Donald Trump takes end-of-year shots at Hillary Clinton, Dems
President Donald Trump speaks as he meets with members of the U.S. Coast Guard, who he invited to play golf, at Trump International Golf Club, Friday, Dec. 29, 2017, in West Palm Beach, Fla. Credit: AP
President Donald Trump ended the year with slams on Democrats Sunday, tweeting that the stock market would have gone down if Hillary Clinton was elected and touting his administration’s successes.
In a Sunday morning tweet, Trump wrote, “If the Dems (Crooked Hillary) got elected, your stocks would be down 50% from values on Election Day. Now they have a great future — and just beginning!”
He followed that up by warning that if Democrats take control of Congress in midterm elections next year, it would hurt the market. He tweeted, “Why would smart voters want to put Democrats in Congress in 2018 Election when their policies will totally kill the great wealth created during the months since the Election.”
He also said progress was made in the fight against ISIS, improvement to the Department of Veterans Affairs and passage of tax cuts.
David Axelrod, former President Barack Obama’s strategist, retorted on Twitter that voters would put Democrats in charge, despite the strong stock market, because of Trump’s unpopularity.
“Uh, maybe because of YOU, sir. How do you square all your claims of progress with your record low poll numbers? Think about it,” Axelrod tweeted Sunday.
An evening tweet by Trump sent a New Year’s message, but not without some digs.
“As our Country rapidly grows stronger and smarter, I want to wish all of my friends, supporters, enemies, haters, and even the very dishonest Fake News Media, a Happy and Healthy New Year. 2018 will be a great year for America!” he posted.
Some Democrats are forecasting a strong showing in November that could tip control of Congress in their favor, pointing to success in special elections across the country, record unpopularity for Trump’s first year as president, and an investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller into allegations of the Trump campaign’s ties with Russia.
Retired Adm. Mike Mullen, former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on Sunday described Trump’s first year as “incredibly disruptive, certainly unpredictable in many, many ways” on foreign policy.
On ABC’s “This Week,” he told co-anchor Martha Raddatz: “We’re actually closer, in my view, to a nuclear war with North Korea and in that region than we have ever been.” He added, “I don’t see the opportunities to solve this diplomatically at this particular point.”
Former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci said Sunday that he doesn’t think Trump is worried about where the investigation by Mueller is heading.
“I know he’s not worried about it,” Scaramucci told CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“He said, I think, to The New York Times a couple of days ago that he expects the investigation of Mueller to treat him very fairly and my guess is that will be the case.”
Scaramucci, the Long Island native who briefly served in the White House before being fired, said the president is “frustrated” by allegations Trump says are unfounded.
David Schwartz covers environmental issues. A native Long Islander, he's worked at Newsday since 2013.
