President Donald Trump briefly emerged Tuesday to tout the Dow Jones Industrial Average breaking 30,000 for the first time ever, and then vanished after a minute without taking questions.
The president’s mini appearance, perhaps his shortest-ever remarks from the lectern of the White House briefing room, came less than a day after his administration took a major step toward the transition into Joe Biden’s presidency.
Trump, three weeks after Election Day, still has not conceded the race to Biden. He made no mention of his ongoing struggle to overturn the results of the election during his remarks, which lasted about 62 seconds in total.
Rather, Trump bragged about the stock market’s latest milestone, which came as the U.S. economy continues to recover from the devastating impact of the coronavirus pandemic earlier in the year.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the press in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on November 24, 2020 in Washington, DC.
Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images
“I just want to congratulate everybody. The stock market, Dow Jones Industrial Average just hit 30,000, which is the highest in history,” Trump said.
“We’ve never broken 30,000, and that’s despite everything that’s taken place with the pandemic.”
“The stock market’s just broken 30,000 — never been broken, that number. That’s a sacred number, 30,000, and nobody thought they’d ever see it,” Trump said.
“I just want to congratulate all the people within the administration that worked so hard, and most importantly I want to congratulate the people of our country, because there are no people like you. Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you.”
With that, the president turned and left the briefing room, followed closely by Vice President Mike Pence. Neither Trump nor any other official responded to the stream of questions shouted out from the White House press corps.
“Mr. President, are you going to concede?” were among the questions reporters asked as Trump walked away. “Sir, why not concede for the good of the country, sir?”
Trump was scheduled to appear again later Tuesday afternoon in the Rose Garden, where he and first lady Melania Trump are set to present the national Thanksgiving turkey, a White House tradition.
