Reporters from The New York Times checked the facts, falsehoods and statements in need of context from President Trump’s first State of the Union address. Watch a replay along with real time analysis here and an annotated transcript of the speech.
Winners and Losers From Trump’s State of the Union Address
The truth
Trump is no stranger to hyperbole and straight-up false claims, and his first State of the Union was no exception. He said the United States is “now an exporter of energy to the world.” Wrong. He said Congress passed and he signed “the biggest tax cuts and reform in American history.” Wrong. He said,“We have eliminated more regulations in our first year than any administration in history.” That might be true, but because available records don’t go back beyond a few decades, we simply don’t know. Trump even claimed that his tax cuts were leading to bonuses — many of which were “thousands and thousands of dollars per worker.” The most publicized bonuses, though, were generally $1,000. These are part of Trump’s everyday talking points, so hearing them in this speech wasn’t jarring. But it is notable that the White House uses bogus and unproven claims even on this stage.
Fact Checking the 2018 State of the Union Address
A Uniquely Depressing State of the Union
Trump’s State of the Union: A Diatribe Against Immigrants
President Trump’s State of the Union address was the perfect reflection of him — self-satisfied, self-congratulatory, disingenuous and entirely lacking in empathy. “There has never been a better time to start living the American dream,” he declared, as if the dystopia of the Barack Obama years — that bleak, losing, crime-ridden nightmare — had vanished in a short year to be replaced by nirvana. And if you are white and rich, he had a point.
After a year of unrivaled (since the Civil War) animosity, race-baiting, demonizing opponents (which in his mind includes the press), he called for unity. “Unity is really what I’m striving for, to bring the country together,” is in one sense arguably the most disingenuous line of his presidency; but if by unity he demands agreement, capitulation and unqualified praise, then yes, that is what he has been shooting for. In fact this was a long harangue against immigrants masquerading as a State of the Union address.
Many, if not most, Democrats remained glum with arms crossed and withheld applause as he entered and during his draggy speech. The contrast between Trump’s paean to unity and the divisions he has wrought could not be wider — and according to polls is acknowledged even by Republicans. It is the sort of thing a normal president, one who had actually attempted to bring the country together rather than investigate his political opponent, wage war on the free press, demonize immigrants, launch a smear campaign against the FBI and accuse his predecessor of criminality (wiretapping Trump Tower) would have said. But then Trump has always asked his audience to believe him and not their own experience or observation.
