Output Recent Blog Posts

<?php
    $args = array(
    'numberposts' => 2,
    'orderby' => 'post_date',
    'order' => 'DESC',
    'post_type' =>' post' );

    $recent_posts = wp_get_recent_posts( $args );

    foreach( $recent_posts as $recent ){

        echo '<div class="recent-post">';

        $post_id = $recent["ID"];            

        $post_object = get_post( $post_id );

        $post_content = apply_filters('the_content', $post_object->post_content );

        $trimmed_content = wp_trim_words( $post_content, 40, '...' );

        echo '<h3 class="recent-post-title"><a href="' . get_permalink($post_id) . '">' . $post_object->post_title . '</a></h3>';

        	if ( has_post_thumbnail( $post_id ) ) :
                $image_array = wp_get_attachment_image_src( get_post_thumbnail_id( $post_id ) );
                $image = $image_array[0];
            else :
                $image = get_template_directory_uri() . '/images/placeholder-featured-img.jpg';
            endif;
            
        echo '<img src="' . $image .'" class="recent-post-img" />';

        echo '<p class="recent-post-blurb">' . $trimmed_content . '</p>';

        echo '<a href="' . get_permalink($post_id) . '" class="recent-post-link">Read More</a>';

        echo '</div>';
    }
?>