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In farewell address, Trump wishes luck to next administration without mentioning Biden

Updated: 2021-01-20 09:11

US President Donald Trump makes remarks on a television monitor from the White House Briefing Room during his last day in office, in Washington, D.C. US, Jan 19, 2021. [Photo/Agencies]

WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump, in a farewell address released on Tuesday, touted his legacy and wished luck to the new administration of President-elect Joe Biden but without acknowledging his successor by name.

Trump has refused to offer a full concession to Democrat Biden, who won the Nov 3 election with 306 Electoral College votes to Trump's 232. Biden will be inaugurated at 12:00 pm EST (1700 GMT) on Wednesday and Trump is not meeting with Biden beforehand or attending the swearing in as is customary in the handover of power to the White House. Trump instead plans to fly to Florida.

"This week, we inaugurate a new administration and pray for its success in keeping America safe and prosperous," the Republican president said in recorded remarks. "We extend our best wishes, and we also want them to have luck - a very important word."

"The greatest danger we face is a loss of confidence in ourselves, a loss of confidence in our national greatness," Trump said.

Trump touted what he had achieved during the four-year term.

"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," Trump said.

Among the achievements that the president boasted were the 2017 tax cuts that he signed into law; a resurgent economy which he claimed credit for, but descended into recession due to the coronavirus pandemic; the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital that experts said destabilized the Middle East; the normalization of ties between Israel and some Arab countries that his administration brokered; as well as what he claimed to be the United States outperforming other nations economically during the pandemic, which, as he spoke, killed more than 400,000 Americans cumulatively.

The president also mentioned the siege of the Capitol, for which he was impeached by the House, saying "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."

Almost concurrently, Biden, flying a private jet, arrived in Washington, D.C. for Wednesday's inauguration, which Trump won't attend. The president will head to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida shortly before the inauguration is set to begin.

Reuters/Xinhua

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