Fact check: Trump's speech before the congress

Fact check: Trump's speech before the congress

President Donald Trump in his speech before the congress made numerous wrong and misleading statements on Tuesday. These covered a wide range of topics, including the economy, climate, immigration and more.

review of Trump's statements on government efficiency

Trump claimed that the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), an initiative led by Elon Musk, had uncovered "hundreds of billions of dollars". However, this number is not proven and requires context.

On the date of Trump's speech indicated Doge on of his website that had been saved for the taxpayer due to his work. However, evidence that could support this high number are missing. Doge listed around 2,300 contracts that allegedly terminated, which is supposed to lead to a total saving of around $ 8.9 billion. Almost 3,500 upcoming grants were also named, but without specific documentation for these savings.

false statements on the economy

In relation to the commercial collages, Trump mentioned that the United States would generate “trillions and abundance dollars” by tariffs. It is important to note that tariffs are paid for by US importers and not by foreign exporters, which means that the costs can ultimately be passed on to consumers in the USA.

In addition, Trump expressed the claim that "small business optimism" had reached a record height of 41 points. This can be interpreted as reference to the NFIB Small Business Optimism Index, which actually recorded an increase in 41 points, but only in a certain parameter, namely the expectation of small business owners regarding the economic situation.

false information about the climate

Trump also spoke of the alleged termination of the "Green New Scam". This statement is misleading because the original initiative he alludes to was never implemented in a law. The “Inflation Reduction Act” by Biden, which was adopted in 2022, included extensive measures to promote climate and energy projects worth $ 430 billion.

report on immigration and border control

Trump claimed that he had reached the lowest number of illegal border crossings "ever". However, this is not correct. Statistics show that there were months in the 1960s in which the number of border officials with migrants was even lower.

claims about Joe Biden and his improvement in the judiciary

Trump was also criticized for saying that Biden had "maliciously" pursued him. The charges mentioned by Trump were submitted by a special investigator, which means that the connection to bidges, which appointed it, does not necessarily represent a blame.

The “worst inflation in 48 years” claimed by Trump can also be considered questionable. In fact, the inflation rate in the United States reached 9.1%in June 2022, which was high, but not the digits mentioned by Trump.

The statements of Trump include many inaccurate and misleading information that do not withstand a closer review. It is crucial to distinguish facts from fictions, especially in political discussions and debates.