New Year’s Eve message from the president of the United States, Donald Trump: ‘It’s so easy if you know what you’re doing’

US President Donald Trump delivered a year-end video message today after returning early from vacation, listing his administration’s “truly historic victories.”

As the end of his presidency approached, Trump interrupted his stay at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida and returned to the White House a day ahead of schedule.

Upon his return, Trump released a nearly five-minute video message on Twitter to underscore his administration’s work on the vaccine, the economy, and America’s “courage, strength and tenacity” in the face of challenges.

“We saved millions of American lives,” he said of his administration’s Covid response.

He called the vaccine, which is being rolled out nationwide, a “truly unprecedented medical miracle” and said it would be available to all Americans early next year. “We have to be remembered for what has been done.”

After listing the accomplishments of his administration for four minutes, Trump says “it’s so easy if you know what you’re doing.”

The White House did not give a reason for the president’s early return, and the time change means Trump will miss the glitzy New Year’s Eve party held annually at Mar-a-Lago.

But it comes as tensions between the United States and Iran rise in the final weeks of his administration.

In Washington, there are concerns that Iran may order more military retaliation for the January 3 assassination of Iran’s top military commander, General Qassem Soleimani. Iran’s initial response, five days after the deadly US drone strike, was a ballistic missile attack on a military base in Iraq that caused concussion brain injuries to about 100 US soldiers.

Iranian-backed Shiite militia groups launched a rocket attack on the US embassy compound in Baghdad on December 20. No one died, but Trump said days later that Iran was aware.

“A friendly health tip for Iran: If an American dies, I will hold Iran responsible. Think about it,” Trump tweeted on December 23. He added: “We hear rumors of additional attacks on Americans in Iraq.”

The White House announced the abrupt change in the president’s calendar Thursday, hours after Republican Senator Josh Hawley said he would raise objections next week when Congress meets to affirm the victory of President-elect Joe Biden in the November election. .

It is the latest futile attempt by Trump and his allies to fight his electoral defeat and override the will of the voters, and dozens of previous challenges have failed, including in the Supreme Court. Former Attorney General William Barr and other administration officials have said they saw no evidence of massive voter fraud, as Trump has claimed.

Trump, accompanied by first lady Melania Trump, arrived in Mar-a-Lago after dark on December 23 and spent practically the entire holiday concentrating on subverting the electoral results. That includes an effort for Republican lawmakers to challenge the vote when Congress meets Jan. 6 to affirm Biden’s 306-232 Electoral College victory.

A group of Republicans in the Democratic-controlled House had already said they would object on Trump’s behalf. They needed at least one senator to join them in forcing votes in both houses, and Hawley stepped forward.

Republican objections, however, will not prevent Biden from being sworn in as president on January 20 and Senator Kamala Harris from becoming vice president.

During his vacation, Trump also criticized Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and other state election officials almost daily on Twitter for their loss to Biden in that state.

While he has remained focused on the effort to stay in power, Trump has remained silent on major events over the holidays, including a Christmas Day bombing in Nashville, Tennessee, the discovery of a new variant, and apparently most contagious of the coronavirus in the country. United States and the death of Congressman-elect Luke Letlow from complications from Covid-19.

Since losing the election, the usually talkative Trump has avoided associating with reporters, even those who accompanied him to Florida. He went so far as to exclude them from his Christmas Day comments to the troops, the kind of event the White House normally opens for news coverage.

Before leaving Washington, Trump surprised the Capitol by opposing spending on a government funding bill that had been combined with a new round of needed coronavirus relief that included payments of $ 600 to most Americans. Much of that expense had been requested by his own administration.

Trump jeopardized financial aid and flirted with a government shutdown by hinting that he would not sign the sweeping legislation unless lawmakers raised payments to $ 2,000, a sum that most Democrats and some Republicans are seeking.

Trump finally signed the bill on Monday after several days of uncertainty in exchange for Congressional votes on his demands. He also wants Congress to lift certain protections for social media companies and investigate their baseless claims of election fraud.

The House voted this week to increase payments, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell almost closed the door Thursday when he declared that Congress had provided enough pandemic aid.