President Donald Trump, standing in front of Air Force One on Monday, called his work to restore the American market an “economic miracle,” and quipped God is “testing” him in the days leading up to the November election.
Prior the coronavirus pandemic, which brought the U.S. economy to a screeching halt, Trump, a businessperson and reality star by trade, had enjoyed great economic success as president.
“What we’re doing together is nothing short of an economic miracle, and now we’re doing it again,” he said. “We did it. We built the greatest economy in the history of the world, and now I have to do it again.”
Following applause, the president continued, “You know what that is? That’s right. That’s God testing me. He said, ‘You know, you did it once,’ and I said, ‘Did I do a great job, God? I’m the only one who could do it.’ And he said, ‘That, you shouldn’t say. Now we’re gonna have you do it again. I said, ‘OK. I agree. You got me.’ But I did it once, and I’m doing it again.”
July marked the third straight month of improvement, when the economy added another 1.8 million jobs. In June, the economy created 4.8 million jobs.
And last week, the weekly jobless claims fell to 963,000, marking the first time it has been below 1 million since mid-March.
CBN News’ David Brody asked Trump in June if he believes God picked him to be president “for such a time as this.”
The president recalled a conversation he had with Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, who ran against Trump for the GOP presidential nomination in 2016. Trump said Carson told him at one point he was going to win the presidency.
Trump remember, “He said, ‘You’re going to win because God put you here for this occasion.’ I said, ‘What a lovely thing to say.’”
Brody asked Trump if he bought into that belief. In response, the commander-in-chief said, “I almost don’t even want to think about it. Because you know what, all I’m gonna do is, I hope it’s true. All I’m going to do is I’m going to do my best.”