Donald Trump repeated false and misleading claims during his inaugural address.
Below are the facts regarding some of the false claims presented during President Trump’s speech.
President Trump insists on “catch and release”
Claim: President Trump said he would issue an executive order to end the practice of “catch and release.”
What President Trump said:
First, we will declare a national emergency on our southern border. All illegal immigration will immediately cease and we will begin the process of returning millions of criminal aliens. We will restore the Remain in Mexico policy. I will end catch-and-release practices and send troops to our southern border to repel this disastrous invasion of our country.
Fact: Trump and his fellow Republicans are focused on so-called “catch-and-release,” but the term does not refer to any specific law or policy. The details of President Trump’s order are unclear.
“Catch and release” is a pejorative term often used to refer to a set of policies across multiple administrations that result in people being held instead of being released while awaiting court dates.
According to NBC News, the term was originally popularized during the Bush administration to refer to the practice of releasing immigrants from detention while awaiting immigration court proceedings; There were not enough detention facilities to hold the migrants while they waited. Immigration experts say this practice is no longer common.
Trump advocates Panama Canal
CLAIM: President Trump promised to take back the Panama Canal, but repeated a number of false claims, including that 38,000 Americans died while building the canal. He also claimed that the canal was “run by China.”
What Trump said:
As of now, we are going to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America and restore the name of our great president, William McKinley, to Mount McKinley, where it belongs and where it belongs. President McKinley greatly enriched our country through tariffs and human resources. He was a natural businessman and provided funds to Teddy Roosevelt for many of his accomplishments. That includes the Panama Canal, which was foolishly given to the country of Panama after the United States, think of the United States. More money was spent than ever spent on any project before, and 38,000 lives were lost building the Panama Canal. We have been treated very badly by this stupid gift that should never have been given, and Panama’s promise to us has been broken. The purpose of our trade and the spirit of the treaty are completely violated. American vessels are grossly overcharged, overcharged, and not treated fairly in any way, shape, or form. That includes the U.S. Navy, and most of all, China runs the Panama Canal, and we didn’t give it to China, we gave it to Panama, and we’re taking it back.
Fact: The official death toll from American construction behind the Panama Canal is approximately 5,600. Although the actual number may be higher, the majority of deaths are believed to be among workers from Caribbean islands such as Antigua, Barbados and Jamaica.
The administrator of the Panama Canal also denied President Trump’s claims that China controls the canal’s operations. He said the Chinese company operating at the port was part of a Hong Kong consortium that won the bid in a 1997 bidding process, and that American and Taiwanese companies also operated at other ports along the canal. Ta.
President Trump claims inflation is caused by ‘massive overspending’
Claim: President Trump claimed the United States is experiencing “record inflation,” which he blames on “massive overspending and soaring energy prices.”
What Trump said:
I am directing all Ministers to mobilize the enormous powers at our disposal to defeat record inflation and bring costs and prices down rapidly. The inflation crisis was caused by massive overspending and rising energy prices.
Fact: U.S. inflation hit a 40-year high of 9.1% in summer 2022. However, the country’s highest inflation rate was 23.7% in June 1920.
According to the latest data, the inflation rate had fallen to 2.9% as of December.
President Trump claims the US is outspending global health care costs
Claim: President Trump said the United States spends more money on health care than any other country in the world.
What Trump said:
Our public health system performs poorly during disasters, yet we spend more money on it than any other country in the world.
Fact: Trump is right. The United States does spend a lot on health care per capita, nearly twice the average for other wealthy countries.
President Trump claims the US is unable to address the climate emergency
CLAIM: President Trump cited California wildfires and North Carolina flooding, saying the U.S. is unable to provide basic services in emergencies.
What Trump said:
We have a government that gives unlimited funds to the defense of foreign borders while refusing to protect America’s borders and, more importantly, its own citizens. As the wonderful people of North Carolina have been poorly treated recently, and as other states still suffering from the effects of hurricanes months ago have shown, our country is unable to provide basic services in times of emergency. We are no longer able to provide service. Or, more recently, in Los Angeles, we have seen weeks-old fires continue to tragically continue to burn without any protection. They are rampaging through homes and communities, affecting even the wealthiest and most powerful people in our country, some of whom are sitting here right now. They no longer have a home. That’s interesting. We cannot allow this to happen.
Fact: Mr. Trump has repeatedly promoted false claims about both of these events. He and other Republicans have accused North Carolina of recovery efforts after Hurricane Helen of false claims that the U.S. government could influence the weather and that critical aid is being withheld. The allegations have prompted some government officials to warn of threats to federal emergency workers.
During the California wildfires, even though state water experts said the problem was not the water supply, but the generators used to pump the water, President Trump, Democrat Gavin Newsom, He called on the governor to “release water” from the northern part of the state. .
President Trump claims the US has been sheltering ‘dangerous criminals’
CLAIM: President Trump said the United States has provided shelter and protection to “dangerous criminals,” many of whom he said came from “prisons and psychiatric hospitals” and entered the United States illegally.
What President Trump said:
Our government is currently unable to manage even a simple crisis at home, while simultaneously experiencing a series of catastrophic events abroad. While it cannot protect our wonderful law-abiding American citizens, it does provide sanctuary and protection to many dangerous criminals from our prisons and psychiatric hospitals who have entered our country illegally from all over the world.
FACT: Mr. Trump has made these claims multiple times without providing any evidence. Some U.S. cities have experienced an influx of immigrants, but most are entering the country legally, with work permits or permits to remain while their cases are resolved in court.
Studies, including the conservative Cato Institute, show that immigrants are less likely to commit crimes overall than their U.S.-born counterparts.
Read more of the Guardian’s coverage of Trump
