Inauguration

Fact-Checking Donald Trump’s Dystopian Inauguration Speech

True to form, Trump’s first address as president was rife with misinformation.
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By Alex Wong/Getty Images.

If the Republican Party’s reflexive disdain for eggheads and elites found its purest expression in the nomination of a former reality-TV star for president, Donald Trump’s inauguration address Friday was its crowning achievement. A dark, raw, populist dirge, Trump’s speech was the ultimate middle finger to Washington’s elite, a full-frontal attack on Republicans and Democrats alike for transforming America into a broken-down, post-industrial wasteland where “rusted-out factories” are “scattered like tombstones,” and where “the crime and the gangs and the drugs” bleed the nation’s children of their “unrealized potential.”

Needless to say, Trump’s rage-filled, “America First” battle cry was also filled with half-truths and misinformation, to say nothing of tired clichés. Here, we’ve chronicled the worst of Trump’s hyperbole and mistruths from an otherwise platitudinous campaign-style speech.

Crime in America

Trump: “ . . . And the crime and the gangs and the drugs that have stolen too many lives and robbed our country of so much unrealized potential. This American carnage stops right here and stops right now.”

Fact-check: The U.S. crime rate is near a 20-year low, and while the use of some drugs is increasing, drug use among American teens dropped to an all-time low in 2016.

“Historic Movement”

Trump: “You came by the tens of millions to become part of a historic movement, the likes of which the world has never seen before.”

Fact-check: While Trump won the electoral college, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by nearly 3 million votes. Photos from Trump’s inaugural speech seem to suggest that several hundred thousand fewer people turned up to watch his swearing-in.

America’s Wealth

Trump: “We've made other countries rich while the wealth, strength, and confidence of our country has dissipated over the horizon.”

Fact-check: In terms of overall gross domestic product, the United States is still the wealthiest country in the world at over $18 trillion, according to World Bank data. While median income and wages have stagnated, U.S. stock market indices are at record highs, and U.S. Treasuries remain among the safest and most stable assets in the world. The U.S. unemployment rate is under 5 percent—the lowest level in a decade.

Protectionism

Trump: “Protection will lead to great prosperity and strength.”

Fact-check: Economists are not so sure. According to a Moody’s Analytics report released on Friday, Trump’s trade, immigration, and tax proposals would dramatically decrease U.S. economic output and result in the loss of 3.5 million jobs. Similarly, Capital Economics estimates that Trump’s proposed 45 percent tariff on Chinese goods would result in a 10 percent increase in U.S. retail prices.

Politicians’ prosperity

Trump: “For too long, a small group in our nation's capital has reaped the rewards of government while the people have bore the cost. Washington flourished, but the people did not share in its wealth. Politicians prospered but the jobs left and the factories closed.”

Fact-check: Congressional compensation levels have remained stagnant since 2009, according to the Congressional Research Service. Most members of Congress and delegates in Washington make $174,000—though congressional leaders do receive greater compensation. Trump’s own administration, meanwhile, is stocked full of a record number of billionaires, worth a combined $14 billion. Trump’s proposed tax plan would create a windfall for the top 0.1 percent, boosting the after-tax income of the richest Americans by nearly 20 percent. The median household is expected to see a benefit of just 5 percent.