The Trump Index


Pittsburgh, PA
inter·punct
Spring 2019


A selection of statements made publicly by Donald Trump, and the associated factual statements.

Claimed amount of influence over Florida Senate race after intervening with allegations of election fraud: “A Lot”
Percentage by which Rick Scott won the election: 0.1%
Average percentage of factual statements made in rallies in Montana during July and September: 26%
Amount claimed to have been spent on The Wall: $3.2 billion
Amount dedicated by congress to spend on fortifying the southern border: $1.6 billion
Percentage of that money allowed to be spent on the construction of a wall1: 0%
Claimed attendance rate for post-election speeches: 25,000
Recorded attendance for most post-election rallies: under 10,000
Amount claimed to owe in trade deficit to China last year: “…anywhere from 375 billion to 504 billion”
Margin of error on that statement: 25.6%
Trade deficit according to the Census Bureau in 2017: $375 billion
Number of subscribers reported to be leaving The New York Times after Trump won the election: “all”
Ranking of 2016 in terms of on-line subscriber growth for The New York Times: #1
Percentage of GDP in the “biggest tax cut in the history of our country”: .9%
Biggest tax cut under Reagan: 2.89% of GDP
“Unheard of” percentage of second quarter GDP growth under Trump: 4.2%
Second quarter GDP growth under Obama: 5.1%
Jobs claimed to be created since being elected: 4 million
Jobs created including three months before Trump was elected: 3.4 million
Manufacturing jobs promised to be created: 600,000
Manufacturing jobs actually created: 348,000
Amount claimed to have been spent on turning the consulate in Jerusalem into an embassy: $400,000
Amount actually spent: $20.4 million
Number of times Trump cited Clinton’s 223 electoral college votes: 16
Amount of electoral college votes Clinton won in the 2016 election: 232
Number of times Trump claimed to have signed the Veterans Choice Act: 49
Date when the Veterans Choice Act was signed into law: 2014
Claimed value of arms deal with Saudi Arabia: $110 billion
Value of arms deal confirmed by the Pentagon: $14.5 billion
Margin of overstatement: 87%
Claimed percentage increase in economic performance: 38%
Percentage by which the Dow Jones has risen since inauguration: 25%
Percentage by which the S&P 500 has risen: 18%
Stated trade deficit: $800 billion per year
U.S. official trade deficit in 2017: $566 billion
Stated size of the ocean in comparison to the entire atmosphere: “very small”
Factor by which the oceans mass exceeds that of the atmosphere: 300,000
Amount of heat gain in the last decade that has been absorbed by the oceans: 90%

[1] In Orwellian fashion the fence has become the new wall
Citations and statistics were drawn from the Toronto Star, Politifact, and FactCheck.org


Read the full issue at www.interpunct.pub