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By Reuters 
23h ago
Jeff Mason
Washington – US President Donald Trump, in a farewell speech released Tuesday, touted his legacy and wished the new administration of President-elect Joe Biden luck, but without recognizing his successor by name.
Trump has refused to offer a full concession to Democrat Biden, who won the November 3 election with 306 electoral college votes to Trump’s 232. Biden will take office at 12 p.m. EST (1700 GMT) on Wednesday and Trump will not meet Biden beforehand or attend. the swearing in as usual in the handover of power to the White House. Instead, Trump plans to fly to Florida.
“This week we inaugurate a new administration and pray for its success in keeping America safe and prosperous,” the Republican president said in recorded remarks. “We extend our best wishes and we also want you to be lucky, a very important word.”
Trump campaigned with a pledge to “Make America Great Again” but leaves office with more than 400,000 people killed by the new coronavirus, the highest number in the world, whose risk he minimized, an economy struggling for pandemic and strained relations with the key. Allies of the United States.
“The greatest danger we face is a loss of confidence in ourselves, a loss of confidence in our national greatness,” Trump said.
For months, Trump said without evidence that the election was rigged against him and pressured state officials to annul the results. At a rally near the White House on January 6, he encouraged supporters to march toward Congress as lawmakers certified Biden’s victory.
Trump has been in hiding in the White House for the last few weeks of his tenure, reeling after the riot of his supporters on Capitol Hill that led to five deaths, including a Capitol police officer.
The stampede, which followed a rally in which Trump repeated false accusations of voter fraud and urged supporters to fight back, overshadowed any effort to emphasize the president’s legacy in his final days in office.
The House of Representatives accused Trump of incitement, making him the first president in U.S. history to be indicted twice. You will have to face the charges after leaving office.
In Tuesday’s farewell, without specifically mentioning Twitter’s decision to suspend his @realDonaldTrump account, Trump referenced his complaint that the company had muzzled free speech. Twitter said it suspended the account due to the risk of inciting further violence.
“Closing the free and open debate violates our core values and longest-lasting traditions,” Trump said. “America is not a timid nation of docile souls who need shelter and protection from those with whom we disagree.”
In the recorded comments, Trump sought to highlight aspects of his presidency that he was proud of.
“We did what we came here to do, and much more,” he said. “I took on the toughest battles, the toughest fights, the toughest decisions, because that’s what they chose me for.”
Trump highlighted the Middle East peace accords negotiated by his administration and praised its foreign policy agenda.
“We revitalize our alliances and unite the nations of the world to confront China like never before,” he said. “I am especially proud to be the first president in decades who has not started new wars.”
Trump, who is leaving amid deep divisions in the country, acknowledged the unrest on Capitol Hill, which he was slow to condemn immediately after the violence.
“All Americans were horrified by the assault on our Capitol. Political violence is an attack on all that we hold dear as Americans. It can never be tolerated,” he said.
And the president, who former advisers predict has lost much of his political future after the riots, suggested his move would continue.
“Now as I prepare to hand over power to a new administration at noon Wednesday, I want you to know that the movement that we started is just beginning,” Trump said.
“I leave this majestic place with a loyal and joyous heart and optimistic spirit, and supreme confidence that for our country and for our children, the best is yet to come.”
* Click here to read more about Biden’s #InaugurationDay.
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