Donald Trump’s 10 most common false claims from his first 365 days in office

Note: Trump’s wording sometimes varied, so we’ve chosen a representative quote for each falsehood. 1. “We’re the highest-taxed nation in the world.” (27 times)

Even before Trump’s late-year tax cut, U.S. taxation was below average for industrialized countries.

Said on: May 5, May 11, June 21, July 12, July 25 (twice), Sept. 6 (twice), Sept. 28, Oct. 6 (twice), Oct. 7, Oct. 9, Oct. 16 (twice), Oct. 17 (four times), Oct. 18, Oct. 24, Oct. 25, Nov. 1 (twice), Nov. 2, Nov. 5 and Nov. 20 2. “Obamacare is finished. It’s dead. It’s gone.” (26)

Trump was making this claim even before he did anything to change the law. Though he managed to repeal a significant chunk of Obamacare late in the year, major components of Barack Obama’s policy remain in place.

Said on: March 17, April 12, April 30 (twice), May 4 (twice), May 5 (twice), May 7, May 11, May 13, May 18, May 28, June 7 (twice), June 8, June 19, June 21, June 28, July 18, July 22, July 24, Aug. 22, Oct. 7, Oct. 16 and Oct. 17 3. “We’re going to be bringing back into this country probably an excess of $4 trillion — $4 trillion — that’s outside of the country that right now, because of our tax laws, can’t come back in.” (23)

Trump sometimes went up to “$5 trillion.” Even $4 trillion is a gross exaggeration: the highest expert estimate for the amount of profits parked overseas by U.S. companies is $3.1 trillion — and experts say not even close to the entire sum will be returned to the U.S. because of Trump’s tax law.

Said on: July 25, Aug. 30, Sept. 5, Sept. 6, Oct. 24, Oct. 25 (twice), Oct. 31, Nov. 1, Nov. 2 (twice), Nov. 27, Nov. 28, Nov. 30, Dec. 6, Dec. 8, Dec. 13, Dec. 16, Dec. 20 (twice), Dec. 22, Jan. 10 and Jan. 11 4. “We’ve signed more bills . . . than any president ever.” (19)

Not even close. According to the legislative tracking website GovTrack, Trump had signed fewer bills at the end of his first year than every elected president since Eisenhower (1953).

Said on: June 12, June 13, July 12, July 17, July 19, July 25 (twice), Aug. 22 (twice), Oct. 6, Oct. 17, Nov. 2, Nov. 5, Nov. 26, Nov. 30, Dec. 22 (twice), Dec. 23, Dec. 27 5. “Virtually every Democrat has said there is no collusion. There is no collusion.” (14)

Trump is entitled to claim that there was no collusion between his campaign and the Russian government, but he cannot accurately say that his opponents agree with him.

Said on: May 13, May 18, Aug. 10, Oct. 6, Oct. 16, Oct. 27, Nov. 11, Dec. 15 (twice), Dec. 28 (twice), Jan. 6 and Jan. 10 (twice) 6 (tie). “The Electoral College is almost impossible for a Republican to win.” (13)

This is, of course, nonsensical. Six of the last nine presidents have been Republicans. Said on: April 4, April 16, April 23, May 11, June 9, July 24, Sep. 22, Oct. 11, Oct. 16, Oct. 25, Dec. 28, Jan. 10 and Jan. 11 6 (tie). “I have already saved more than $700 million when I got involved in the negotiation on the F-35.(13)

Trump did not personally secure these cost savings, aviation and defence experts say.

Said on: Jan. 30, Feb. 6, Feb. 18, Feb. 27, Feb. 28, March 15, March 20, April 23, May 2, May 11, Sept. 29, Oct. 3 and Oct. 6 6 (tie). “China is at 15 per cent, and . . . we’re at 35 per cent plus. And that doesn’t work.” (13)

China has a business tax rate of 25 per cent. It offers a 15-per-cent rate only to certain firms in about 20 particular cities.

Said on: Sept. 13 (three times), Sept. 28, Oct. 6, Oct. 11, Oct. 16, Oct. 17 (twice), Nov. 2, Nov. 28, Dec. 5 and Dec. 6 9. “Immigration went down 78 per cent at the border — 78 per cent at the border.” (12)

Comparing the first eight full months of Trump’s tenure to the same months in 2016, immigration apprehensions at the southwestern border were down 53 per cent, not 78 per cent.

Said on: July 25 (twice), July 28, July 31, Aug. 10, Aug. 22, Aug. 28, Aug. 30, Oct. 11, Oct. 22, Nov. 20 and Dec. 8 10. “We have a trade deficit right now with Mexico of $71 billion. People can’t believe it.” (11)

A standard Trump exaggeration. The deficit with Mexico was $56 billion in 2016 including services, $64 billion counting goods alone.

Said on: Feb. 23, July 25, Oct. 33, Oct. 25, Nov. 1, Nov. 11, Dec. 5, Dec. 8, Dec. 28, Jan. 11 and Jan. 18