U.S. President Donald Trump touted the conclusion of two major trade deals and declared Americans are "winning again like never before," as he gave an opening address Tuesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
The speech came hours before his impeachment trial was due to go into high gear in the U.S. Senate.
Trump went through a list of what he celebrated as victories for middle class workers and companies, including the first phase of a trade deal with China and the Senate's approval of a new trade agreement with Canada and Mexico.
"When I spoke at this forum two years ago, I told you that we had launched the great American comeback," Trump said. "Today I'm proud to declare that the United States is in the midst of an economic boom the likes of which the world has never seen before."
He urged other countries to follow his lead and liberate their citizens from "crushing bureaucracy."
Trump also advocated focusing on economic growth and rejecting what he called "the perennial prophets of doom and their predictions of apocalypse."
"They predicted an overpopulation crisis in the '60s, mass starvation in the '70s, and an end of oil in the 1990s. These alarmists always demand the same thing: absolute power to dominate, transform and control every aspect of our lives. We will never let radical socialists destroy our economy, wreck our country or eradicate our liberty," Trump said.
When asked about environmental activist Greta Thunberg, who was to open a debate on avoiding a "climate apocalypse" shortly after Trump's speech, the U.S. leader called himself a "very big believer in the environment" and said he wants clean air and water.
Source : VOA