Trump Continues To Oversell His Economic Performance

In his speech at Davos on Friday, and throughout the weekend, Trump continued to lie and exaggerate about the economy. At his first State of the Union tomorrow night, we can expect more of the same. Here are just a few of Trump’s most recent fact checks:

 

“We’ll be making solar products now much more so in the United States. … A lot of workers; a lot of jobs.”

 

REALITY: Trump’s tariff could actually wipe out more jobs than it creates.

 

Washington Post Fact Checker: “Trump says solar tariff will create ‘a lot of jobs.’ But it could wipe out many more.”

Reuters: “SunPower puts U.S. expansion on hold over Trump tariff.”

 

“Chrysler, as an example, is leaving Mexico and coming back to the USA.”

 

REALITY: This is false.

 

Washington Post’s Glenn Kessler: “This is false: Chrysler isn't leaving Mexico. This is at least the third time Trump has claimed this.”

 

“After years of stagnation, the United States is once again experiencing strong economic growth.”

 

REALITY: The economy hasn’t accelerated.

 

Associated Press: “This is an exaggeration. The economy is doing better by some measures but data released right as Trump finished speaking shows it hasn’t yet accelerated meaningfully since his inauguration.”

 

“Since my election, we’ve created 2.4 million jobs. And that number is going up very, very substantially.”

 

REALITY: Job growth is going down.

 

            Associated Press: “Actually, job growth is going down.”

 

“Black Unemployment has just been reported to be at the LOWEST RATE EVER RECORDED!”

 

REALITY: Trump had nothing to do with the black unemployment rate dropping.

 

Politico’s Ben White: “The unemployment rate among African Americans is indeed at a low point but it’s a continuation of an eight year trend that has little or nothing to do with @realDonaldTrump.”

 

Here are some other useful facts on Trump’s first year ahead of his SOTU address:

 

 

 

 

  • The stock market grew at a slower rate than it did during this same period of Obama’s presidency.

 

  • The Trump tax has not trickled down to workers, and may actually encourage companies to move jobs overseas.