 "US President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress at the US Capitol in Washington, DC. Vice President JD Vance and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson applaud behind him. Reuters")
Amid chants of ‘USA, USA’, US President Donald Trump arrived at the US Congress on March 4 to address a joint session, a first after assuming office less than two months ago for his second term.
The US president’s annual televised addresses are known as the “State of the Union” speeches, where the government’s accomplishments and its agenda are highlighted. However, it has been called “a Joint Address to Congress” this time.
The US president began his address amid chants and boos — from some Democrats — with a three-word message: “America is back.”
In his inaugural address, he said, “Six weeks ago, I stood beneath the dome of this Capitol and proclaimed the ‘dawn of the golden age of America.’ From that moment on, it has been nothing but swift and unrelenting action to usher in the greatest and most successful era in the history of our country,” he said.
The US president added, “We have accomplished more in 43 days than most administrations accomplished in four years or eight years. And we are just getting started,” he said.
While the US president tried to paint a picture of strength, not all of the statements that he made during the address were totally factual.
Here’s a fact-check of his Joint Address to Congress.
Is America truly headed in the right direction?
Hailing his leadership and actions, Trump said to the US Congress, “Now, for the first time in modern history, more Americans believe that our country is headed in the right direction than the wrong direction.”
This is not totally right. Only one of the 18 poll results agree with this sentiment. The Republican-leaning polling firm Rasmussen showed a 47 per cent-46 per cent edge for the right direction over the wrong direction.
However, other polls don’t agree with this sentiment. They show that more Americans say that the country is on the wrong track now than on the right track. The latest Reuters/Ipsos poll, in late February, shows that 49 per cent of Americans say that the country is headed off on the wrong track, and just 34 per cent say that the country is headed in the right direction.
An Economist/YouGov poll last week found that 50 per cent of Americans say the country is headed in the wrong direction, with just 38 per cent saying it is on the right track.
Did the US see its worst inflation under Biden?
Speaking to the US Congress and Americans in their homes, Trump said, “He inherited, from the last administration, an economic catastrophe and an inflation nightmare.”
He added that under Biden, “We suffered the worst inflation in 48 years, but perhaps even in the history of our country, they’re not sure.”
However, data suggests otherwise. Data shows that the US had the strongest economic recovery in the world at the end of the Biden administration, with a booming stock market, a decrease in inflation and strong job creation.
Also, the highest year-over-year inflation in Biden’s tenure was around nine per cent in 2022. However, the highest year-over-year US inflation was recorded in the 1970s and early 1980s where prices increased from 12 per cent to 15 per cent.
When it comes to the prices of eggs — the country has been experiencing an acute shortage of the protein, leading prices to see a surge — Trump once again erroneously blamed his predecessor, Joe Biden for it.
However, the US president omitted the impact of bird flu on the prices of eggs. The highly pathogenic bird flu resulted in the deaths of more than 40 million egg-laying birds last year, according to the US Department of Agriculture.
Are millions of dead Americans claiming Social Security?
US President Donald Trump dedicated a big chunk of his address to his pet project since coming to power — wasteful government expenditure. He started off by thanking his ‘First Buddy’ Elon Musk for heading the now controversial ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ (Doge), saying: “Thank you very much, we appreciate it. Even this side appreciates, I believe, they just don’t want to admit that,” he said gesturing to Democrats.
Trump then went on to speak about Social Security and suggested that millions of Americans receiving Social Security payments are dead. “Believe it or not, government databases list 4.7 million Social Security members from people aged 100 to 109 years old. It lists 3.6 million people from ages 110 to 119,” said the US president, adding that “money is being paid to them”.
The numbers that Trump recited were from a chart that Elon Musk had earlier shared on X. However, the acting Social Security commissioner said that people older than 100 who do not have a date of death associated with their Social Security record “are not necessarily receiving benefits.” Recent Social Security Administration data shows that about 89,000 people ages 99 and older receive Social Security payments.
Government databases may classify someone as 150 years old for reasons peculiar to the complex Social Security database or because of missing data, but that doesn’t mean that millions of payments are delivered fraudulently to people with implausible ages.
Did Trump administration uncover $500 billion in fraud?
Continuing on the topic of government expenditure, Trump said, “The Government Accountability Office…. has estimated annual fraud of over $500 billion in our nation, and we are working very hard to stop it.”
However, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) last year estimated that fraud could cost the federal government between $233 billion and $521 billion annually. This was based on data from 2018 to 2022. However, this figure refers to a range of potential losses, and there is no indication that the Trump administration specifically uncovered the entire $500 billion amount.
Is Trump right on Doge savings?
Hailing the importance and the work of Doge, Trump said that Doge has “found hundreds of billions of dollars” in waste.
This is incorrect. As of March 4, the Doge website shows $105 billion in savings. But its “wall of receipts,” where it claims to be tracking savings generated from cuts, showed less than $20 billion.
Did US see fewest border crossings under Trump?
US President Trump claimed that, since taking office again, he has already achieved the lowest number of illegal border crossings “ever recorded.”
“Since taking office, my administration has launched the most sweeping border and immigration crackdown in American history — and we quickly achieved the lowest numbers of illegal border crossers ever recorded,” Trump said.
“The media and our friends in the Democrat Party kept saying we needed new legislation to secure the border… but it turned out that all we really needed was a new president.”
In February, Border Patrol recorded about 8,450 migrant apprehensions between official points of entry along the US-Mexico border, the statistics show. However, this figure may still be adjusted.
But, if this number holds, it will be the lowest monthly apprehension since 2000 when this data started being published. The last time Border Patrol averaged roughly 8,000 apprehensions per month over a year was in fiscal year 1968.
Will Trump’s tariffs help America?
Trump also referred to his tariffs during his Congress speech. He said that the US “will take in trillions and trillions of dollars” thanks to his levies on imports from other countries.
He acknowledged that his levies would cause some inconvenience but it was manageable. There will be a little disturbance but we’re OK with that. It won’t be much.”
The Yale Budget Lab suggests otherwise. It estimates that tariffs could cost the average household up to $2,000 annually. Cars and car parts are big exports from Canada and Mexico, and tariffs could increase the cost of a new car by over $3,000 per vehicle on top of last year’s average new car price of $44,811, according to JP Morgan Research. Most economists predict that prices, and therefore, inflation will go up, with consumers seeing higher prices for food, gasoline, clothes, shoes, toys and other household items.
How much aid has US given Ukraine?
Trump’s speech to US Congress also referenced the Russia-Ukraine war and the US president’s latest decision to pause all military aid to the Volodymyr Zelenskyy-led country. The US president once again incorrectly mentioned that the US has “spent perhaps $350 billion” on Ukraine.
According to one estimate, the US has provided $175-$185 billion to Ukraine as military aid. Meanwhile, Ukraine Oversight, the website of the special inspector general for Operation Atlantic Resolve, which the US created in 2014 to coordinate its military aid to Ukraine, said that as of September 30, 2024, Washington had spent $183 billion to help Ukraine.
With inputs from agencies