Trump touts U.S. economic strength at Economic Club of New York

Nov. 12 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump touted U.S. economic strength, and criticized Democrats and the Federal Reserve on Tuesday in remarks to the Economic Club of New York.

The Economic Club of New York, a non-profit organization, is dedicated to promoting discussion of social, economic and political questions. The non-profit is non-partisan, but Trump didn't shy away from criticizing Democrats, including his predecessor, President Barack Obama, while pushing his own economic record.

U.S. job growth has slowed recently to roughly 2 percent annually, which economists expected considering that it's in a record-breaking 11th year. Job growth has averaged about 189,000 percent in Trump's tenure through October. It averaged about 217,000 per month in Obama's second term. Yet Trump said the economy was declining prior to his administration, which ended "a war on American workers."

"We have ended the war on American workers, we have stopped the assault on American industry, and we have launched an economic boom the likes of which we have never seen before," Trump told nearly 1,300 people gathered for the non-profit's luncheon at the Hilton in Midtown Manhattan.

Trump said his administration "delivered on our promises" and "exceeded expectations by a very wide margin."

In particular, Trump said his administration created nearly 7 million new jobs.

"Back in 2016, before I took office, the Congressional Budget Office projected that fewer than 2 million jobs would be created by this time in 2019, instead my administration has created nearly 7 million new jobs and going up rapidly," Trump told the crowd. "We beat predictions more than three times over."

He was also critical of Democrats' support for an impeachment inquiry which will include the first public hearings Wednesday. Trump suggested the crowd should vote for him in November.

"The truth is look, you have no choice, because the people we are running against are crazy," he said.

Trump also blasted the Federal Reserve.

More jobs were added than expected "despite a near record level of rate increases and quantitative tightening by the Federal Reserve since I won the election," Trump said, adding that the Federal Reserve has put the United States at a "competitive disadvantage" compared to other countries.

On the same day of his speech, economic research group BST Associates released an analysis that said the U.S.-China trade war threatens nearly 1.5 million U.S. jobs. The Port of Los Angeles commissioned the analysis.

Trump downplayed concerns over the U.S.-China trade war with factory activity contracting in August, September, and October, Institute for Supply Management data shows, saying that the United States was "close" to a tentative deal during his speech Tuesday, but would continue to raise tariffs on China if it doesn't agree to his administration's terms.