The Trump economy is chugging along — 263,000 new jobs were created last month, well above economists’ expectations of 190,000 new jobs. The unemployment rate fell to 3.6%, a 49-year low!

But wait… There’s more!

Job growth for March and February was revised upward by an additional 17,000 new jobs, and wages also continue to grow. In fact, wages in the manufacturing sector are growing at their fastest rate in ten years.

Trump’s stewardship of the economy may have something to do with a sudden burst of optimism among the American people. A Rasmussen poll finds that 54% of Americans believe America’s best days are still ahead of us. That is the first time a majority has expressed optimism about the future since 2006!

2020 Update

Yet another Democrat jumped into the 2020 fray this week. Colorado Senator Michael Bennet threw his hat into the ring. Colorado will be well represented in the Democrat primary as former Governor John Hickenlooper is also running.

Meanwhile, Joe Biden really stepped in it during a campaign stop in Iowa this week. Biden likes to portray himself as a friend of working class Americans and an expert on foreign policy. But he raised a lot of eyebrows when he said this about China:

China is going to eat our lunch? Come on, man… I mean, you know, they’re not bad folks. But guess what? They’re not competition for us.

The statement is breathtaking in its ignorance. China is more than just “competition.” China is aggressively attempting to supplant the United States as the premier power in Asia.

China is building fortified islands and developing advanced weapons to threaten the U.S. Navy.

China has been relentlessly launching devastating cyberattacks against the U.S. for years.

China has been stealing U.S. technology and jobs.

And, as I noted earlier this week, China is in a class by itself as a violator of human rights.

This is only Biden’s most recent “China gaffe.” A few years ago, he told Chinese college students that he “fully understand[s]” the communist regime’s brutal one-child policy.

Biden has been wrong on the most consequential foreign policy matters for his entire 40-year career.

• He thought the ayatollah seizing power in Iran would be good for human rights.

• He opposed the Reagan defense build-up, the First Gulf War and Bush surge in the Second Gulf War.

• He wanted to divide Iraq into three separate countries. Can you image the occupying force needed to impose that map on the Middle East?

• He supported the disastrous Iranian nuclear deal and the pallets of cash the Obama Administration flew to Iran in the dark of night.

And this is the guy Democrats are suggesting is the “wise man” of the party, the candidate with experience and gravitas?

Standing With Israel

I joined Pastor John Hagee, founder and chairman of Christians United for Israel, at the Israeli Embassy Friday for the annual Christian solidarity with Israel event.

I was the first speaker at this event, which began in 2002. Pastor Hagee spoke Friday and gave a stirring defense of the U.S.-Israel alliance. In addition, he zeroed in on the danger of growing anti-Semitism around the world and here in the U.S.

Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S., Ron Dermer, was effusive in his praise of the Christian community’s strong stand in support of the Jewish people.

This is an important alliance, not only for Israel, but also in defense of Judeo-Christian values, the founding pillars of Western Civilization.

As I noted in Thursday’s special message, there was an especially powerful moment during the National Day of Prayer service when President Trump invited Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein of the Chabad of Poway synagogue to address the audience.

Sadly, President Trump is often smeared as an “anti-Semite,” which is an obscene slur. It couldn’t be a bigger lie considering everything Trump has done for Israel, not to mention his Jewish family members.

Trump said that he called Rabbi Goldstein after the shooting at his synagogue and spoke with him for 25 minutes. Rabbi Goldstein said that when the president called he was at home weeping but that his call with Trump “began my healing.”

The rabbi went on to suggest that secularism has advanced too far in our society. He called for a moment of silence in schools so that every child could say a prayer privately.

If you missed Thursday’s National Day of Prayer service at the White House, you can watch it here.

Other Headlines

• Kudos to President Trump and Senate Republicans! An important milestone was achieved this week with the confirmation of President Trump’s 100th judicial nominee, Rodolfo Armando Ruiz to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. And there’s more good news. Two more Trump nominees were confirmed after Ruiz, so the count is now 102 confirmed Trump judges!

• Speaker Nancy Pelosi joined the left-wing attack against Attorney General William Barr yesterday, accusing him of committing perjury by lying to Congress. The deep state is all in on taking Barr down because he is determined to expose the deep state.

• Thursday, selective leaks appeared in the New York Times, noting that the FBI had deployed yet another undercover operative, Azra Turk, to assist in its spying on the Trump campaign. The Times report is nothing more than deep state damage control before the next damning inspector general’s report is released.

• In an interview with Fox News, President Trump vowed to declassify “everything” he could related to “Spygate,” which this morning he said was “bigger than Watergate.”

• A new CNN poll finds that 69% of the public wants an investigation into the “origins of the Justice Department’s inquiry into Russian interference in the 2016 election.” In other words, the overwhelming majority of the public wants answers about the deep state’s spying on the Trump campaign.

• Vice President Mike Pence is demanding answer too. Pence is furious about reports that the FBI may have been spying on his office during the transition.

• And speaking of foreign collusion… we’re learning more about efforts by the Democrat National Committee to collude with Ukrainian officials to assist Hillary Clinton’s campaign. A Ukrainian court recently ruled that two officials violated the law and interfered in the 2016 election when they illegally released financial records related to Paul Manafort.

• The British government has just released a shocking report finding that Christians represent the most persecuted religious group around the world. In some corners of the globe, they are subject to “genocide,” and Christianity is on the verge of being “wiped out” in the Middle East.

• Our friends at Focus on the Family are putting the humanity of the unborn child on full display Saturday. They will be broadcasting live 4D ultrasounds on a massive jumbotron screen in Times Square. Register here to watch livestream video of their “Alive From New York” event.