Donald Trump has attacked Barack Obama’s military strategy in his first Thanksgiving Day speech to troops overseas, saying “they weren’t letting you win before”.In an address in which bragged about a soaring stock market, record job figures, and “big, beautiful fat tax cuts” the military personnel could look forward to at home, he also claimed US forces were repeatedly defeating Isis militants – something he also sought to take credit for.“We opened it up; we said go ahead, we’re going to fight to win. We’re not fighting any more to just walk around, we are fighting to win,” he said, speaking in a live video teleconference from Palm Beach, Florida, with military serving in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. He did not mention Mr Obama by name.
“Everybody’s talking about the progress you’ve made in the last few months since I opened it up.”He claimed US marines had scored “defeat after defeat” on Isis, something he said was possible because of a strategy he put in place. He said they were “fighting for something good”.“They weren’t letting you win before; they were letting you break even,” he said. “They weren’t letting you win.”
Mr Trump, whose approval rating remains at a record low, spoke at he prepared to spend the Thanksgiving Day holiday at his estate at Mar-a-Lago. Before leaving Washington he vowed to work over the holiday break, but soon after his arrival in Florida, Mr Trump headed to one of his favourite golf courses.Later, Mr Trump and the First Lady, Melania Trump, handed out sandwiches and shook hands at a Coast Guard station in Riviera Beach and told personnel his administration was building up wealth so it could protect the country through military acquisitions