Trump’s Major Claim During SOTU Hit With Humiliating Fact-Check
In his State of the Union Tuesday night, Donald Trump claimed that he had secured $18 trillion in foreign investments for the United States. But his own website says that isn’t true. “I secured commitments for more than $18 trillion, pouring in from all over the globe,” Trump said in the speech, complete with a graphic on the official White House stream to drive home the point. NBC News was quick to point out that this wasn’t true, and produced proof that the White House itself had posted online. “The commitments and investments the White House touted on its own website total $9.7 trillion,” the news outlet reported, noting that the investments Trump has bragged about are in line with previous announcements, or are only slight increases. A Bloomberg analysis has found that $2.27 trillion of that can’t be considered actual investments, but only “vague promises to increase trade or bilateral economic relationships, or purchase commitments.” And $3.5 trillion would be from sovereign pledges, with $3.5 trillion being investments from corporations. Of that $3.5 trillion, $2.9 trillion would go toward data centers, according to Bloomberg. On top of that, more than $250 billion of the pledges Trump is claiming as a big accomplishment were actually announced or planned before he was sworn in as president last year.All of this was part of many embellishments and half-truths in the longest State of the Union address in presidential history. Trump used the address to claim how great he was doing despite most Americans disagreeing, and Democrats let him know during the speech. One claim by Trump was even too much for Republicans to applaud: his boasting about tariffs, which were struck down by the Supreme Court. That’s because most of them agree with the court’s ruling. Too bad most GOP lawmakers are fine with every other destructive decision from the president.