godanddonaldtrump.com CHAPTER 10 POLITICAL PRIORITIES ★★★★★ DONALD TRUMP WAS swept into office by an electorate who were deeply dissat- isfied with the direction the country had been going for a very long time. Evan- gelical Christians, in particular, wanted a president who would take their concerns seriously. They wanted someone who understood their issues, and they wanted a president who would not just talk the talk, boasting of his or her religious beliefs on the campaign trail, but walk the walk when it was time to defend our interests in Congress, the courts, and the media. Barack Obama had never done any of those things, and his flip-flop on gay marriage was a perfect example of the kind of dishonesty that was energizing Evangelicals who wanted things in Washington to change. During two national political campaigns Obama had claimed to believe in traditional marriage. In his 2004 campaign for the US Senate he told an audience in Springfield, Illinois, “I have been very clear on this. I have said I am not a supporter of gay marriage. I
think the term marriage itself has strong religious roots and a strong tradition that means something special to people in this country.”¹ Four years later during his 2008 presidential campaign he said essentially the same thing. Speaking at a Civil Forum on the Presidency sponsored by pastor Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church, he said marriage is a sacred bond between a man and a woman. “Now, for me as a Christian,” Obama said, “it is also a sacred union. God’s in the mix.”² Over the next four years as the issue was being hotly debated and discussed in the press, Obama was less clear, often indistinct, seeming to shift one way and then the other. Then during an interview on ABC’s Good Morning America on May 9, 2012, he told the world, “I’ve been going through an evolution on this issue. . . . I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married.”³ In fact, this was just one more example of the Obama administration’s policy of deception. Obama campaign adviser David Axelrod, in his autobiography pub- lished in 2015, reported that the president had deliberately misled the country about his views on this issue because it was politically expedient to appear to be
pro-family. He had been in favor of gay marriage all along, but knowing that a large percentage of his core constituency in the black community was opposed to it, Obama decided he would claim to support traditional marriage for a while, knowing he could claim to have a sudden change of heart later on.⁴ So he did, and it was precisely the sort of duplicity conservative voters were sick and tired of from their so-called leaders. Although the president stressed that he had reached a purely personal decision on the matter, almost immediately the debate seemed to be settled. The gay community and the mainstream media declared victory, and the federal govern- ment made a complete pivot to the left, transforming codes and regulations to show that homosexual marriage was legal and in every way compatible with tradi- tional marriage. Laws would be altered in every city and town, and before long open war was declared on any business or individual who refused to serve gay couples. Bakers, florists, and wedding planners who had moral or religious scru- ples were threatened, sued, driven out of business, and mocked in the media as bigots and homophobes. STANDING FOR AMERICAN VALUES
When actor Jon Voight introduced Donald Trump at the 2016 Values Voter Sum- mit in Washington, DC, he said he had come to introduce a candidate who may not be everybody’s first choice for president, but he believed Trump was some- one who spoke the truth and stuck by his word. Voight told the crowd about the joy he had felt on receiving a blessing from Mother Teresa and later playing the part of Pope John Paul II in a television miniseries. He compared the sense of hope he felt then with the darkness and depression the country had experienced over the previous eight years.⁵ We know the difference between good and bad, right and wrong, he said. But too many politicians seem to have lost their ability to tell the difference. He said, “I feel there is a dark cloud over the country now. And we are all witness to Hillary Clinton’s lies and corruption. We are witness to President Obama covering every false move that she makes and making them appear right. And we are witness to our so-called football heroes, that are supposed to set examples for our young children, that mock our national anthem.”⁶ Then he went on to say, “My heart aches watching Donald Trump day after day, pouring his heart out, telling the American people what he wants to do to save the
nation. How can anyone doubt his sincerity? I can only feel, if God allows truth to be said and heard, that we will see Donald Trump the next president of this great America. And he will lift the dark cloud that hovers over us now.”⁷ When then-candidate Trump went to the platform, he thanked Jon Voight, and he thanked the men and women who had come out to support his campaign, say- ing, “Our media culture often mocks and demeans people of faith. All the time I hear from concerned parents how much harder it is for a Christian family to raise their children in today’s media environment. “Your values of love, charity, and faith built this nation,” he said. “So how can it be that our media treats people of faith so poorly? One of the reasons is that our politicians have really abandoned you to a large extent. . . . So let me state this right up front: A Trump administration, our Christian heritage will be cher- ished, protected, defended . . . and that includes religious liberty.” At that point the crowd erupted with cheers and applause. He also said that “it will be our faith in God and His teachings, and in each other, that will lead us back to unity.”⁸ In the course of his speech Trump said he would make four promises to peo- ple of faith. First, he said he would repeal the Johnson Amendment, which he
called a “massive penalty” that must be reversed. “The first thing we have to do,” he said, “is give our churches their voice back.” Second, he said his adminis- tration would allocate $130 billion for school choice. School choice offers pover- ty-strick- children, primarily African American and Hispanic, alternatives to failing inner-city schools. He promised to create a $20 billion federal block grant, then work with the states to reallocate funds from existing education budgets for school choice. This would be the cornerstone of “a new civil rights agenda for our time,” he said. Funding would then be available to private schools, religious schools, charter schools, and magnet schools, as well as home schools.⁹ Third, he would appoint conservative justices such as Antonin Scalia to the Supreme Court. The next president would be positioned to appoint Scalia’s suc- cessor, and possibly as many as four more, which Trump called one of the most important issues any president could face, second only to military defense. He said, “We reject judges who rewrite the Constitution to impose their own per- sonal views on three hundred million–plus Americans.” He said, “You pick the wrong people, and you have a country that is no longer your country.”¹⁰ Fourth, he said his administration would stop the genocide of Christians in the
Middle East. “ISIS is hunting down and exterminating what it calls ‘the nation of the cross.’” He said, “ISIS is carrying out a genocide against Christians in the Middle East. We cannot let this evil continue.” His administration, he said, would use all the resources at its disposal, including our military forces, cyber warfare, financial pressure, and other assets to create “safe zones in the region” for Chris- tians and then to destroy “radical Islamic terrorism.” Those are words President Obama had never spoken, he pointed out, “and words that Hillary Clinton won’t use.”¹¹ AN APPEAL TO PROVIDENCE Our next indication that Donald Trump’s administration would be very different from that of Obama came on Inauguration Day. The tradition of prayers during inaugural ceremonies dates back to the very beginning of this country when Pres- ident George Washington prayed with the members of his cabinet during post- inaugural worship at St. Paul’s Chapel in New York.¹² Now, and ever since the in- auguration of Franklin Roosevelt in 1937, ministers are invited to offer prayers for divine guidance for the nation’s presidents during the swearing-in ceremony.¹³ At
Donald Trump’s inauguration, on January 20, 2017, four evangelical ministers, a Jewish rabbi, and a Catholic archbishop prayed for the president and the United States of America. As an indication of his support for religious diversity, the pres- ident invited ministers representing diverse racial and ethnic communities.¹⁴ Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York, was the first Catholic priest to participate in an inaugural ceremony since the Jimmy Carter presidency in 1977. He was followed by Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, an ordained Assemblies of God minister and president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Con- ference, and then Paula White Cain, pastor of the New Destiny Christian Center near Orlando and also one of Trump’s spiritual advisers. As I mentioned earlier, she is the first female minister to lead a prayer at an inauguration.¹⁵ Next was Rabbi Marvin Hier, the founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish human rights organization, who provided an invocation. Rev. Franklin Graham, president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan’s Purse and son of the beloved evangelist Billy Graham, offered his comments just as a light rain began to fall. He noted that rain is considered a blessing in the Bible, and he expressed the possibility that the rain this day was a sign of God’s
blessing on the inauguration. Bishop Wayne T. Jackson, pastor of Great Faith Ministries International in Detroit, Michigan, gave the benediction.¹⁶ Several prayers specifically ended “in the name of Jesus,” something often ex- cluded in these kinds of settings.¹⁷ This was the largest number of prayers ever offered at an inauguration- and an indication that the new president understood the importance of faith to the people of this country. He wanted the occasion to be a statement of his administration’s support for religious freedom. In his tribute to America’s peacekeepers, he said, “We will be protected by the great men and women of our military and law enforcement and, most impor- tantly, we are protected by God.”¹⁸ Addressing the importance of national unity, he said that “we all salute the same great American flag. And whether a child is born in the urban sprawl of De- troit or the windswept plains of Nebraska, they look up at the same night sky, they fill their heart with the same dreams, and they are infused with the breath of life by the same almighty Creator.” Then, at the end of the speech, he concluded with the words that have now become a tradition, saying, “God bless you, and God bless America.”¹⁹
Clearly Donald Trump had tapped into the heartfelt beliefs and emotions of his supporters. He understood their concerns, and he was listening to their cries for help. As a result, his ratings were over 80 percent with evangelical voters during the election, and they have remained high ever since. Despite speculation from some quarters that Trump’s evangelical support doesn’t reflect actual church- goers, a Pew poll confirms that the Christian community was the difference in this election.²⁰ Three-quarters of poll respondents said they intended to vote for him. Among white Evangelicals, regular churchgoers are the most supportive of Trump, and fully 77 percent of white Evangelicals who are registered to vote and who attend church at least once a month say they support the president. Among those who attend church weekly, his support is 78 percent. At the one-hundred-day mark of his presidency, 78 percent of white evangelical Protestants approved of the way Donald Trump was handling his job.²¹ When he spoke to the graduates of Liberty University in May 2017, Trump had said, “In America we don’t worship government, we worship God.” He also said, “We don’t need a lecture from Washington on how to lead our lives.” Then he
promised, “As long as I am your president, no one is ever going to stop you from practicing your faith or from preaching what’s in your heart.”²² By that time he had already signed the “Religious Liberty” executive order, which included the Johnson Amendment and conscience protections for organizations such as the Little Sisters.²³ He had also nominated and gained the successful appointment of a conservative, pro-life Supreme Court justice—Judge Neil M. Gorsuch, who was sworn in on April 10, 2017.²⁴ Four times during his commencement address Trump made reference to Scripture and faith in God.²⁵ KNOWING WHO YOUR FRIENDS ARE To make good on his promises and begin the process of undoing the disastrous policies of the Obama administration, the new president would have to tackle some of the most intractable foreign policy challenges the nation has ever faced. How do we deal with a rogue nation such as North Korea and threats of a nuclear holocaust engineered by a certifiable madman? How do we untangle the diplo- matic and military mess created by Obama’s policies in Syria, Iraq, and
Afghanistan? Perhaps most challenging would be mobilizing the political and military re- sources needed to neutralize the malignant growth of ISIS and radical Islamic ter- rorism that has destabilized the entire world. America had been taking a beating in all these areas for years, but Trump was convinced we could handle them all once we began operating from a position of strength rather than the weak-kneed approach the government had taken over the previous eight years. Since taking office in January 2017, President Trump has begun that process by taking a position of strength with the European Union (EU). The president de- manded that either members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) pay their fair share of the military and administrative costs of the organization or the United States would pull out of the agreement. There was immediate blow- back from EU officials and the press in both Europe and America, but within weeks every NATO member nation announced plans to comply. Trump also said the United States would review terms of our partnership in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which had put American business interests in a weakened posture when dealing with the neighboring nations of Mexico and
Canada. We would continue the relationship, he said, so long as American busi- nesses are allowed to compete on an open and fair basis. On June 16, 2017, the president unilaterally closed the open-door policy with Cuba the Obama administration established in 2014. In doing so, he made it clear that America would no longer provide financial or political cover for the Communist dictatorship. While Cuban Americans would be allowed to travel to the island, Trump pointed out that human rights abuses under Cuban president Raúl Castro had not improved since the Obama thaw began. Cuban dissidents in Miami enthusiastically supported Trump’s announcement, saying he was right to apply pressure to the Castro regime.²⁶ More troublesome, however, would be the challenge of dealing with the ongo- ing conflict between Israel and its neighbors in the Middle East. Trump’s long friendship with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his commitment to Is- raeli autonomy would be a dramatic change from what the Washington Post called “the frosty relationship, sometimes devolving into outright hostility, between for- mer President Barack Obama and Netanyahu.” But that in itself would not be enough.²⁷
Michael Makovsky, chief executive of the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, has said that Trump’s Israel policy is a sea-change from Obama’s hostility toward Israel, sending a strong signal of “a new, far better bilateral polit- ical relationship.”²⁸ During his five-nation international tour in May 2017, Trump took steps to build on that relationship, but also to maintain the region’s delicate balance by meeting with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in the Muslim- controlled town of Bethlehem, to make it clear that America would listen to all sides. Trump has made it clear he understands the depth of Christian commitment to the nation of Israel. That ancient land is the soil where our spiritual heritage was conceived. My friend and 700 Club host Pat Robertson provided a memorable perspective on the Christian view of the Holy Land in a speech he delivered at the Herzliya Conference in Jerusalem back in 2003. He said, “Mere political rhetoric does not account for the profound devotion to Israel that exists in the hearts of tens of millions of evangelical Christians.” The Bible makes it clear, he said, that the land of Israel is a sacred place. “The Holy City of Jerusalem is our spiritual capital.” He added that “the continuation of Jewish sovereignty over the Holy
Land is a further bulwark to us that the God of the Bible exists and that His Word is true.”²⁹ While Christian support for Israel remains strong for all the reasons Robertson explained to the Israeli audience, political decisions concerning the region are al- ways volatile, which is why President Trump promised the leaders of both Israel and Palestine that the United States would strive to forge a workable compro- mise. Any agreement, he said, must begin by unraveling the Obama adminis- tration’s nuclear deal with Iran, which not only would be beneficial for both Arabs and Jews, but it was the main concern expressed by Prime Minister Netanyahu in his conversation with the American president three months earlier. DEFENDING WESTERN CIVILIZATION During the week of July 5, 2017, while anticapitalist thugs and anarchists were at- tempting to wreak havoc on the G20 Summit of world leaders and finance minis- ters meeting in Hamburg, Germany, President Trump made a visit to the historic Krasiński Square, in the heart of Warsaw, Poland. He had come to one of the most heroic and war-torn nations in Europe to deliver a powerful address in
support of faith, freedom, and the survival of Western civilization. Before a crowd of several thousand citizens and scores of diplomats and government officials, the president said the people of Poland and the West are proclaiming today, as they have done for centuries, “We want God!”³⁰ As the president spoke, it was immediately apparent that this was not going to be a routine political address. He spoke forcefully with no hesitation and no off- the-cuff remarks. “Through four decades of communist rule,” he said, “Poland and the other captive nations of Europe endured a brutal campaign to demolish freedom, your faith, your laws, your history, your identity—indeed the very essence of your culture and your humanity. Yet through it all you never lost that spirit. Your oppressors tried to break you, but Poland could not be broken.” The Poles refused to bend to Nazi occupation and Soviet tyranny, buoyed by their fearless national pride and unflagging faith in God. Throughout his remarks the crowds chanted continually, “Donald Trump, Donald Trump,” and, “USA, USA,” in loud and enthusiastic support of the president’s message.³¹ Trump recalled some of the most dramatic episodes of Polish history, includ- ing the events of June 2, 1979, when Poles gathered in Warsaw’s Victory Square
for Mass with the first Polish Pope, John Paul II. The turmoil that brought the Pol- ish labor leader and hero Lech Walesa to international fame was first and fore- most a spiritual revolution aimed at freeing the Polish people from the iron shackles of Communism. The enormous crowds that assembled for that Mass were sending a message to their Soviet oppressors and the whole world, Trump said, and the world was listening. “They must have known it at that exact moment during Pope John Paul II’s sermon when a million Polish men, women, and chil- dren suddenly raised their voices in a single prayer. A million Polish people did not ask for wealth. They did not ask for privilege. Instead, one million Poles sang three simple words: ‘We want God.’”³² Lech Walesa, who was seated in the front row just a few yards from where Trump was speaking, rose and saluted the president, and the crowds roared their gratitude. “For Americans,” Trump continued, “Poland has been a symbol of hope since the beginning of our nation. Polish heroes and American patriots fought side by side in our War of Independence and in many wars that followed. Our soldiers still serve together today in Afghanistan and Iraq, combating the enemies of all civilization.”³³
Then, speaking directly about the threat of Islamic terrorists, he said, “We are fighting hard against radical Islamic terrorism, and we will prevail. We cannot ac- cept those who reject our values and who use hatred to justify violence against the innocent. Today the West is also confronted by the powers that seek to test our will, undermine our confidence, and challenge our interests. To meet new forms of aggression, including propaganda, financial crimes, and cyber warfare, we must adapt our alliance to compete effectively in new ways and on all new battlefields.”³⁴ In one of his most impassioned statements, the president reminded his audi- ence around the world of the great achievements of Christian Europe and Chris- tian America, saying, “Americans will never forget. The nations of Europe will never forget. We are the fastest and the greatest community. There is nothing like our community of nations. The world has never known anything like our commu- nity of nations. We write symphonies. We pursue innovation. We celebrate our ancient heroes, embrace our timeless traditions and customs, and always seek to explore and discover brand-new frontiers.”³⁵ As the audience thundered their appreciation, the president continued, “We
reward brilliance. We strive for excellence, and cherish inspiring works of art that honor God. We treasure the rule of law and protect the right to free speech and free expression.” The president paused briefly, but the roar continued as he said, “We empower women as pillars of our society and of our success. We put faith and family, not government and bureaucracy, at the center of our lives. And we debate everything. We challenge everything. We seek to know everything so that we can better know ourselves. And above all, we value the dignity of every human life, protect the rights of every person, and share the hope of every soul to live in freedom. That is who we are. Those are the priceless ties that bind us together as nations, as allies, and as a civilization.³⁶ “What we have, what we inherited from our—and you know this better than anybody, and you see it today with this incredible group of people—what we’ve inherited from our ancestors has never existed to this extent before. And if we fail to preserve it, it will never, ever exist again. So we cannot fail.” Then, with cheers resounding all around him, he said, “As I stand here today before this incredible crowd, this faithful nation, we can still hear those voices that echo through his- tory. Their message is as true today as ever. The people of Poland, the people of
America, and the people of Europe still cry out ‘We want God.’”³⁷ This was undoubtedly the most powerful speech Trump has given, and the mainstream media took notice. While the liberal Washington Post called it a “dark and provocative address with nationalist overtones,” the editors of the conser- vative Breitbart news website called the speech “The Emerging Trump Doctrine: The Defense of the West and Judeo-Christian Civilization.” And no one who heard those words and saw the reaction of the crowds could doubt that’s exactly what it was.³⁸ For anyone who has ever asked the question “What does Donald Trump really believe?” this was the answer millions had been hoping for. For too long the forces of darkness have tried to destroy the emblems of our Christian history, to silence the voice of God, and drive the faithful underground and out of sight. But on this day the president of the United States was saying to the voices of insur- rection and hatred, “You will fail.” And he said, “Our values will prevail, our peo- ple will thrive, and our civilization will triumph.”³⁹ AMERICA’S PLACE IN THE WORLD
The president has said repeatedly that the policy of his administration will be fo- cused on American interests and America’s national security. The terrorist bomb- ings in Paris, London, Berlin, and cities all across Europe awakened the world to the face of evil, and terrorist incidents in this country have made it clear that the politically correct approach of the last eight years can no longer be tolerated. Trump prioritizes defeating ISIS and radical Islamic terrorists, and his adminis- tration has taken steps to work with our allies to cut off funding for terrorist groups, to expand intelligence gathering, to use cyber warfare to disrupt and dis- able the enemy’s propaganda and recruiting efforts, and to annihilate enemy com- batants on the battlefield. Supporting all these efforts, the president has brought new leadership on board to begin the process of rebuilding the American military. According to Pentagon sources, the US naval fleet has been cut nearly in half under Obama, from more than 500 ships in 1991 to just 275 in 2016. The US Air Force is roughly one-third smaller than it was in 1991, and contracts for essential aircraft and material were canceled under Obama. Meanwhile the US Army has undergone a 25 percent reduction in forces and suffered draconian cuts in its budget. President Trump has used the expression made popular during the
Reagan years, “Peace through strength,” and he has begun the process of undo- ing Obama-era orders and restoring America’s military dominance in the world.⁴⁰ He has also promised a renewed focus on jobs, business, and creating a more favorable trade balance for US manufacturing. For too long blue-collar commu- nities have seen their factories closed down and their jobs shipped overseas. America’s mounting trade deficit and destabilized manufacturing base have impoverished entire regions of the country. Once proud coal-mining commu- nities have been devastated, and families have been ripped apart. For many voters, the promise of a new focus on jobs and infrastructure was the number one reason for supporting Donald Trump. With his record of success in the business world, they trusted his ability to revise the tax code, reduce bur- dens on employers, strengthen the business climate, and put Americans back to work. A big part of that commitment was withdrawing from the TransPacific Part- nership (TPP) and making certain that all international trade deals would be in the best interest of American workers. Since the recession of 2008 American busi- nesses have suffered through the slowest economic recovery since World War II.
The United States lost nearly three hundred thousand manufacturing jobs during this period, while the share of Americans in the workforce plummeted to levels not seen since the 1970s. At the same time, the national debt doubled, and the middle class got smaller. Trump’s plan to get the economy back on track creates twenty-five million new jobs in the next decade and returns us to a 4 percent an- nual economic growth.⁴¹ It begins with pro-growth tax reform and lower rates for Americans in every tax bracket. Congress would simplify the tax code and lower the corporate tax rate, which is one of the highest in the world. As a job creator and businessman him- self, the president knows the importance of getting Washington out of the way and letting business owners do what they do best.⁴² Federal regulations cost our economy more than two trillion dollars in 2015 alone. In response Trump proposed a moratorium on new federal regulations while also ordering all heads of federal agencies and departments to identify job- killing regulations that ought to be repealed.⁴³ As a small-business owner myself, I am well aware of the mountains of needless paperwork the Obama adminis- tration required and some of the onerous labor regulations that were passed, so
I’m happy to see the Trump administration moving in a more business-friendly direction. Energy is a staple of American life and the world’s economy. Trump is com- mitted to increasing energy production, which will free the United States from dependence on foreign oil, and increasing availability, which will lower energy costs for American homeowners. The Obama administration did everything in its power to increase regulations on energy producers. Obviously the aim was to weaken the industry and give government support to a long list of failed schemes that bureaucrats claimed would help the environment. Trump has said he is com- mitted to eliminating those dangerous and unnecessary policies and freeing up America’s energy producers to get the country up and running again.⁴⁴ These new energy policies are designed to exploit the vast untapped domestic energy reserves in this country, including shale, petroleum, and natural gas. The energy department has reported that there is an estimated fifty trillion dollars in untapped shale, crude oil, and natural gas reserves in the United States, with much of it on federal lands that belong to the American people. Revenues from energy production can be used to rebuild roads, schools, bridges, and other
public facilities.⁴⁵ CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE PRINCIPLE OF STEWARDSHIP In addition to being good for the economy and good for business, the wise use of energy and other natural resources seems a smart move from many points of view. It’s a practical move since scientists have shown that the United States pro- duces the largest amount of oil and gas in the world.⁴⁶ US production now sur- passes both Saudi Arabia and Russia⁴⁷ and promises to be a mainstay of our economy for the long term. But responsible management of these vital resources also involves the principle of stewardship, which is very much a biblical concept and an imperative that Christian leaders ought to understand. When President Trump made his speech in the White House Rose Garden on June 1, 2017, withdrawing the United States from the Paris Accord on climate change, he was not speaking in biblical terms or reciting Scripture, but he was elaborating a principle that reflects a scriptural view of stewardship and account- ability. The Old Testament principle of dominion (Gen. 1:26, 28) and the New Testament parable of the wise steward (Luke 12:42–43) tell us that God has
entrusted us with the riches of the earth and He cares how we use them. We’re not to waste or abuse them but to safeguard our treasure and use it wisely. The president’s speech lasted only a few minutes, but it was a clear and well- developed presentation of ideas he had talked about throughout the campaign. Ending the Paris Accord would prevent foreign nations from draining the US trea- sury in the name of the fraudulent “climate change” agenda. It would protect mil- lions of American jobs, and it would provide a major boost to the nation’s overall economy for years to come. During that speech the president said, “One by one, we are keeping the prom- ises I made to the American people during my campaign for president, whether it’s cutting job-killing regulations; appointing and confirming a tremendous Supreme Court justice; putting in place tough new ethics rules; achieving a record reduction in illegal immigration on our southern border; or bringing jobs, plants, and factories back into the United States at numbers which no one until this point thought even possible. . . .⁴⁸ “On these issues and so many more,” he said, “we’re following through on our commitments. And I don’t want anything to get in our way. . . . Thus, as of today,
the United States will cease all implementation of the non-binding Paris Accord and the draconian financial and economic burdens the agreement imposes on our country. This includes ending the implementation of the nationally deter- mined contribution and, very importantly, the Green Climate Fund, which is cost- ing the United States a vast fortune. . . . ⁴⁹ “We have among the most abundant energy reserves on the planet, sufficient to lift millions of America’s poorest workers out of poverty. Yet, under this agree- ment we are effectively putting these reserves under lock and key, taking away the great wealth of our nation . . . and leaving millions and millions of families trapped in poverty and joblessness.” Then he added, “As the Wall Street Journal wrote this morning: ‘The reality is that withdrawing is in America’s economic interest and won’t matter much to the climate.’⁵⁰ “The United States, under the Trump administration,” he said, “will continue to be the cleanest and most environmentally friendly country on earth. We’ll be the cleanest. We’re going to have the cleanest air. We’re going to have the cleanest water. We will be environmentally friendly, but we’re not going to put our busi- nesses out of work, and we’re not going to lose our jobs. . . . Foreign leaders in
Europe, Asia, and across the world should not have more to say with respect to the US economy than our own citizens and their elected representatives.⁵¹ “Thus, our withdrawal from the agreement represents a reassertion of Amer- ica’s sovereignty. Our Constitution is unique among all the nations of the world, and it is my highest obligation and greatest honor to protect it. And I will.” The president concluded his remarks to sustained applause that day, as he had done many times before, saying, “It is time to make America great again.”⁵²