PALM BEACH,
FLORIDA (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump gave a bullish Thanksgiving
address to troops overseas on Thursday, hailing progress in Afghanistan and
against ISIS, and telling them they were fighting for “something real,”
including a stock market at record highs and his promised “big, beautiful fat
tax cuts.”
Speaking in
a live video teleconference from Palm Beach, Florida, with military personnel
serving in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere, Trump told them they were “very,
very special people.”
He called
troops in Afghanistan “brave, incredible fighters” who had “turned it around”
in the past three to four months.
“We opened
it up; we said go ahead, we’re going to fight to win,” he said. “We’re not
fighting any more to just walk around, we are fighting to win.”
Trump said
the Marines were inflicting “defeat after defeat” on Islamic State, and again
credited his change of approach compared to that of the Obama administration.
“They
weren’t letting you win before; they were letting you break even. ... They
weren’t letting you win,” he said.
Trump told
the troops they could look forward at home to the benefits of “big, beautiful
fat tax cuts,” a stock market at record highs, jobs and economic growth.
“We’re doing
well at home, the economy is doing great,” Trump said. “You’re fighting for
something real, you’re fighting for something good.”
Trump took
one of his trademark swipes at the news media as he spoke from a lavishly
decorated room at his Mar-a-Lago resort, telling the military personnel he was
addressing that journalists were in the room, and adding:
“Better me
than you; believe me fellas, better me than you.”
Later, Trump
and his wife, Melania, handed out sandwiches and shook hands at a Coast Guard
station in nearby Riviera Beach and told personnel his administration was building
up wealth so it could protect the country through military acquisitions.
Talking
about his plans for boosting military spending, he said contractors saved the
best equipment for U.S. troops. “When we sell to other countries - you never
know about an ally - an ally can turn,” he said.
Trump said
he had told the troops overseas the country was “doing great,” thanks to his
cuts in “regulation and all the waste and all the abuse.”
“I told them
... you folks are fighting so hard and working so hard, and it’s nice that
you’re working for something that’s really starting to work.”
While
optimism about a major tax overhaul has helped push the U.S. stock market up
for most of this year, Trump is still seeking his first major legislative win
after almost a year in office.
According to
a majority of economists in a recent Reuters poll, U.S. Republicans are not
expected to push the tax cuts through Congress this year. Economists are also
skeptical that the legislation would provide a significant boost to the economy.
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