Trump jumps the gun on NATO, jobs claims – The Boston Globe

By Calvin Woodward and Christopher S. Rugaber Associated Press March 01, 2017

WASHINGTON President Trump boasted in his speech to Congress that new money is pouring in from NATO partners, which it isnt. He also took credit for corporate job expansion and military cost savings that actually took root under his predecessor.

A look at some of his claims Tuesday night:

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TRUMP: Speaking of the NATO alliance, Our partners must meet their financial obligations. And now, based on our very strong and frank discussions, they are beginning to do just that. In fact, I can tell you the money is pouring in. Very nice. Very nice.

THE FACTS: No new money has come pouring in from NATO allies. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis made a strong case before allied defense ministers at a NATO meeting last month, pressing them to fulfill their 2014 commitment to spend 2 percent of their gross domestic product on defense by 2024. He and other leaders said the allies understood the message and there was some discussion about working out plans to meet the goal.

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Only five of the 28 member countries are meeting the 2 percent level, and no new commitments have been made since the NATO meeting.

Germanys foreign minister said Wednesday he is skeptical about his countrys plans to increase defense spending, saying it could raise concerns in Europe by turning Germany into a military supremacy. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said her country will meet its commitment to raise defense spending by the 2024 deadline. In any event, the commitment is for these nations to spend more on their own military capabilities, which would strengthen the alliance, not hand over money.

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TRUMP: According to the National Academy of Sciences, our current immigration system costs Americas taxpayers many billions of dollars a year.

THE FACTS: That report says immigrants contribute to government finances by paying taxes and add expenditures by consuming public services.

The report found that while first-generation immigrants are more expensive to governments than their native-born counterparts, primarily at the state and local level, immigrants children are among the strongest economic and fiscal contributors in the population. This second generation contributed more in taxes on a per capita basis, for example, than did the rest of the population in the period studied, 1994-2013.

The report found that the long-run fiscal impact of immigrants and their children would probably be seen as more positive if their role in sustaining labor force growth and contributing to innovation and entrepreneurial activity were taken into account.

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TRUMP: Weve saved taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars by bringing down the price of the F-35 jet.

THE FACTS: The cost savings he persists in citing were secured in full or large part before he became president.

The head of the Air Force program announced significant price reductions in the contract for the Lockheed F-35 jet Dec. 19 after Trump had tweeted about the cost but weeks before he met the companys CEO about it.

Pentagon managers took action even before the election to save money on the contract. Richard Aboulafia, an analyst with the aerospace consulting firm Teal Group, said there is no evidence of any additional cost savings as a result of Trumps actions.

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TRUMP: Since my election, Ford, Fiat-Chrysler, General Motors, Sprint, Softbank, Lockheed, Intel, Walmart, and many others have announced that they will invest billions of dollars in the United States and will create tens of thousands of new American jobs.

THE FACTS: Trump is taking credit for corporate jobs decisions that largely predate his election. In the case of Intel, construction of the Chandler, Ariz., factory referred to by Trump actually began during Barack Obamas presidency. The project was delayed by insufficient demand for Intels high-powered computer chips, but the company now expects to finish the factory within four years because it anticipates business growth.

Some of the job announcements have come after companies, such as the wireless carrier Sprint, reduced their numbers of workers.

More important, even as some companies create jobs, others are laying off workers. The best measure of whether more jobs are actually being created is the monthly employment report issued by the Labor Department, which nets out those gains and losses. The department will issue its report for February, the first full month of Trumps term, on March 10.

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TRUMP: His budget plan will offer one of the largest increases in national defense spending in American history.

THE FACTS: Three times in recent years, Congress raised defense budgets by larger percentages than the $54 billion, or 10 percent, increase that Trump proposes. The base defense budget grew by $41 billion, or 14.3 percent, in 2002; by $37 billion, or 11.3 percent, in 2003, and by $47 billion, or 10.9 percent, in 2008, according to Defense Department figures.

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TRUMP: We will provide massive tax relief for the middle class.

THE FACTS: Trump has provided little detail on how this would happen. Independent analyses of his campaigns tax proposals found that most of the benefits would flow to the wealthiest families. The richest 1 percent would see an average tax cut of nearly $215,000 a year, while the middle one-fifth of the population would get a cut of $1,010, according to the Tax Policy Center, a joint project by the Brookings Institution and Urban Institute.

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TRUMP: A White House fact sheet on the nations infrastructure issued with his speech describes a desperate need for improvement of public infrastructure in poor condition. It cites a report from the American Road and Transportation Builders Association that more than 55,000 bridges are structurally deficient.

THE FACTS: Trump and many Americans love to complain about their highways and bridges, but data show that the country isnt that bad off when compared either with its global counterparts or the recent past.

The World Economic Forum ranks the United States seventh out of 138 countries for its transportation infrastructure, ahead of countries such as Germany, Spain, Canada, Britain, and China. Countries ahead of it on the list are smaller, including the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Hong Kong, and the Netherlands.

By the nations own measurements, bridges have improved over the past decade or so. The trade association for road builders, using government data, indeed says there are 55,710 structurally deficient bridges those carrying more traffic than they were designed for. But that number represents a 34 percent decline since 2002. And the share of miles driven on national highways with pavement offering good ride quality rose from 50 percent in 2002 to 57 percent in 2012.

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Trump jumps the gun on NATO, jobs claims - The Boston Globe