and hasn’t hit historically high growth rates. Trump’s upbeat characterization of the U.S. state of play represented a marked shift in tone from the early days of his administration, when he sketched a vision of “American carnage” and promised to end it with a nationalist “America First” approach to governing.
American economist Kenneth Rogoff took issue with Trump’s comments, although he said some of the president’s claims about the strength of the U.S. economy are true. But Rogoff noted that the economy wasn’t doing badly when Trump took office. “It’s been a good 10 years and his three years probably better than expected,” Rogoff said, adding that he thought Trump was careful to keep any comments about climate change to a minimum to avoid getting booed.
Climate issues are a main theme at the forum and the phrase “Act on Climate” was written in the snow at the Davos landing zone.
His lone reference to climate issues in the speech came when he announced the U.S. would join a World Economic Forum initiative to plant 1 trillion trees worldwide. Afterward, in an apparent reference to those who warn about climate change, Trump said the world must “reject the perennial prophets of doom and their predictions of the apocalypse.”
According to U.S. and other science agencies, Earth just finished its hottest decade on record with the five last years as the five hottest years on record. Scientists repeatedly point to more extreme weather as a problem worsened by human-caused climate change.
