Tag: Trump lies

Trump’s claim that the House GOP bill is ‘so bad for rich people’

NOTE: We still have no knowledge how either the House GOP or Senate GOP tax cut/corporate welfare bills will impact Pres. Trump and his family members/White House advisers because he has refused to let the people of the country he was elected to represent know what his financial situation is.

The following article by Glenn Kessler was posted on the Washington Post website November 9, 2017:

The wealthiest Americans pay the largest proportion of taxes. Consequently, any tax cut, unless very carefully tailored, will benefit them. (Meg Kelly/The Washington Post)

“The deal is so bad for rich people, I had to throw in the estate tax just to give them something.”
— President Trump, in reported comments to Senate Democrats, Nov. 7, 2017

We do not normally fact-check secondhand comments, but the White House does not dispute this phrasing. Moreover, it cries out for a fact check. Is there really nothing in the House GOP tax plan for the rich but repeal of the estate tax?

Let’s take a look.

Continue reading “Trump’s claim that the House GOP bill is ‘so bad for rich people’”

President Trump’s incomplete history of Schumer and the Diversity Visa Lottery Program

The following article by Meg Kelly was posted on the Washington Post website November 3, 2017:

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) was involved in creating the diversity lottery program, but the story doesn’t stop there. (Meg Kelly/The Washington Post)

“The terrorist came into our country through what is called the ‘Diversity Visa Lottery Program,’ a Chuck Schumer beauty. I want merit based.”
— President Trump, in a tweet, Nov. 1, 2017

“We are fighting hard for Merit Based immigration, no more Democrat Lottery Systems. We must get MUCH tougher (and smarter). @foxandfriends”
— Trump, in a tweet, Nov. 1

“Senator Chuck Schumer helping to import Europe’s problems” said Col. Tony Shaffer. We will stop this craziness! @foxandfriends”
— Trump, in a tweet, Nov. 1 Continue reading “President Trump’s incomplete history of Schumer and the Diversity Visa Lottery Program”

President Trump’s claim that he ‘turned West Virginia around’ by cutting regulations on mining

The following article by Nicole Lewis was posted on the Washington Post website November 1, 2017:

President Trump has a habit of claim economic achievements that aren’t connected to his policies. This claim adds to that list. (Video: Meg Kelly/Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

“And I’ve turned West Virginia around, because of what I’ve done environmentally with coal. And I don’t know if you saw, but West Virginia is second to Texas in percentage increase of GDP.”
— President Trump, remarks during an interview on Fox News Radio, Oct. 17

“One thing that I am very proud of, the state of West Virginia. Last month, it was one of the highest percentage increases in GDP, the state of Texas beat it. And people are saying, wait a minute, West Virginia just came in second. Do you know what that is about? That is about cutting regulations and letting the people go and mine.”
— President Trump, remarks during an interview with Sean Hannity, Oct. 11 Continue reading “President Trump’s claim that he ‘turned West Virginia around’ by cutting regulations on mining”

President Trump’s tax cut: Not ‘the biggest’ in U.S. history

The following article by Glenn Kessler was posted on the Washington Post website November 1, 2017:

The president has a habit of exaggerating; this time his exaggeration is the size of his proposed tax cut. (Meg Kelly/The Washington Post)

“This now allows for the passage of large scale Tax Cuts (and Reform), which will be the biggest in the history of our country!”
— President Trump, in a tweet, Oct. 20, 2017

More than 20 times since he became president, President Trump has claimed that the tax plan under consideration in Congress was the largest tax cut in the history of the United States. He made this claim even before many details were set, but from the beginning it was nonsense. It was so easily debunked that we just tossed it in our ongoing database of false and misleading Trump claims, rather than do a full-fledged fact check. Continue reading “President Trump’s tax cut: Not ‘the biggest’ in U.S. history”

The repeated, incorrect claim that Russia obtained ‘20 percent of our uranium’

The following article by Glenn Kessler was posted on the Washington Post website October 31, 2017:

The United States lost nowhere near 20 percent of its uranium supply as a result of the Rostom-Uranium One deal. (Meg Kelly/The Washington Post)

“How is it that our government could approve a sale of 20 percent of our uranium at the same time that there was an open FBI investigation?”
— Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), interview with Fox News’s Neil Cavuto, Oct. 26, 2017

“Knowing what you know about Russia, was it really a good idea for the Obama administration and the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to approve a deal giving the Russians control of 20 percent of our uranium supply? . . . Why did Hillary’s office and the Obama administration sign off on giving the Russians a fifth of our uranium? . . . Why is that a good idea to give a hostile power 20 percent of our uranium supplies? It’s insane though. . . . How would Hillary Clinton not know if a Russian company was getting 20 percent of our uranium supply? What was she doing?”
— Tucker Carlson, on Fox’s “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” Oct. 23 Continue reading “The repeated, incorrect claim that Russia obtained ‘20 percent of our uranium’”

Trump undercuts widow again, says he remembered name ‘right from the beginning’

The following article by Ashley Parker was posted on the Washington Post website October 25, 2017:

President Trump said there was “no hesitation” when he called Myeshia Johnson, the widow of Sgt. La David Johnson. She said the president couldn’t remember her late husband’s name. Sgt. Johnson was killed in Niger on Oct. 4. (Reuters)

President Trump on Wednesday revived the controversy over his handling of a condolence call with an Army soldier’s widow, disputing Myeshia’s Johnson’s claim that he did not seem to remember her husband’s name and calling into question the memories of others who heard the conversation.

Speaking to reporters on the South Lawn of the White House before departing for a fundraiser in Dallas, Trump said he called Army Sgt. La David Johnson — who was killed after an Oct. 4 ambush in Niger that is still being investigated — by his correct name “right from the beginning.” Continue reading “Trump undercuts widow again, says he remembered name ‘right from the beginning’”

Trump’s claim that he’s done more ‘by far’ than Obama in the fight against ISIS

The following article by Glenn Kessler was posted on the Washington Post website October 25, 2017:

ISIS is losing territory and Trump is claiming credit, but experts say not so fast. (Meg Kelly/The Washington Post)

“We’ve done more against ISIS in nine months than the previous administration has done during its whole administration — by far, by far.”
— President Trump, in remarks before the Value Voters Summit, Oct. 13, 2017

President Trump has made a variation of this claim repeatedly over the months, starting in July, when he proclaimed: “In five months we have done more against ISIS than anybody’s done since the beginning and we are having tremendous success with that.”

Every month since then, he has repeated the claim, simply updating the number of months. For instance, on Sept. 7, he said, “We have done better in eight months of my presidency than the previous eight years against ISIS.” (Never mind that the Islamic State terror group emerged as a significant force in Iraq and Syria in 2013, when it captured and raised its flag over Fallujah.) Continue reading “Trump’s claim that he’s done more ‘by far’ than Obama in the fight against ISIS”

The U.K. agency that compiled the data in Trump’s terrorism tweet disagrees with his assessment

The following article by Philip Bump was posted on the Washington Post website October 20, 2017:

President Trump and British Prime Minister Theresa May during the NATO summit ceremony in Brussels on May 25. (Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images)

President Trump makes two arguments in opposition to immigration, both debatable.

The first is economic, that immigrants in the country illegally (and even many here legally) undercut American workers. A report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine released last year disputes that claim.

The second argument Trump makes — the argument he makes more frequently — is that immigration leads to and is a significant cause of crime in the U.S. There’s his claim that we need to build a wall on the Mexican border to cut down on drug smuggling and criminal illegal aliens, though most smuggling happens through existing checkpoints and immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than native-born Americans. Continue reading “The U.K. agency that compiled the data in Trump’s terrorism tweet disagrees with his assessment”

President Trump’s false claim that insurance companies ‘have made a fortune’ from Obamacare

The following article by Glenn Kessler was posted on the Washington Post website October 19, 2017:

The president misleadingly correlates insurance company’s rising stock prices to profits related to Obamacare, but they are not one in the same. (Meg Kelly/The Washington Post)

“We want the money to go to the people. We don’t want the money to go into the pockets. I have a list here where it talks about the insurance companies. … Anthem, big company, from the beginning of Obamacare, 270 percent increase in their stock price. Humana, 420 percent up. Aetna, 470 percent increase from Obamacare. Cigna, 480 percent increase since Obamacare. The insurance companies have absolutely taken advantage of this country and our people. And I stopped it by stopping the CSRs.”
— President Trump, responding to a question from Mike Sacks of E.W. Scripps, Oct. 17, 2017

“I don’t want to make the insurance companies rich. If you look at their stock price over the last number of years — take a look at what’s happened with those insurance companies — they’re making a fortune by getting that kind of money.”
— Trump, remarks on the White House lawn, Oct. 13, 2017 Continue reading “President Trump’s false claim that insurance companies ‘have made a fortune’ from Obamacare”

Trump Twists Judiciary Leaders’ Findings on Comey Actions

The following article by John T. Bennett was posted on the Roll Call website October 18, 2017:

President says Clinton ‘not interviewed’ despite July 2016 session with FBI

President Donald Trump started Wednesday by twisting the findings of two senior Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans, tweeting that Hillary Clinton was among “people not interviewed” by the FBI in an investigation into her use of a private email server as secretary of State.

The FBI released documents Monday that show then-FBI Director James Comey began writing a statement exonerating Clinton before he concluded his investigation. Senate Judiciary Chairman Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., chairman of Judiciary’s Crime and Terrorism subcommittee, first revealed Comey’s actions Aug. 31. Continue reading “Trump Twists Judiciary Leaders’ Findings on Comey Actions”