31st January, 2018
Photo: The Times of Israel
U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday slammed countries that voted at the UN General Assembly against U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, saying they were against America’s sovereign right to make the recognition.
Trump, in a rousing State of the Union Address, his first as president, said: “American taxpayers generously send those same countries billions of dollars in aid every year.
“That is why, tonight, I am asking the Congress to pass legislation to help ensure American foreign-assistance dollars always serve American interests, and only go to America’s friends.
“As we strengthen friendships around the world, we are also restoring clarity about our adversaries,” he said.
Reeling out his accomplishments in office in the past one year, Trump said 2.4 million jobs were created in the last one years while unemployment was at its lowest in 45 years.
The U.S. leader also said African-American unemployment stood at the lowest rate ever recorded in history and the defeat of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS’) defeat.
Trump touted the largest tax cut in American history saying roughly three million workers have already gotten tax cut bonuses.
“Since the election, we have created 2.4 million new jobs, including 200,000 new jobs in manufacturing alone. After years of wage stagnation, we are finally seeing rising wages.
“Unemployment claims have hit a 45-year low. African-American unemployment stands at the lowest rate ever recorded, and Hispanic American unemployment has also reached the lowest levels in history.
“”Small business confidence is at an all-time high. The stock market has smashed one record after another, gaining eight trillion dollars in value.
“That is great news for Americans’ 401k, retirement, pension, and college savings accounts.
“And just as I promised the American people from this podium 11 months ago, we enacted the biggest tax cuts and reforms in American history,” he said.
Trump, who started out his address recalling some of the perilous moments in the past one year, noted the unity showed by both Republicans and Democrats at such sad moments.
He, therefore, made bipartisan appeals for unity saying “it is not enough to come together only in times of tragedy”.
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“Tonight, I call upon all of us to set aside our differences, to seek out common ground, and to summon the unity we need to deliver for the people we were elected to serve.”
He, therefore, called on the Congress to produce a bill that would generate at least 1.5 trillion dollars “for the new infrastructure investment we need”.
“So tonight, I am extending an open hand to work with members of both parties – Democrats and Republicans – to protect our citizens of every background, colour, religion, and creed.”
Trump outlined four-pillar immigration plan that should be supported by both parties as a fair compromise, including a framework that generously offered a path to citizenship for 1.8 million Dreamers.
Others were building the wall, ending the visa lottery and ending chain migration, all of which, he said, were vital reform necessary, not just for economy, but for American security.
However, the Democratic Party, in its official response to Trump’s address, chastised his administration describing his one year in office as one defined by anxiety and fear.
“Their record is a rebuke of our highest American ideal: the belief that we are all worthy, we are all equal and we all count,” Representative Joseph Kennedy III, said.