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“One by one, the factories shuttered and left our shores, with not even a thought about the millions and millions of American workers that were left behind. The wealth of our middle class has been ripped from their homes and then redistributed all across the world.”

Topic: Jobs

Source: Prepared speech

Full story

Trump engages in hyperbole, attributing all of the decline in manufacturing to foreign trade. Some economists calculate 1 million to 2 million jobs were lost after China was admitted to the World Trade Organization in 2000. But economists say they believe the biggest factor in the decline in manufacturing is automation, not jobs going overseas. Another factor is decreased consumer spending on manufactured goods. A new report by the Congressional Research Service notes that “employment in manufacturing has fallen in most major manufacturing countries over the past quarter-century,” so the U.S. experience is not unusual.

“Our economy is perhaps the best it's ever been.”
Repeated 1 time
Jan 16, 2018

Topic: Economy

Source: Remarks

The annual increase in the gross domestic product, the broadest measure of the economy, is currently far below the level reached in many years in the 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.

“We need the Wall for the safety and security of our country. We need the Wall to help stop the massive inflow of drugs from Mexico, now rated the number one most dangerous country in the world. If there is no Wall, there is no Deal!”
Repeated 24 times
Jan 18, 2018Jan 16Jan 15Jan 14Jan 11Jan 10Jan 10Jan 9Jan 6Jan 4Dec 28, 2017Dec 8Nov 2Oct 26Oct 25Oct 25Oct 16Oct 16Oct 11Sep 22Aug 28Aug 22Aug 3Jul 28

Topic: Immigration

Source: Twitter

Full story

The wall will have virtually no effect on drugs coming into the country. According to reports by the DEA, the majority of drugs are smuggled through legal ports of entry or smuggled through underground tunnels. There is also no evidence that Democrats want to have illegal immigrants and drugs "pour into our country." Finally, there appears to be no credible study that ranks Mexico as the most dangerous country in the world.

“The Wall will be paid for, directly or indirectly, or through longer term reimbursement, by Mexico, which has a ridiculous $71 billion dollar trade surplus with the U.S. The $20 billion dollar Wall is 'peanuts' compared to what Mexico makes from the U.S. NAFTA is a bad joke!”
Repeated 12 times
Jan 18, 2018Jan 11Dec 28, 2017Dec 8Nov 11Nov 1Oct 25Oct 22Jul 25May 1Apr 28Feb 23

Topic: Economy

Source: Twitter

Full story

Trump, as is his practice, inflates the size of the trade deficit by only counting goods, not goods and services. The 2016 trade deficit with Mexico was $56 billion. Meanwhile, Trump frequently suggests the United States is “losing money” when there is a trade deficit, but that reflects a fundamental misunderstanding. Americans want to buy these products from overseas, either because of quality or price. If Trump sparked a trade war and tariffs were increased on Mexican goods, then it would raise the cost of those products to Americans. Perhaps that would reduce the purchases of those goods, and thus reduce the trade deficit, but that would not mean the United States would “gain” money that had been lost -- and that such monies could be used to pay for a $20 million wall.

“The Wall is the Wall, it has never changed or evolved from the first day I conceived of it.”
Repeated 1 time
Jan 18, 2018

Topic: Immigration

Source: Twitter

Trump's rhetoric on his proposal wall on the U.S.-Mexico border has shifted repeatedly since he first proposed it, including the height, the length, the cost and type of material. He has also been inconsistent on whether and how Mexico would pay for it, as he claimed.

“We have created nearly 2.2 million jobs since the election.”
Repeated 10 times
Jan 18, 2018Jan 8Dec 30, 2017Dec 20Dec 18Dec 13Dec 8Dec 6Nov 29Nov 5

Topic: Jobs

Source: Remarks

Trump is counting jobs from Election Day, even though he did not take office until almost three months later. At the time, about 1.8 million jobs had been created during his presidency, which a slower pace than any year since 2010.

“Because we substantially reduced tax rates on American companies, economists estimate that annual household income will rise by an average of $4,000.”
Repeated 8 times
Jan 18, 2018Jan 10Dec 13, 2017Dec 8Nov 29Nov 2Oct 17Oct 11

Topic: Taxes

Source: Remarks

Trump is citing a White House Council of Economic Advisers report that has been widely criticized for the $4,000 estimate, including by the economist whose work is cited in making this forecast.

““90% of Trump 2017 news coverage was negative” -and much of it contrived!@foxandfriends”

Topic:

Source: Twitter

The Pew Research Center found that 63 percent of the coverage of Trump was negative. trump was citing a report from a right-leaning Media Research Center.

“We must have Security at our VERY DANGEROUS SOUTHERN BORDER, and we must have a great WALL to help protect us, and to help stop the massive inflow of drugs pouring into our country!”
Repeated 24 times
Jan 18, 2018Jan 16Jan 15Jan 14Jan 11Jan 10Jan 10Jan 9Jan 6Jan 4Dec 28, 2017Dec 8Nov 2Oct 26Oct 25Oct 25Oct 16Oct 16Oct 11Sep 22Aug 28Aug 22Aug 3Jul 28

Topic: Immigration

Source: Twitter

Full story

The wall will have virtually no effect on drugs coming into the country. According to reports by the DEA, the majority of drugs are smuggled through legal ports of entry or smuggled through underground tunnels. There is also no evidence that Democrats want to have illegal immigrants and drugs "pour into our country."

“More women in the workforce today than ever before. That's really terrific, and especially since it's on my watch. ”

Topic: Jobs

Source: Remarks

This claim lacks context. As the U.S. population increases, the number of people employed is bound to also increase, though there was actually a dip in the number of women employed from August through December. Moreover, during Trump's presidency, women have made up a smaller percentage of the overall work force, dropping from 47 percent to 45 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistic

“But GDP [gross domestic product] in particular, it was stuck and heading down. ”

Topic: Economy

Source: Remarks

GDP growth hit 3.2 percent in the first quarter of 2015 while Obama was still in office, after a sustained period of job creation since the Great Recession, and reached 2.8 percent in the third quarter of 2016. GDP growth did fall in the 4th quarter, but Trump is pushing it to call it "stuck."

“Without taking off those regulations -- I mean, look at what we've done just in terms of pipelines -- 48,000 jobs from almost day one -- 48,000 jobs on, really, things that were never going to get built. ”
Repeated 21 times
Jan 16, 2018Dec 8, 2017Nov 6Nov 2Sep 29Sep 27Sep 22Sep 6Jul 12Jul 12Jun 29Jun 21Jun 7Apr 29Apr 4Mar 28Feb 28Feb 24Feb 18Feb 16Jan 24

Topic: Jobs

Source: Remarks

Full story

Trump appears to be combining two disputed figures — 28,000 jobs for Keystone XL and 12,000 for the Dakota Access Pipeline-- and then hyping it even more. We have looked closely at the Keystone numbers, and the same methodological issues appear to apply to the Dakota estimates. The actual number of Keystone construction jobs, for instance, is just 3,900 on an annualized basis — and other jobs have already been created (such as for building high-strength line pipe.) In the context of the U.S. economy, which just in December added 148,000 jobs, these are not many jobs.

“Senator Dicky Durbin totally misrepresented what was said at the DACA meeting. Deals can’t get made when there is no trust! Durbin blew DACA and is hurting our Military.”

Topic: Immigration

Source: Twitter

Durbin publicly said that Trump used the term "****hole" when referring to Africa. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) was not as specific but he said that he spoke "his piece" after Trump used derogatory language about developing countries. There are reporters that Trump bragged in calls about using the term, believing it would win favor with his base voters.

“The Wall Street Journal stated falsely that I said to them 'I have a good relationship with Kim Jong Un' (of N. Korea). Obviously I didn't say that. I said 'I'd have a good relationship with Kim Jong Un,' a big difference. Fortunately we now record conversations with reporters and they knew exactly what I said and meant. They just wanted a story. FAKE NEWS!”

Topic: Foreign policy

Source: Twitter

The audio tape is not entirely clear but in context, it makes more sense for Trump to have said "I have a good relationship," as he made the statement while mentioning good, current relationships with the leaders of China and Japan. Moreover, when the reporters followed and asked if he had communicated with Kim, Trump declined to comment.

“So much Fake News is being reported. They don’t even try to get it right, or correct it when they are wrong. They promote the Fake Book of a mentally deranged author, who knowingly writes false information. The Mainstream Media is crazed that WE won the election!”

Topic: Miscellaneous

Source: Twitter

Michael Wolff, the author of a critical account of Trump's first year, is not mentally deranged. The Trump White House fully cooperated with Wolff, offering him extensive access to key players, on the mistaken assumption it would be a positive account.

“In new Quinnipiac Poll, 66% of people feel the economy is “Excellent or Good.” That is the highest number ever recorded by this poll.”

Topic: Miscellaneous

Source: Twitter

From same poll: "49 percent of voters say former President Barack Obama is more responsible for the state of the economy, while 40 percent say Trump is more responsible....American voters give Trump a negative 36 - 59 percent job approval rating, compared to a negative 36 - 44 percent score in a January 26, 2017, post-inaugural poll."

“'House votes on controversial FISA ACT today.' This is the act that may have been used, with the help of the discredited and phony Dossier, to so badly surveil and abuse the Trump Campaign by the previous administration and others? With that being said, I have personally directed the fix to the unmasking process since taking office and today's vote is about foreign surveillance of foreign bad guys on foreign land. We need it! Get smart!”

Topic: Election

Source: Twitter

Trump appeared to tweet against a bill that his administration supported, and two hours later he expressed his support for that bill. The only person affiliated with the campiagn known to have survelliance placed on him through a FISA court order is Carter Page. The exact date of the order, which must be approved by a judge, is not clear but some reports say it took place after he resigned from the campaign.

“I have fulfilled many of my campaign promises.”

Topic: Biographical record

Source: Interview

The Fact Checker's Trump Promise Tracker shows that when the president made this statement, out of 60 key promises, he had only kept seven promises while breaking 15.

“We have a trade deficit with South Korea of $31 billion a year.”
Repeated 1 time
Nov 11, 2017

Topic: Economy

Source: Interview

Trump, as is his practice, inflates the size of the trade deficit by only counting goods, not good and services. The 2016 trade deficit with South Korea was $17 billion.

“I have Foxconn coming to Wisconsin; that's my deal. You know the head of Foxconn, you know he's a friend of mine. He's still only moving there because of me. And the governor has been fantastic.”
Repeated 62 times
Jan 11, 2018Dec 14, 2017Dec 13Dec 8Dec 5Nov 29Nov 23Nov 13Nov 2Nov 2Oct 18Oct 16Oct 10Oct 7Oct 6Sep 8Sep 6Sep 5Aug 23Aug 22Aug 15Aug 14Aug 12Aug 11Aug 10Aug 4Aug 4Aug 3Aug 2Jul 26Jul 26Jun 21Jun 15May 18May 17May 1Apr 29Apr 21Apr 12Apr 11Apr 4Apr 2Mar 31Mar 29Mar 28Mar 28Mar 24Mar 24Mar 23Mar 21Mar 17Mar 15Mar 13Mar 6Feb 28Feb 28Feb 24Feb 18Feb 17Feb 16Feb 10Feb 9

Topic: Economy

Source: Interview

Full story

Trump touted Foxconn's investment announcement, but the company considered investing in U.S.-based facilities since 2014, though its initial plans to invest in Pennsylvania didn't pan out.

Trump once said the tiles in a nursery at the West Palm Beach club had been made by Walt Disney himself; when Senecal protested, Trump had a single response: “Who cares?”

Trump in a Piers Morgan interview:
""The ice caps were going to melt, they were going to be gone by now, but now they’re setting records. They’re at a record level," "

A NASA report last year found that the sea ice extent on both poles had reached the lowest levels since the data began to be recorded in 1979.

So.... record low maybe

“Since the election, we have created 2.4 million new jobs, including 200,000 new jobs in manufacturing alone.”


Trump often inflates the number of jobs created under his presidency by counting Election Day, rather than when he took the oath of office. There have been about 1.8 million jobs created since January 2017, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s the slowest gain in jobs since 2010, which indicates how well job growth was going before Trump took office.

There were 184,000 manufacturing jobs created in the 11 months since Trump took the oath of office, compared with a loss of 16,000 in 2016, according to the BLS. This is a substantial one-year gain, but it’s still more than 1 million manufacturing jobs below the level at the start of the Great Recession.

“African American unemployment stands at the lowest rate ever recorded, and Hispanic American unemployment has also reached the lowest levels in history.”

This is a flip-flop by Trump. During the 2016 campaign, Trump used to claim a Four-Pinocchio statistic that 58 percent of African American youths were unemployed. The official Bureau of Labor Statistics unemployment rate for black youth at the time was 19.2 percent — about one-third of the rate used by Trump. Now that he’s president, Trump appears all too happy to cite the unemployment rate for African Americans, bragging that it’s the best since the turn of the century.

The African American unemployment rate has been on a relatively steady decline since it hit a peak of 16.8 percent in March 2010, during the Great Recession. The rate had already fallen to 7.7 percent when Trump took the oath of office — it is now 6.8 percent — so Trump taking credit for this is like a rooster thinking the sun came up because he crowed.

“The stock market has smashed one record after another, gaining $8 trillion in value. That is great news for Americans’ 401(k), retirement, pension and college savings accounts.”

Trump frequently brags about the rising stock market — he’s done it about once every three days as president — even though during the 2016 campaign he had said it was “a big fat bubble” that was about to pop.

Trump is correct that $8 trillion in wealth has been created since the election — or $6.9 trillion since he took the oath of office, according to the Wilshire 5000 Index of stocks. But much of that gain in wealth did not trickle down to most Americans. Only about 50 percent of Americans own stocks directly or through retirement funds, according to a Gallup survey. And most of the value in stocks is held by the top 10 percent.

Moreover, the U.S. rise in 2017 was not unique. When looking at the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index, it’s clear U.S. stocks haven’t rallied quite as robustly as their foreign equivalents. So it’s hard for Trump to make the case that his stewardship is making that much of a difference if stocks are doing better in other developed countries.

In fact, Trump even falls short in comparison to Barack Obama’s first year. The S&P 500 gained about 33.3 percent from inauguration through Jan. 29 under Obama, compared with 25.5 percent under Trump.

Bragging about the rise of the stock market could backfire on the president if there is a sudden downturn. Stocks fell more than 1 percent Tuesday, as rising bond yields are becoming competitive with stocks that pay big dividends and traders are looking for less risky places to put their money. According to Trump’s metric, almost $360 billion worth of wealth in the stock market disappeared Tuesday.