Trump recalls presidency as a 'fantastic time' when 'everything worked'
Former President Donald Trump reminisced about his White House tenure on Sunday, gloating in a post to his Truth Social microblogging platform that his single term was a "fantastic time" when "everything worked" for the American people.
Great poll numbers because people want a return to the Trump years when everything worked, the Border was the strongest ever, no Inflation, jobs, jobs, jobs, Energy Independent and soon Dominant, low taxes and regulations, strong military, no Russia and Ukraine, no China and their threats. We defeated 100% of the ISIS Kalifat. Greatest economy EVER. What a fantastic time for America. BRING BACK THE REAL USA. Bring back strength, bring back TRUMP!
On October 8th, 2021, FactCheck.org published its final report card on Trump's presidency, and his claims today do not align with the data:
- The economy lost 2.9 million jobs. The unemployment rate increased by 1.6 percentage points to 6.3%.
- Paychecks grew faster than inflation. Average weekly earnings for all workers were up 8.7% after inflation.
- After-tax corporate profits went up, and the stock market set new records. The S&P 500 index rose 67.8%.
- The international trade deficit Trump promised to reduce went up. The US trade deficit in goods and services in 2020 was the highest since 2008 and increased 40.5% from 2016.
- The number of people lacking health insurance rose by 3 million.
- The federal debt held by the public went up, from $14.4 trillion to $21.6 trillion.
- Home prices rose 27.5%, and the homeownership rate increased 2.1 percentage points to 65.8%.
- Illegal immigration increased. Apprehensions at the Southwest border rose 14.7% last year compared with 2016.
- Coal production declined 26.5%, and coal-mining jobs dropped by 16.7%. Carbon emissions from energy consumption dropped 11.5%.
- Handgun production rose 12.5% last year compared with 2016, setting a new record.
- The murder rate last year rose to the highest level since 1997.
- Trump filled one-third of the Supreme Court, nearly 30% of the appellate court seats and a quarter of District Court seats.
POLL: Should Trump be allowed to hold office again?
Trump's assertion that "we defeated 100% of the ISIS Kalifat" (which he misspelled) is questionable, based upon conflicting remarks from Trump. Roll Call noted in 2019 that after Trump twice tweeted that the ISIS caliphate had been annihilated, he privately acknowledged that the real figure was "70 percent."
Meanwhile, FactCheck stressed in its review that "even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the US economy began slowing down. The real (inflation-adjusted) gross domestic product went up in Trump's first two years, peaking at an estimated 2.9% in 2018 — the highest since 2005. But the economy grew only 2.3% in 2019 and the bottom fell out in 2020. The real GDP declined 3.4% in 2020 from the previous year. It was the largest drop since 1947, when the nation's economy declined 11.6% after years of economic expansion fueled by World War II. As a candidate and president, Trump promised the nation's economy would grow on an annual basis by 4% to 6%. But it never topped 3%."
FactCheck pointed out that "murders and aggravated assaults shot up dramatically under Trump, while most other types of crime declined. In his inaugural address, Trump darkly portrayed America as a country mired in poverty, drugs and crime. 'This American carnage stops right here and stops right now,' he promised. But quite the contrary, the FBI's annual Crime in the United States report, released Sept. 27, shows 4,157 more homicides were committed in 2020 than in 2016, when Trump was elected. That translates to a murder rate per 100,000 people of 6.5 in 2020, an increase of 1.1 points since 2016. The 2020 rate was the highest since 1997, though still well below the peak 10.2 rate recorded in 1980."
Moreover, the national debt ballooned by nearly $8 trillion under Trump, despite his campaign pledge to eliminate it.
"Trump made no progress in erasing the debt, which the then-presidential candidate once said he could probably do in eight years," per FactCheck. "Rather, the amount the federal government has borrowed from the public went up by 50% during Trump's time in office — from $14.4 trillion on the day he was inaugurated to $21.6 trillion the day his successor was sworn in. Likewise, the debt as a percentage of the economy also grew under Trump, rising from 76.2% of GDP in fiscal year 2016 to 100.1% of GDP in fiscal year 2020, according to figures from the Office of Management and Budget."
Trump was also impeached. Twice.
The first time was for his 2019 attempt to coax Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy into providing damaging information on then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. The second occurred following Trump's incitement of the deadly January 6th, 2021 insurrection at the United States Capitol after he lost the 2020 election. For that, in 2023, Trump would become the first commander-in-chief to be indicted for allegedly running a criminal conspiracy to topple the federal government and remain in power.
READ MORE: Trump’s Truth Social merger facing 'catastrophic threat' as deadline looms: report
View FactCheck's assessment at this link. Roll Call's is here.
