President Trump held a surprise briefing to tout the Dow Jones Industrial Average hitting a historical high and new vaccine developments.
“The stock market’s just broken 30,000. … That’s a sacred number, 30,000. Nobody thought they’d ever see it,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday. The president also said he was “thrilled” with “what’s happened on the vaccine front.”
Trump praised “all the people within the administration that worked so hard,” adding, “I just want to congratulate the people of our country.”
The president spoke for about one minute and took no questions from reporters before exiting the room. He was joined by Vice President Mike Pence, who did not speak.
During the presidential campaign, Trump predicted a stock market crash if Biden won. The formal transition to a Biden presidency began on Monday with an official letter from the Government Services Administration.
Trump, who did not mention the transition in his remarks, has not taken questions from the press since Nov. 3.
Last week, the president attacked drug companies for announcing successful new coronavirus vaccine results after the Nov. 3 general election. More than 11 million people have tested positive for the virus in the United States.
