Obama trolls Trump on President's Day with comment about economy

The 44th president pokes fun at his successor's dubious boasts about the turnaround in America's financial health

Andrew Buncombe
Seattle
Tuesday 18 February 2020 00:30 GMT
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Barack Obama has taken a subtle prod at Donald Trump, with tweet about rebuilding the nation after the economic crisis of 2007 to 2008.

Mr Trump has repeatedly boasted about the state of the economy, with its run of strong markets, and record levels of employment.

“Despite all of the cynics, I have never been more confident in America’s future,” he said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last month.

He claims actions he took were responsible for the economy’s current state of affairs, while critics point out he was left strong fundamentals by his predecessor.

The same could not be same for Mr Obama, who was elected to office, as probably the worst economic crisis since the 1930s took hold.

Among his very first acts, was a plan to reestablish confidence in the markets and banks to prevent further losses.

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In a tweet posted on President’s Day, a federal holiday held to mark the birthday of George Washington, Mr Obama said the day marked another important anniversary.

“Eleven years ago today, near the bottom of the worst recession in generations, I signed the Recovery Act, paving the way for more than a decade of economic growth and the longest streak of job creation in American history,” he wrote.

If Mr Obama was hoping to hit a nerve with his successor, he appeared to have succeeded.

Mr Trump responded angrily, tweeting: "Did you hear the latest con job? President Obama is now trying to take credit for the Economic Boom taking place under the Trump Administration. He had the WEAKEST recovery since the Great Depression, despite Zero Fed Rate & MASSIVE quantitative easing. NOW, best jobs numbers....

"....ever. Had to rebuild our military, which was totally depleted. Fed Rate UP, taxes and regulations WAY DOWN. If Dems won in 2016, the USA would be in big economic (Depression?) & military trouble right now. THE BEST IS YET TO COME. KEEP AMERICA GREAT!"

Earlier, amid tweets about impeachment, and before heading to the Daytona 500 NASCAR race in Florida, Mr Trump wrote: “HAPPY PRESIDENT’S DAY!”

The placement of the apostrophe in "president's" suggested Mr Trump was wishing a happy day to one president in particular.

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