January 19, 2021
THE PRESIDENT: 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.
