T r u m p ’ s
L i e s
Many Americans
have become accustomed to President Trump’s lies. But as regular as they have
become, the country should not allow itself to become numb to them. So we have
catalogued nearly every outright lie he has told publicly since taking the oath
of office. Updated: The president is still lying, so we've added to this
list, taking it through Nov. 11, and provided links to the facts in each case.
By DAVID LEONHARDT and STUART A. THOMPSON
UPDATED December 14, 2017
Jan. 21 “I wasn't a fan of Iraq. I didn't want to
go into Iraq.” (He was for an
invasion before he was against it.) Jan. 21 “A reporter for Time magazine — and I have
been on their cover 14 or 15 times. I think we have the all-time record in the
history of Time magazine.” (Trump was on the
cover 11 times and Nixon appeared 55 times.) Jan. 23 “Between 3 million
and 5 million illegal votes caused me to lose the popular vote.” (There's no evidence
of illegal voting.) Jan.
25 “Now, the audience was the biggest ever. But this crowd was
massive. Look how far back it goes. This crowd was massive.” (Official aerial
photos show Obama's 2009 inauguration was much more heavily attended.) Jan. 25 “Take a
look at the Pew reports (which show voter fraud.)” (The report never
mentioned voter fraud.) Jan.
25 “You had millions of people that now aren't insured anymore.” (The real number is
less than 1 million, according to the Urban Institute.) Jan. 25 “So, look,
when President Obama was there two weeks ago making a speech, very nice speech.
Two people were shot and killed during his speech. You can't have that.” (There were no gun
homicide victims in Chicago that day.) Jan. 26 “We've taken in
tens of thousands of people. We know nothing about them. They can say they vet
them. They didn't vet them. They have no papers. How can you vet somebody when
you don't know anything about them and you have no papers? How do you vet them?
You can't.” (Vetting lasts up to
two years.) Jan.
26 “I cut off hundreds of millions of dollars off one particular
plane, hundreds of millions of dollars in a short period of time. It wasn't
like I spent, like, weeks, hours, less than hours, and many, many hundreds of
millions of dollars. And the plane's going to be better.” (Most of the cuts
were already planned.) Jan.
28 “The coverage about me in the @nytimes and the @washingtonpost has
been so false and angry that the Times actually apologized to its dwindling
subscribers and readers.” (It never
apologized.) Jan.
29 “The Cuban-Americans, I got 84 percent of that vote.” (There is no support
for this.) Jan.
30 “Only 109 people out of 325,000 were detained and held for
questioning. Big problems at airports were caused by Delta computer outage.” (At least 746 people
were detained and processed, and the Delta outage happened two days later.) Feb. 3 “Professional
anarchists, thugs and paid protesters are proving the point of the millions of
people who voted to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” (There is no
evidence of paid protesters.) Feb. 4 “After being forced to apologize for its bad
and inaccurate coverage of me after winning the election, the FAKE NEWS
@nytimes is still lost!” (It never
apologized.) Feb.
5 “We had 109 people out of hundreds of thousands of travelers and all
we did was vet those people very, very carefully.” (About 60,000 people
were affected.) Feb.
6 “I have already saved more than $700 million when I got involved in
the negotiation on the F-35.” (Much of the price
drop was projected before Trump took office.) Feb. 6 “It's gotten to a
point where it is not even being reported. And in many cases, the very, very
dishonest press doesn't want to report it.” (Terrorism has been
reported on, often in detail.) Feb. 6 “The failing @nytimes was forced to
apologize to its subscribers for the poor reporting it did on my election win.
Now they are worse!” (It didn't
apologize.) Feb.
6 “And the previous administration allowed it to happen because we
shouldn't have been in Iraq, but we shouldn't have gotten out the way we got
out. It created a vacuum, ISIS was formed.” (The group’s origins
date to 2004.) Feb.
7 “And yet the murder rate in our country is the highest it’s been in
47 years, right? Did you know that? Forty-seven years.” (It was higher in
the 1980s and '90s.) Feb.
7 “I saved more than $600 million. I got involved in negotiation on a
fighter jet, the F-35.” (The Defense
Department projected this price drop before Trump took office.) Feb. 9 “Chris
Cuomo, in his interview with Sen. Blumenthal, never asked him about his
long-term lie about his brave ‘service’ in Vietnam. FAKE NEWS!” (It was part of
Cuomo's first question.) Feb.
9 “Sen. Richard Blumenthal now misrepresents what Judge Gorsuch told
him?” (The Gorsuch
comments were later corroborated.) Feb. 10 “I don’t know about it. I haven’t seen it.
What report is that?” (Trump knew about Flynn's actions for
weeks.) Feb.
12 “Just leaving Florida. Big crowds of enthusiastic supporters lining
the road that the FAKE NEWS media refuses to mention. Very dishonest!” (The media did cover
it.) Feb.
16 “We got 306 because people came out and voted like they've never
seen before so that's the way it goes. I guess it was the biggest Electoral
College win since Ronald Reagan.” (George H.W. Bush,
Bill Clinton and Barack Obama all won bigger margins in the Electoral College.) Feb. 16 “That’s
the other thing that was wrong with the travel ban. You had Delta with a
massive problem with their computer system at the airports.” (Delta's problems
happened two days later.) Feb. 16 “Walmart announced it will create 10,000
jobs in the United States just this year because of our various plans and
initiatives.” (The jobs are a
result of its investment plans announced in Oct. 2016.) Feb. 16 “When
WikiLeaks, which I had nothing to do with, comes out and happens to give, they’re
not giving classified information.” (Not always. They
have released classified information in the past.) Feb. 16 “We had a very
smooth rollout of the travel ban. But we had a bad court. Got a bad decision.” (The rollout was
chaotic.) Feb.
16 “They’re giving stuff — what was said at an office about Hillary
cheating on the debates. Which, by the way, nobody mentions. Nobody mentions
that Hillary received the questions to the debates.” (It was widely
covered.) Feb.
18 “And there was no way to vet those people. There was no
documentation. There was no nothing.” (Refugees receive
multiple background checks, taking up to two years.) Feb. 18 “You look at
what's happening in Germany, you look at what's happening last night in Sweden.
Sweden, who would believe this?” (Trump implied there
was a terror attack in Sweden, but there was no such attack.) Feb. 24 “By the
way, you folks are in here — this place is packed, there are lines that go back
six blocks.” (There was no evidence
of long lines.) Feb.
24 “ICE came and endorsed me.” (Only its union
did.) Feb.
24 “Obamacare covers very few people — and remember, deduct from the
number all of the people that had great health care that they loved that was
taken away from them — it was taken away from them.” (Obamacare increased
coverage by a net of about 20 million.) Feb. 27 “Since Obamacare
went into effect, nearly half of the insurers are stopped and have stopped from
participating in the Obamacare exchanges.” (Many fewer pulled
out.) Feb.
27 “On one plane, on a small order of one plane, I saved $725 million.
And I would say I devoted about, if I added it up, all those calls, probably
about an hour. So I think that might be my highest and best use.” (Much of the price
cut was already projected.) Feb. 28 “And now, based on our very strong and
frank discussions, they are beginning to do just that.” (NATO countries
agreed to meet defense spending requirements in 2014.) Feb. 28 “The E.P.A.’s
regulators were putting people out of jobs by the hundreds of thousands.” (There's no evidence
that the Waters of the United States rule caused severe job losses.) Feb. 28 “We have
begun to drain the swamp of government corruption by imposing a five-year ban
on lobbying by executive branch officials.” (They can't lobby
their former agency but can still become lobbyists.) March 3 “It is so pathetic
that the Dems have still not approved my full Cabinet.” (Paperwork for the
last two candidates was still not submitted to the Senate.) March 4 “Terrible!
Just found out that Obama had my ‘wires tapped’ in Trump Tower just before the
victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!” (There's no evidence
of a wiretap.) March
4 “How low has President Obama gone to tap my phones during the very
sacred election process. This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!” (There's no evidence
of a wiretap.) March
7 “122 vicious prisoners, released by the Obama Administration from
Gitmo, have returned to the battlefield. Just another terrible decision!” (113 of them were
released by President George W. Bush.) March 13 “I saved a lot of
money on those jets, didn't I? Did I do a good job? More than $725 million on
them.” (Much of the cost
cuts were planned before Trump.) March 13 “First of all, it covers very few people.”
(About 20 million
people gained insurance under Obamacare.) March 15 “On the
airplanes, I saved $725 million. Probably took me a half an hour if you added
up all of the times.” (Much of the cost
cuts were planned before Trump.) March 17 “I was in Tennessee — I was just telling
the folks — and half of the state has no insurance company, and the other half
is going to lose the insurance company.” (There's at least
one insurer in every Tennessee county.) March 20 “With just one
negotiation on one set of airplanes, I saved the taxpayers of our country over
$700 million.” (Much of the cost
cuts were planned before Trump.) March 21 “To save taxpayer dollars, I’ve already
begun negotiating better contracts for the federal government — saving over
$700 million on just one set of airplanes of which there are many sets.” (Much of the cost
cuts were planned before Trump.) March 22 “I make the statement, everyone goes
crazy. The next day they have a massive riot, and death, and problems.” (Riots in Sweden
broke out two days later and there were no deaths.) March 22 “NATO, obsolete,
because it doesn’t cover terrorism. They fixed that.” (It has fought
terrorism since the 1980s.) March 22 “Well, now, if you take a look at the
votes, when I say that, I mean mostly they register wrong — in other words, for
the votes, they register incorrectly and/or illegally. And they then vote. You
have tremendous numbers of people.” (There's no evidence
of widespread voter fraud.) March 29 “Remember when the failing @nytimes
apologized to its subscribers, right after the election, because their coverage
was so wrong. Now worse!” (It didn't
apologize.) March
31 “We have a lot of plants going up now in Michigan that were never
going to be there if I — if I didn’t win this election, those plants would
never even think about going back. They were gone.” (These investments
were already planned.) April
2 “And I was totally opposed to the war in the Middle East which I
think finally has been proven, people tried very hard to say I wasn’t but
you’ve seen that it is now improving.” (He was for an
invasion before he was against it.) April 2 “Now, my last tweet — you know, the one
that you are talking about, perhaps — was the one about being, in quotes,
wiretapped, meaning surveilled. Guess what, it is turning out to be true.” (There is still no
evidence.) April
5 “You have many states coming up where they’re going to have no
insurance company. O.K.? It’s already happened in Tennessee. It’s happening in
Kentucky. Tennessee only has half coverage. Half the state is gone. They left.”
(Every marketplace
region in Tennessee had at least one insurer.) April 6 “If you look at
the kind of cost-cutting we’ve been able to achieve with the military and at
the same time ordering vast amounts of equipment — saved hundreds of millions
of dollars on airplanes, and really billions, because if you take that out over
a period of years it’s many billions of dollars — I think we’ve had a
tremendous success.” (Much of the price
cuts were already projected.) April 11 “I like Steve, but you have to remember he
was not involved in my campaign until very late. I had already beaten all the
senators and all the governors, and I didn’t know Steve.” (He knew Steve
Bannon since 2011.) April
12 “You can't do it faster, because they're obstructing. They're
obstructionists. So I have people — hundreds of people that we're trying to get
through. I mean you have — you see the backlog. We can't get them through.” (At this point, he
had not nominated anyone for hundreds of positions.) April 12 “The New York
Times said the word wiretapped in the headline of the first edition. Then they
took it out of there fast when they realized.” (There were separate
headlines for print and web, but neither were altered.) April 12 “The
secretary general and I had a productive discussion about what more NATO can do
in the fight against terrorism. I complained about that a long time ago and
they made a change, and now they do fight terrorism.” (NATO has been
engaged in counterterrorism efforts since the 1980s.) April 12 “Mosul was
supposed to last for a week and now they’ve been fighting it for many months
and so many more people died.” (The campaign was
expected to take months.) April 16 “Someone should look into who paid for the
small organized rallies yesterday. The election is over!” (There's no evidence
of paid protesters.) April
18 “The fake media goes, ‘Donald Trump changed his stance on China.’ I
haven’t changed my stance.” (He did.) April 21 “On 90
planes I saved $725 million. It's actually a little bit more than that, but
it's $725 million.” (Much of the price
cuts were already projected.) April 21 “When WikiLeaks came out ... never heard
of WikiLeaks, never heard of it.” (He criticized it as
early as 2010.) April
27 “I want to help our miners while the Democrats are blocking their
healthcare.” (The bill to extend
health benefits for certain coal miners was introduced by a Democrat and was
co-sponsored by mostly Democrats.) April 28 “The trade deficit with Mexico is close to
$70 billion, even with Canada it’s $17 billion trade deficit with Canada.” (The U.S. had an $8.1 billion trade
surplus, not deficit, with Canada in 2016.) April 28 “She's running
against someone who's going to raise your taxes to the sky, destroy your health
care, and he's for open borders — lots of crime.” (Those are not Jon
Ossoff's positions.) April
28 “The F-35 fighter jet program — it was way over budget. I’ve saved
$725 million plus, just by getting involved in the negotiation.” (Much of the price
cuts were planned before Trump.) April 29 “As you know, I've been a big critic of
China, and I've been talking about currency manipulation for a long time. But I
have to tell you that during the election, number one, they stopped.” (China stopped years
ago.) April
29 “I've already saved more than $725 million on a simple order of
F-35 planes. I got involved in the negotiation.” (Much of the price
cuts were planned before Trump.) April 29 “We're also getting NATO countries to
finally step up and contribute their fair share. They've begun to increase
their contributions by billions of dollars, but we are not going to be
satisfied until everyone pays what they owe.” (The deal was struck
in 2014.) April
29 “When they talk about currency manipulation, and I did say I would
call China, if they were, a currency manipulator, early in my tenure. And then
I get there. Number one, they — as soon as I got elected, they stopped.” (China stopped in
2014.) April
29 “I was negotiating to reduce the price of the big fighter jet
contract, the F-35, which was totally out of control. I will save billions and
billions and billions of dollars.” (Most of the cuts
were planned before Trump.) April 29 “I think our side's been proven very
strongly. And everybody's talking about it.” (There's still no
evidence Trump's phones were tapped.) May 1 “Well, we are protecting pre-existing
conditions. And it'll be every good — bit as good on pre-existing conditions as
Obamacare.” (The bill weakens
protections for people with pre-existing conditions.) May 1 “The F-35 fighter
jet — I saved — I got involved in the negotiation. It's 2,500 jets. I
negotiated for 90 planes, lot 10. I got $725 million off the price.” (Much of the price
cuts were planned before Trump.) May 1 “First of all, since I started running, they
haven't increased their — you know, they have not manipulated their currency. I
think that was out of respect to me and the campaign.” (China stopped years
ago.) May
2 “I love buying those planes at a reduced price. I have been really —
I have cut billions — I have to tell you this, and they can check, right,
Martha? I have cut billions and billions of dollars off plane contracts sitting
here.” (Much of the cost
cuts were planned before Trump.) May 4 “Number two, they’re actually not a currency
[manipulator]. You know, since I’ve been talking about currency manipulation
with respect to them and other countries, they stopped.” (China stopped years
ago.) May
4 “We’re the highest-taxed nation in the world.” (We're not.) May 4 “Nobody
cares about my tax return except for the reporters.” (Polls show most
Americans do care.) May
8 “You know we’ve gotten billions of dollars more in NATO than we’re
getting. All because of me.” (The deal was struck
in 2014.) May
8 “But when I did his show, which by the way was very highly rated. It
was high — highest rating. The highest rating he’s ever had.” (Colbert's Late Show
debut had nearly two million more viewers.) May 8 “Director Clapper
reiterated what everybody, including the fake media already knows — there is
‘no evidence’ of collusion w/ Russia and Trump.” (Clapper only said
he wasn't aware of an investigation.) May 12 “Again, the story that there was collusion
between the Russians & Trump campaign was fabricated by Dems as an excuse
for losing the election.” (The F.B.I. was
investigating before the election.) May 12 “When James Clapper himself, and virtually
everyone else with knowledge of the witch hunt, says there is no collusion,
when does it end?” (Clapper said he
wouldn't have been told of an investigation into collusion.) May 13 “I'm
cutting the price of airplanes with Lockheed.” (The cost cuts were
planned before he became president.) May 26 “Just arrived in Italy for the G7. Trip has
been very successful. We made and saved the USA many billions of dollars and
millions of jobs.” (He's referencing an
arms deal that's not enacted and other apparent deals that weren't announced on
the trip.) June
1 “China will be allowed to build hundreds of additional coal plants.
So, we can’t build the plants, but they can, according to this agreement. India
will be allowed to double its coal production by 2020.” (The agreement
doesn’t allow or disallow building coal plants.) June 1 “I’ve just returned
from a trip overseas where we concluded nearly $350 billion of military and
economic development for the United States, creating hundreds of thousands of
jobs.” (Trump’s figures are
inflated and premature.) June
4 “At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and Mayor of London
says there is ‘no reason to be alarmed!’” (The mayor was
specifically talking about the enlarged police presence on the streets.) June 5 “The
Justice Dept. should have stayed with the original Travel Ban, not the watered
down, politically correct version they submitted to S.C.” (Trump signed this
version of the travel ban, not the Justice Department.) June 20 “Well, the
Special Elections are over and those that want to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN are
5 and O!” (Republicans have
won four special elections this year, while a Democrat won one.) June 21 “They all
say it's 'nonbinding.' Like hell it's nonbinding.” (The Paris climate
agreement is nonbinding — and Trump said so in his speech announcing the
withdrawal.) June
21 “Right now, we are one of the highest-taxed nations in the world.” (We're not.) June 21 “You have
a gang called MS-13. ... We are moving them out of the country by the
thousands, by the thousands.” (The real number of
gang members deported is smaller.) June 21 “Your insurance companies have all fled the
state of Iowa.” (They haven't.) June 21 “If
[farmers] have a puddle in the middle of their field ... it's considered a lake
and you can't touch it. ... We got rid of that one, too, O.K.?” (The Obama
environmental rule to limit pollution in the country’s waters explicitly
excludes puddles.) June
21 “Gary Cohn just paid $200 million in tax in order to take this job,
by the way.” (Cohn sold Goldman
Sachs stock worth $220 million.) June 21 “We’re 5 and 0.” (Republicans have
won four special elections this year, while a Democrat won one.) June 21 “Last week
a brand-new coal mine just opened in the state of Pennsylvania, first time in
decades, decades.” (Another coal mine
opened in 2014.) June
22 “Former Homeland Security Advisor Jeh Johnson is latest top
intelligence official to state there was no grand scheme between Trump &
Russia.” (Johnson, who had a
different title, didn't say that.) June 23 “We are 5 and 0 ... in these special
elections.” (Republicans have
won four special elections this year, while a Democrat won one.) June 27 “Ratings
way down!” (CNN's ratings were
at a five-year high at the time.) June 28 “Democrats purposely misstated Medicaid
under new Senate bill — actually goes up.” (Senate bill would
have cut the program deeply.) June 29 “General Kelly and his whole group —
they’ve gotten rid of 6,000 so far.” (The real number of
MS-13 gang members who have been deported is smaller.) July 6 “As a result of
this insistence, billions of dollars more have begun to pour into NATO.” (NATO countries
agreed to meet defense spending requirements in 2014.) July 17 “We’ve signed more
bills — and I’m talking about through the legislature — than any president,
ever.” (Clinton, Carter,
Truman, and F.D.R. had signed more at the same point.) July 19 “Um, the Russian
investigation — it’s not an investigation, it’s not on me — you know, they’re
looking at a lot of things.” (It is.) July 19 “I heard
that Harry Truman was first, and then we beat him. These are approved by
Congress. These are not just executive orders.” (Presidents Clinton,
Carter, Truman, and F.D.R. each had signed more legislation than Trump at the
same point in their terms.) July 19 “But the F.B.I. person really reports
directly to the president of the United States, which is interesting.” (He reports directly
to the attorney general.) July 19 “She did the uranium deal, which is a
horrible thing, while she was secretary of state, and got a lot of money.” (There's no evidence Hillary Clinton was
actively involved or benefited from the deal.) July 24 “It looks like
about 45,000 people. You set a record today.” (Many fewer than
45,000 were there, and the attendance was not a record.) July 25 “We have
the highest taxes anywhere in the world, and this will really bring them down
to one of the lowest.” (Tax rates in the
United States are below average, overall and for an industrialized country.) July 25 “We’re the
highest-taxed nation in the world” (We're not.) July 25 “We have
nearly doubled the number of veterans given approvals to see the doctor of
their choice.” (The increase was 26
percent.) July
25 “Since I took office we have cut illegal immigration on our
southern border by record numbers. 78 percent.” (The decline began
before Trump's inauguration.) July 28 “The previous administration enacted an
open-door policy to illegal migrants from Central America. "Welcome in.
Come in, please, please.” (Obama deported
millions.) July
28 “We have trade deficits with almost every country because we had a
lot of really bad negotiators making deals with other countries.” (The U.S. has a
trade surplus with more than 100 countries.) July 31 “2.6 is a number
that nobody thought they’d see for a long period of time.” (Many experts predicted economic growth at
least this high.) July
31 “And even the President of Mexico called me – they said their
southern border, very few people are coming because they know they’re not going
to get through our border, which is the ultimate compliment.” (Mexico's president
says he didn't call Trump.) Aug. 1 “And I think to me, maybe the biggest is
that GDP for the quarter just released at 2.6 percent. So that's so much higher
than anticipated.” (It wasn't.) Aug. 3 “Economic growth
has surged to 2.6% nationwide. You have to understand what that means. Nobody
thought that number was going to happen.” (Many experts
predicted that.) Aug.
3 “The Russia story is a total fabrication.” (It's not.) Aug. 3 “Or let
them look at the uranium she sold that is now in the hands of very angry
Russians.” (There's no evidence
Hillary Clinton was actively involved in the sale.) Aug. 15 “We want products
made in the country. Now, I have to tell you, some of the folks that will
leave, they're leaving out of embarrassment because they make their products
outside.” (People resigned
from Trump's business councils over his Charlottesville comments.) Aug. 22 “Remember,
everybody said you won’t bring it up to 1 percent. You won’t bring it up to 1.2
percent.” (Many experts
predicted economic growth at least this high.) Aug. 22 “I mean truly
dishonest people in the media and the fake media, they make up stories. They
have no sources in many cases. They say 'a source says' – there is no such
thing.” (The media does not
make up sources.) Aug.
22 “As everybody here remembers, this was the scene of my first rally
speech, right?” (Trump's first rally
was in New Hampshire) Aug.
22 “We have become an energy exporter for the first time ever just
recently.” (The U.S. isn't
projected to become a net energy exporter until 2026.) Aug. 22 “Look back there,
the live red lights. They're turning those suckers off fast out there. They're
turning those lights off fast. Like CNN.” (CNN didn't turn off
its cameras.) Sept.
6 “The taxes are crazy – the highest-taxed nation in the world.” (We're not.) Sept. 6 “We are
the highest taxed nation in the world - that will change.” (We're not.) Sept. 8 “Our
incredible U.S. Coast Guard saved more than 15,000 lives last week with
Harvey.” (The real number is
11,022.) Sept.
14 “Also with the fact that I know in the case of FEMA and the case of
Coast Guard, the job you've done in saving people, saving lives. As an example,
in Harvey in Texas, we talked – over 16,000 lives.” (The real number is
smaller.) Sept.
14 “And in Florida you got hit with the strongest winds ever
recorded.” (They weren't the
strongest ever recorded.) Sept. 22 “We've been dealing with ICE, we've been
dealing with the Border Patrol. They both endorsed me.” (Neither agency
endorsed him; only their unions did.) Sept. 22 “So he started off here, he was in third
or fourth, he went to third, second, and now it's like almost pretty even.” (Strange
consistently polled first or second in the Alabama Republican primary.) Sept. 29 “With the
F-35 fighter plane – me, myself – I've saved hundreds of millions of dollars in
negotiating.” (The cost cuts were
planned before he became president.) Sept. 27 “I’m doing the right thing, and it’s not
good for me.” (All available
evidence suggests he would benefit.) Sept. 27 “To protect millions of small businesses
and the American farmer, we are finally ending the crushing, the horrible, the
unfair estate tax.” (The real number of
small businesses and farmers is vastly smaller.) Sept. 27 “No, I don't
benefit. I don't benefit. In fact, very very strongly, as you see, I think
there's very little benefit for people of wealth.” (The tax plan would
personally benefit Trump and other wealthy individuals.) Sept. 27 “Facebook
was always anti-Trump.The Networks were always anti-Trump hence,Fake News,
@nytimes(apologized) & @WaPo were anti-Trump.” (The Times did not
apologize for its Trump coverage.) Sept. 28 “I mean right now, we're the highest-taxed
nation in the world.” (We're not.) Oct. 3 “But the
Coast Guard itself saved in Texas 16,000 lives, and they went right through
that hurricane.” (The real number is
smaller.) Oct.
3 “But that's an expensive plane that you can't see. And as you
probably heard, we cut the price very substantially – something that other
administrations would never have done, that I can tell you.” (The cost cuts were
planned before he became president.) Oct. 6 “I was able to reduce the price of the
Lockheed by billions of dollars.” (The cost cuts were
planned before he became president.) Oct. 6 “We're the highest-taxed developed nation in
the world, probably the highest-taxed nation in the world.” (We're not.) Oct. 6 “They also
just said that there has been absolutely no collusion. They just said that.
Yesterday. Two days ago. Senate. There has been no collusion.” (The Senate didn't say that.) Oct. 6 “This tax
cut and tax reform is going very well, and it's going to be a tremendous boost
for our country, including the fact that we're the highest-taxed nation in the
world.” (We're not.) Oct. 7 “We're the
highest-taxed nation in the world.” (We're not.) Oct. 7 “The Coast
Guard, in Texas, and all over, but with the job they did in Texas, I saw, they
saved 16,000 lives.” (The real number is
smaller.) Oct.
7 “Obama should have never gotten out the way he got out. That's how
ISIS formed.” (The group’s origins
date to 2004.) Oct.
10 “The Failing @nytimes set Liddle' Bob Corker up by recording his
conversation. Was made to sound a fool, and that's what I am dealing with!” (Corker asked the
Times reporter to record the call; his aides recorded it too.) Oct. 10 “We're the
highest-taxed nation in the world.” (We're not.) Oct. 11 “We have
missiles that can knock out a missile in the air. Ninety seven per cent of the
time. If you send two of them, it's going to get knocked out.” (The effectiveness
rate is about 60 percent.) Oct. 16 “We're the highest-taxed country in the
world.” (We're not.) Oct. 16 “I hear
that Ireland is going to be reducing their corporate rates down to 8 percent
from 12.” (Ireland has no
plans to cut its tax rate.) Oct. 16 “If you look at President Obama and other
presidents, most of them didn’t make calls.” (They did call
families of soldiers killed in action.) Oct. 16 “All I can say is
it's totally fake news, just fake. It's fake. It's made-up stuff, and it's
disgraceful what happens, but that happens in the world of politics.” (Trump himself has
bragged about groping women.) Oct. 17 “We're the highest taxed nation in the
world.” (We're not.) Oct. 17 “Right
now, we are the highest-taxed nation anywhere in the world. You can even say
developed or undeveloped.” (We're not.) Oct. 17 “As far as
I'm concerned, I think we're really essentially the highest. But if you'd like
to add the developed nation, you can say that, too.” (Taxes in the U.S.
are lower than in most developed countries.) Oct. 17 “We're the
highest-taxed nation in the world. We are taxed beyond belief.” (We're not.) Oct. 17 “Well,
we're the highest-taxed nation in the world.” (We're not.) Oct. 17 “I wish
President Obama didn't get out the way he got out. Because that left a vacuum
and ISIS was formed.” (The group’s origins
date to 2004.) Oct.
18 “Democrat Congresswoman totally fabricated what I said to the wife
of a soldier who died in action (and I have proof).” (The wife confirmed
Representative Frederica Wilson's account.) Oct. 18 “The Coast Guard
in Texas saved 16,000 lives.” (The real number was
smaller.) Oct.
18 “Nobody has ever heard of a five hitting land.” (Category 5 storms
have hit land before.) Oct.
24 “Under our plan, more than 30 million Americans who own small
businesses will get a 40 per cent cut to their top marginal tax rate.” (The real number is
estimated to be less than 1 million.) Oct. 25 “We have trade deficits with almost
everybody.” (We have trade
surpluses with more than 100 countries.) Oct. 27 “Wacky &
totally unhinged Tom Steyer, who has been fighting me and my Make America Great
Again agenda from beginning, never wins elections!” (Steyer has
financially supported many winning candidates.) Nov. 1 “Again, we're the
highest-taxed nation, just about, in the world.” (We're not.) Nov. 7 “When you
look at the city with the strongest gun laws in our nation, it's Chicago.” (Several other
cities, including New York and Los Angeles, have stronger gun laws.) Nov. 11 “I'd
rather have him – you know, work with him on the Ukraine than standing and
arguing about whether or not – because that whole thing was set up by the
Democrats.” (There is no
evidence that Democrats "set up" Russian interference in the
election.)
All the
President’s Lies
President Trump’s
political rise was built on a lie (about Barack Obama's birthplace). His lack
of truthfulness has also become central to the Russia investigation, with James
Comey, the former director of the F.B.I., testifying under oath about Trump's
“lies, plain and simple.”
There is simply no precedent for an American president to spend so
much time telling untruths. Every president has shaded the truth or told
occasional whoppers. No other president — of either party — has behaved as
Trump is behaving. He is trying to create an atmosphere in which reality is
irrelevant.
We have set a
conservative standard here, leaving out many dubious statements (like the claim
that the tax bill his administration supports is “the biggest tax cut in U.S.
history.”). Some people may still take issue with this standard, arguing that
the president wasn't speaking literally. But we believe his long pattern of
using untruths to serve his purposes, as a businessman and politician, means
that his statements are not simply careless errors.
We are using the
word “lie” deliberately. Not every falsehood is deliberate on Trump's part. But
it would be the height of naïveté to imagine he is merely making honest
mistakes. He is lying.
Trump Told
Public Lies or Falsehoods Every Day for His First 40 Days
The list above
uses the conservative standard of demonstrably false statements. By that
standard, Trump told a public lie on at least 20 of his first 40 days as
president. But based on a broader standard — one that includes his many misleading
statements (like exaggerating military spending in the Middle East) — Trump
achieved something remarkable: He said something untrue, in public, every day
for the first 40 days of his presidency. The streak didn’t end until March 1.
On days without
an untrue statement, he is often absent from Twitter, vacationing at Mar-a-Lago
in Florida, or busy golfing.
The end of May
was another period of relative public veracity — or at least public quiet — for
the president. He seems to have been otherwise occupied, dealing with internal
discussions about the Russia investigation and then embarking on a trip through
the Middle East and Europe.
Trump’s Public
Lies Sometimes Changed With Repetition
Sometimes, Trump
can’t even keep his untruths straight. After he reversed a campaign pledge and
declined to label China a currency manipulator, he kept changing his
description of when China had stopped the bad behavior. Initially, he said it
stopped once he took office. He then changed the turning point to the election,
then to since he started talking about it, and then to some uncertain point in
the distant past.
When Trump
said China stopped manipulating its currency
April 21
“from the time I took office”
April 29
“during the election”
April 30
“as soon as I got elected”
May 1
“since I started running”
MAY 4
“since I’ve been talking about
currency manipulation”
The Public’s
Mistrust of Trump Grows
Trump has
retained the support of most of his voters as well as the Republican leadership
in Congress. But he has still paid some price for his lies. Nearly 60 percent
of Americans say the president is not honest, polls show, up from about 53
percent when he took office.
Source:
Quinnipiac
David Leonhardt
is a New York Times columnist. Stuart A. Thompson is the graphics director for
the Opinion section.
Sources:
Politifact; Factcheck.org; The Washington Post Fact Checker; The Toronto Star
Ian Prasad
Philbrick contributed reporting.
Correction:
June 23, 2017
An earlier
version of this graphic included an incorrect total for the number of days
Donald Trump told a lie during his first two months as president. It was 20,
not 25.
