President Donald J. Trump Forty-Fifth President
(2017 to 2021)
Farewell Address January 19, 2021 - The White
House
My fellow Americans,
Four years ago, we launched a great national
effort to rebuild our country, to renew its spirit, and to restore
the allegiance of this government to its citizens. In short, we
embarked on a mission to make America great again— for all
Americans.
As I conclude my term as the 45th President of the
United States, I stand before you truly proud of what we have
achieved together. We did what we came here to do—and so much more.
This week, we inaugurate a new administration and pray for its
success in keeping America safe and prosperous. We extend our best
wishes, and we also want them to have luck—a very important word.
I’d like to begin by thanking just a few of the amazing people
who made our remarkable journey possible.
First, let me
express my overwhelming gratitude for the love and support of our
spectacular First Lady, Melania. Let me also share my deepest
appreciation to my daughter Ivanka, my son-in-law Jared, and to
Barron, Don, Eric, Tiffany, and Lara. You fill my world with light
and with joy.
I also want to thank Vice President Mike Pence,
his wonderful wife Karen, and the entire Pence family.
Thank
you as well to my Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows; the dedicated
members of the White House Staff and the Cabinet; and all the
incredible people across our administration who poured out their
heart and soul to fight for America.
I also want to take a
moment to thank a truly exceptional group of people: the United
States Secret Service. My family and I will forever be in your debt.
My profound gratitude as well to everyone in the White House
Military Office, the teams of Marine One and Air Force One, every
member of the Armed Forces, and state and local law enforcement all
across our country.
Most of all, I want to thank the American
people. To serve as your President has been an honor beyond
description. Thank you for this extraordinary privilege. And that’s
what it is—a great privilege and a great honor.
We must never
forget that while Americans will always have our disagreements, we
are a nation of incredible, decent, faithful, and peace-loving
citizens who all want our country to thrive and flourish and be
very, very successful and good. We are a truly magnificent nation.
All Americans were horrified by the assault on our Capitol.
Political violence is an attack on everything we cherish as
Americans. It can never be tolerated.
Now more than ever, we
must unify around our shared values and rise above the partisan
rancor, and forge our common destiny.
Four years ago, I came
to Washington as the only true outsider ever to win the presidency.
I had not spent my career as a politician, but as a builder looking
at open skylines and imagining infinite possibilities. I ran for
President because I knew there were towering new summits for America
just waiting to be scaled. I knew the potential for our nation was
boundless as long as we put America first.
So I left behind
my former life and stepped into a very difficult arena, but an arena
nevertheless, with all sorts of potential if properly done. America
had given me so much, and I wanted to give something back.
Together with millions of hardworking patriots across this land, we
built the greatest political movement in the history of our country.
We also built the greatest economy in the history of the world. It
was about “America First” because we all wanted to make America
great again. We restored the principle that a nation exists to serve
its citizens. 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.
With the support and prayers of
the American people, we achieved more than anyone thought possible.
Nobody thought we could even come close.
We passed the
largest package of tax cuts and reforms in American history. We
slashed more job-killing regulations than any administration had
ever done before. We fixed our broken trade deals, withdrew from the
horrible Trans-Pacific Partnership and the impossible Paris Climate
Accord, renegotiated the one-sided South Korea deal, and we replaced
NAFTA with the groundbreaking USMCA—that’s Mexico and Canada—a deal
that’s worked out very, very well.
Also, and very
importantly, we imposed historic and monumental tariffs on China;
made a great new deal with China. But before the ink was even dry,
we and the whole world got hit with the China virus. Our trade
relationship was rapidly changing, billions and billions of dollars
were pouring into the U.S., but the virus forced us to go in a
different direction.
The whole world suffered, but America
outperformed other countries economically because of our incredible
economy and the economy that we built. Without the foundations and
footings, it wouldn’t have worked out this way. We wouldn’t have
some of the best numbers we’ve ever had.
We also unlocked our
energy resources and became the world’s number-one producer of oil
and natural gas by far. Powered by these policies, we built the
greatest economy in the history of the world. We reignited America’s
job creation and achieved record-low unemployment for African
Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, women—almost
everyone.
Incomes soared, wages boomed, the American Dream
was restored, and millions were lifted from poverty in just a few
short years. It was a miracle. The stock market set one record after
another, with 148 stock market highs during this short period of
time, and boosted the retirements and pensions of hardworking
citizens all across our nation. 401(k)s are at a level they’ve never
been at before. We’ve never seen numbers like we’ve seen, and that’s
before the pandemic and after the pandemic.
We rebuilt the
American manufacturing base, opened up thousands of new factories,
and brought back the beautiful phrase: “Made in the USA.”
To
make life better for working families, we doubled the child tax
credit and signed the largest-ever expansion of funding for
childcare and development. We joined with the private sector to
secure commitments to train more than 16 million American workers
for the jobs of tomorrow.
When our nation was hit with the
terrible pandemic, we produced not one, but two vaccines with
record-breaking speed, and more will quickly follow. They said it
couldn’t be done but we did it. They call it a “medical miracle,”
and that’s what they’re calling it right now: a “medical miracle.”
Another administration would have taken 3, 4, 5, maybe even up
to 10 years to develop a vaccine. We did in nine months.
We
grieve for every life lost, and we pledge in their memory to wipe
out this horrible pandemic once and for all.
When the virus
took its brutal toll on the world’s economy, we launched the fastest
economic recovery our country has ever seen. We passed nearly $4
trillion in economic relief, saved or supported over 50 million
jobs, and slashed the unemployment rate in half. These are numbers
that our country has never seen before.
We created choice and
transparency in healthcare, stood up to big pharma in so many ways,
but especially in our effort to get favored-nations clauses added,
which will give us the lowest prescription drug prices anywhere in
the world.
We passed VA Choice, VA Accountability, Right to
Try, and landmark criminal justice reform.
We confirmed three
new justices of the United States Supreme Court. We appointed nearly
300 federal judges to interpret our Constitution as written.
For years, the American people pleaded with Washington to finally
secure the nation’s borders. I am pleased to say we answered that
plea and achieved the most secure border in U.S. history. We have
given our brave border agents and heroic ICE officers the tools they
need to do their jobs better than they have ever done before, and to
enforce our laws and keep America safe.
We proudly leave the
next administration with the strongest and most robust border
security measures ever put into place. This includes historic
agreements with Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, along
with more than 450 miles of powerful new wall.
We restored
American strength at home and American leadership abroad. The world
respects us again. Please don’t lose that respect.
We
reclaimed our sovereignty by standing up for America at the United
Nations and withdrawing from the one-sided global deals that never
served our interests. And NATO countries are now paying hundreds of
billions of dollars more than when I arrived just a few years ago.
It was very unfair. We were paying the cost for the world. Now the
world is helping us.
And perhaps most importantly of all,
with nearly $3 trillion, we fully rebuilt the American military—all
made in the USA. We launched the first new branch of the United
States Armed Forces in 75 years: the Space Force. And last spring, I
stood at Kennedy Space Center in Florida and watched as American
astronauts returned to space on American rockets for the first time
in many, many years.
We revitalized our alliances and rallied
the nations of the world to stand up to China like never before.
We obliterated the ISIS caliphate and ended the wretched life of
its founder and leader, al Baghdadi. We stood up to the oppressive
Iranian regime and killed the world’s top terrorist, Iranian butcher
Qasem Soleimani.
We recognized Jerusalem as the capital of
Israel and recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.
As a result of our bold diplomacy and principled realism, we
achieved a series of historic peace deals in the Middle East. Nobody
believed it could happen. The Abraham Accords opened the doors to a
future of peace and harmony, not violence and bloodshed. It is the
dawn of a new Middle East, and we are bringing our soldiers home.
I am especially proud to be the first President in decades who
has started no new wars.
Above all, we have reasserted the
sacred idea that, in America, the government answers to the people.
Our guiding light, our North Star, our unwavering conviction has
been that we are here to serve the noble everyday citizens of
America. Our allegiance is not to the special interests,
corporations, or global entities; it’s to our children, our
citizens, and to our nation itself.
As President, my top
priority, my constant concern, has always been the best interests of
American workers and American families. I did not seek the easiest
course; by far, it was actually the most difficult. I did not seek
the path that would get the least criticism. I took on the tough
battles, the hardest fights, the most difficult choices because
that’s what you elected me to do. Your needs were my first and last
unyielding focus.
This, I hope, will be our greatest legacy:
Together, we put the American people back in charge of our country.
We restored self-government. We restored the idea that in America no
one is forgotten, because everyone matters and everyone has a voice.
We fought for the principle that every citizen is entitled to equal
dignity, equal treatment, and equal rights because we are all made
equal by God. Everyone is entitled to be treated with respect, to
have their voice heard, and to have their government listen. You are
loyal to your country, and my administration was always loyal to
you.
We worked to build a country in which every citizen
could find a great job and support their wonderful families. We
fought for the communities where every American could be safe and
schools where every child could learn. We promoted a culture where
our laws would be upheld, our heroes honored, our history preserved,
and law-abiding citizens are never taken for granted. Americans
should take tremendous satisfaction in all that we have achieved
together. It’s incredible.
Now, as I leave the White House, I
have been reflecting on the dangers that threaten the priceless
inheritance we all share. As the world’s most powerful nation,
America faces constant threats and challenges from abroad. But the
greatest danger we face is a loss of confidence in ourselves, a loss
of confidence in our national greatness. A nation is only as strong
as its spirit. We are only as dynamic as our pride. We are only as
vibrant as the faith that beats in the hearts of our people.
No nation can long thrive that loses faith in its own values,
history, and heroes, for these are the very sources of our unity and
our vitality.
What has always allowed America to prevail and
triumph over the great challenges of the past has been an unyielding
and unashamed conviction in the nobility of our country and its
unique purpose in history. We must never lose this conviction. We
must never forsake our belief in America.
The key to national
greatness lies in sustaining and instilling our shared national
identity. That means focusing on what we have in common: the
heritage that we all share.
At the center of this heritage is
also a robust belief in free expression, free speech, and open
debate. Only if we forget who we are, and how we got here, could we
ever allow political censorship and blacklisting to take place in
America. It’s not even thinkable. Shutting down free and open debate
violates our core values and most enduring traditions.
In
America, we don’t insist on absolute conformity or enforce rigid
orthodoxies and punitive speech codes. We just don’t do that.
America is not a timid nation of tame souls who need to be sheltered
and protected from those with whom we disagree. That’s not who we
are. It will never be who we are.
For nearly 250 years, in
the face of every challenge, Americans have always summoned our
unmatched courage, confidence, and fierce independence. These are
the miraculous traits that once led millions of everyday citizens to
set out across a wild continent and carve out a new life in the
great West. It was the same profound love of our God-given freedom
that willed our soldiers into battle and our astronauts into space.
As I think back on the past four years, one image rises in my
mind above all others. Whenever I traveled all along the motorcade
route, there were thousands and thousands of people. They came out
with their families so that they could stand as we passed, and
proudly wave our great American flag. It never failed to deeply move
me. I knew that they did not just come out to show their support of
me; they came out to show me their support and love for our country.
This is a republic of proud citizens who are united by our
common conviction that America is the greatest nation in all of
history. We are, and must always be, a land of hope, of light, and
of glory to all the world. This is the precious inheritance that we
must safeguard at every single turn.
For the past four years,
I have worked to do just that. From a great hall of Muslim leaders
in Riyadh to a great square of Polish people in Warsaw; from the
floor of the Korean Assembly to the podium at the United Nations
General Assembly; and from the Forbidden City in Beijing to the
shadow of Mount Rushmore, I fought for you, I fought for your
family, I fought for our country. Above all, I fought for America
and all it stands for—and that is safe, strong, proud, and free.
Now, as I prepare to hand power over to a new administration at
noon on Wednesday, I want you to know that the movement we started
is only just beginning. There’s never been anything like it. The
belief that a nation must serve its citizens will not dwindle but
instead only grow stronger by the day.
As long as the
American people hold in their hearts deep and devoted love of
country, then there is nothing that this nation cannot achieve. Our
communities will flourish. Our people will be prosperous. Our
traditions will be cherished. Our faith will be strong. And our
future will be brighter than ever before.
I go from this
majestic place with a loyal and joyful heart, an optimistic spirit,
and a supreme confidence that for our country and for our children,
the best is yet to come.
Thank you, and farewell. God bless
you. God bless the United States of America.
My fellow Americans,
