State of the Union – Fact Check
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Fact check No. 1TRUMP CLAIM: “We enacted the biggest tax cuts and reforms in American history.” OUR TAKE: False WHY: The recently enacted tax bill is the 12th largest as a percentage of the GDP and the fourth largest in inflation-adjusted dollars since 1918. This is a claim the president has repeatedly made, but analyses of the current tax law and previous legislation show that’s not the case. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act signed into law at the end of last year comes with a $1.5 trillion price tag, and according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, an independent bipartisan public policy organization, it ranks as the 12th largest tax cut as a percentage of GDP and fourth largest in inflation-adjusted dollars since 1918. If the plan is extended, the group estimates the bill would cost $2.2 trillion, making it the eighth largest tax cut as a percentage of GDP and fourth largest in inflation-adjusted dollars since 1918. The tax cut signed into law by President Ronald Reagan in 1981 was the largest since 1918 — reducing federal revenues by 2.9 percent of GDP, according to the Treasury Department. The president also claimed roughly 3 million workers have received bonuses stemming from the tax cuts. That figure appears to come from a conservative political advocacy group, Americans for Tax Reform, which recently wrote based on anecdotes, “At least 3 million Americans are receiving special tax reform bonuses.”
— Arlette Saenz Fact check No. 2TRUMP CLAIM: “We have eliminated more regulations in our first year than any administration.” OUR TAKE: It’s complicated WHY: Information available from the Office of Management and Budget only goes back to 1995. Trump has definitely taken an aggressive approach to eliminating regulations. Federal agencies withdrew 635 rules between fall 2016 and fall 2017, according to the Office of Management and Budget. But it’s difficult to verify if he has eliminated more than any administration in history because similar numbers for previous administrations are not readily available. Some of the Trump administration’s proposals are still going through the process or held up by legal challenges. It’s not even possible to check if the Trump administration has rolled back more regulations than Reagan, who also emphasized deregulation, because information available from the Office of Management and Budget only goes back to 1995.
— Stephanie Ebbs Fact check No. 3TRUMP CLAIM: “We are now an exporter of energy to the world.” OUR TAKE: Mostly spin WHY: The U.S. has exported energy — from crude oil to natural gas to coal — for a long time. Continuing a longstanding trend, energy exports did tick up slightly during the first 10 months of the Trump administration, from 11.5 quadrillion BTU (standard unit of measurement) in January to October 2016 to 14.6 quadrillion BTU in January to October 2017. But the U.S. has exported energy — from crude oil to natural gas to coal — for a long time. And America is still a net importer, and has been since the 1950s — meaning the U.S. still imports more energy than the nation exports. (A report from the Energy Information Administration projects the U.S. will likely become a net exporter by 2026.)
— Erin Dooley Fact check No. 4TRUMP CLAIM: “Unemployment claims have hit a 45-year low. Something I’m very proud of. African-American unemployment stands at the lowest rate ever recorded, and Hispanic American unemployment has also reached the lowest levels in history.” OUR TAKE: Lacking context WHY: The figures have been on a downward trend for years. The president’s assertion that first-time claims for unemployment benefits recently hit a 45-year low is true. But the president’s claims about African-American and Latino unemployment rates are lacking context. The African-American unemployment rate is at a record low of 6.8 percent — but has steadily declined since reaching 16.8 percent in 2010. The Latino unemployment — currently at 4.9 percent — reached a record low of 4.8 percent earlier this year. In 2009, it sat at 13 percent. The current unemployment rate sits at 4.1 percent a record low after reaching as high as 10 percent in 2009. These unemployment figures are according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. While the economy is faring well under Trump’s watch, he can’t solely take credit for the change in unemployment rates as these figures have been consistently decreasing for years.
— Arlette Saenz Fact check No. 5TRUMP CLAIM: “Working with the Senate, we are appointing judges who will interpret the Constitution as written, including a great new Supreme Court justice, and more circuit court judges than any new administration in the history of our country.” OUR TAKE: True WHY: The Senate confirmed 12 of Trump’s circuit court nominees in his first year in office — far more than his recent predecessors. Trump has broken records with his confirmation of circuit court judges. In his first year in office, the Senate confirmed 12 of his circuit court nominees — a figure far greater than his recent predecessors. Today, another appellate court judge was confirmed by the Senate. Anne Joseph O’Connell, a University of California, Berkley, professor who studies presidents’ judicial nominations, has assembled data on judicial appointments made by recent presidents. During President Barack Obama’s first year in office, three of his circuit court nominees were confirmed while President George W. Bush saw six of his picks approved by the Senate in his first year. President Bill Clinton had three appeals court judges confirmed in his first year while five of President George H.W. Bush’s circuit court nominees were confirmed in his first 12 months. Last year, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, tweeted the president had confirmed the most circuit court judges in the history of the country.
— Arlette Saenz Fact check No. 6TRUMP CLAIM: “The coalition to defeat ISIS has liberated very close to 100 percent of the territory just recently held by these killers in Iraq and in Syria and in other locations as well.” OUR TAKE: True WHY: The State Department reported in December that ISIS had lost 98 percent of the territory it once held specifically in Iraq and Syria. The State Department reported in December that ISIS had lost 98 percent of the territory it once held specifically in Iraq and Syria at the height of its so-called caliphate after suffering a string of defeats in Iraq and then Syria. The coalition is fighting the last ISIS fighters in their remaining towns and slices of territory in eastern Syria. But the threat from the terror group remains, and has largely morphed into cells in Iraqi and Syrian cities. In addition, the group has expanding globally, from the Philippines to West Africa. The offensive against ISIS began under Obama, but Trump did accelerate it by giving more authority to field commanders. According to the State Department, 50 percent of all the territory ISIS has lost has been taken from them in the last 11 months.
— Conor Finnegan Fact check No. 7TRUMP CLAIM: “Under the current broken system, a single immigrant can bring in virtually unlimited numbers of distant relatives. Under our plan, we focus on the immediate family by limiting sponsorships to spouses and minor children. This vital reform is necessary not just for our economy, but for our security, and our future.” OUR TAKE: False WHY: Citizens and green card holders can petition for immediate family, not an unlimited number of family members. U.S. citizens can petition for certain family members to receive either a green card or visa — a spouse, minor children, sons and daughters, parents, or siblings. Green card holders can petition for a spouse, minor child, or unmarried son or daughter to also become a permanent resident. And refugees or asylum seekers can apply for a spouse or minor child to also obtain that refugee or asylum status. Still, after applying there is a long wait list for all applicants besides spouse, parent or minor child. As of November, nearly 4 million people are waiting to get off the list, according to the State Department. Once someone gets to the front of the line, he or she must pass the required background checks and meet requirements for admission.
— Conor Finnegan Fact check No. 8TRUMP CLAIM: “For decades, open borders have allowed drugs and gangs to pour into our most vulnerable communities. They have allowed millions of low-wage workers to compete for jobs and wages against the poorest Americans. Most tragically, they have caused the loss of many innocent lives.” OUR TAKE: Mostly spin WHY: A 2016 report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine found that the impact of immigration on the wages of native-born workers overall is very small. The president here is implying that lax immigration laws and enforcement have led to increased crime, but a 2015 study by the pro-immigrant American Immigration Council found that immigrants are less likely to commit serious crimes or be behind bars than the native-born, and high rates of immigration are associated with lower rates of violent crime and property crime. This held true for both legal immigrants and the unauthorized, regardless of their country of origin or level of education. A 2017 CATO Institute study found that legal and illegal immigrants are less likely to be incarcerated than natives. Although, the study’s numbers did not represent the total number of immigrants who can be deported under current law or the complete number of convicted immigrant criminals who are in the U.S., but merely those incarcerated. In 2017, on a typical day, there were 19,828 Border Patrol agents patrolling the borders with 654 miles of U.S.-Mexico border pedestrian and vehicle primary fencing. In fiscal year 2017, Customs and Border Protection officers and Border Patrol agents arrested 20,131 criminal aliens, and another 10,908 individuals who were wanted by law enforcement authorities. On the economy, a 2016 report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine found that the impact of immigration on the wages of native-born workers overall is very small. It also found that there is little evidence that immigration significantly affects the overall employment levels of native-born workers. However, the report also found that, to the extent that negative impacts occur, they are most likely to be found for those who have not completed high school — who are often the closest substitutes for immigrant workers with low skills.
— Geneva Sands Fact check No. 9TRUMP CLAIM: “In recent weeks, two terrorist attacks in New York were made possible by the visa lottery and chain migration. In the age of terrorism, these programs present risks we can just no longer afford. It is time to reform these outdated immigration rules and, finally, bring our immigration system into the 21st century.” OUR TAKE: Mostly spin WHY: Both men entered the country legally through the two programs President Trump mentioned and were not radicalized until years after they arrived in the U.S. Trump is referencing the two terror attacks in New York last fall: On Halloween, Sayfullo Saipov is accused of ramming a truck onto a bike lane and pedestrian walkway, killing eight and injuring 12; and in December, Akayed Ullah is accused of detonated a pipe bomb in a botched attack at the New York Port Authority. Saipov entered through the diversity visa lottery program in 2010, allegedly carrying out his terror attack seven years later. New York law enforcement authorities said he was radicalized after he moved here, with 90 videos and 3,800 images of ISIS propaganda found on his phone. Ullah legally came to the U.S. from Bangladesh in 2011 through his uncle, who had immigrated here years prior. He passed through background checks then and wasn’t radicalized until at least 2014, according to the criminal complaint against him. His alleged attack was six years after he first came to the U.S.
— Conor Finnegan Fact check No. 10TRUMP CLAIM: “Last year, Congress also passed, and I signed, the landmark VA Accountability Act. Since its passage, my administration has already removed more than 1,500 VA employees who failed to give our veterans the care they deserve.” OUR TAKE: Mostly spin WHY: The law was enacted in June, by that time 500 of the 1,500 Veterans Affairs employees removed from their jobs for poor performance had already been fired under a previous system. About 1,500 VA employees have been fired since January 2017, but 500 of them were removed prior to June, when the VA Accountability Act was enacted. The law makes it easier to remove VA employees for poor performance or disciplinary reasons. It streamlined the previous appeals system that allowed employees to challenge the reasons for their dismissal, a process that could drag on for extended periods of time.
— Luis Martinez Fact check No. 11TRUMP CLAIM: “Last year, the FDA approved more new and generic drugs and medical devices than ever before in our history.” OUR TAKE: True WHY: The FDA approved 1,027 generic drugs in FY 17, a “record number,” according to Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb. Despite the president’s boast, however, it’s worth pointing out that fiscal year 2017 began in October 2016, which includes the last few months of the Obama administration. The agency’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research also approved 46 so-called novel drugs, the highest number in at least a decade, and a record 95 “novel” devices in 2017. New drugs included cancer therapies and medications to treat infectious diseases and neurological disorders.
— Erin Dooley and Dan Childs Fact check No. 12TRUMP CLAIM: “We slashed the business tax rate from 35 percent all the way down to 21 percent, so American companies can compete and win against anyone else, anywhere in the world. These changes alone are estimated to increase average family income by more than $4,000.” OUR TAKE: It’s complicated WHY: It’s a bold prediction, based on economic estimates that are far from uniform. This claim that the corporate tax cuts alone will save the American family $4,000 on average mimic a questionable estimate the Trump administration’s Council of Economic Advisers released in a memo last fall. The memo said, “The average household would, conservatively, realize an increase in wage and salary income of $4,000.” That estimate is predicated on the assumption that the American worker pays a majority of the corporate rate. But many leading economists disagree with that notion, arguing the tax burden is spread between the workers, shareholders and owners. According to Forbes magazine, leading tax policy analysis firms including the Tax Policy Center, the Congressional Budget Office and the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation estimate the American worker pays only between one fifth to a quarter of the corporate tax. Because so many economists disagree with Trump’s claim, ABC News conservatively rates the statement as “complicated.” Other changes to the tax code could save families money in other ways, depending on their income and state of residence.
— Justin Fishel |
Tax cuts“Just as I promised the American people from this podium 11 months ago, we enacted the biggest tax cuts and reforms in American history.” FACT CHECK: FALSE In fact, the Trump tax cuts are the eighth largest in history. This claim has been fact-checked in the past. The Washington Post deemed it a 4-Pinocchio whopper. The Post measured the tax cut as a percentage of the gross domestic product (GDP), in order to take inflation adjustments out of the equation. Assuming the growth that Mr. Trump anticipates, the Post calculated that the tax cut would be 0.9 percent of GDP. That puts his tax cut squarely behind President Barack Obama’s 2010 tax cut, which was 1.31 percent of GDP. Ronald Reagan’s 1981 tax cut was the biggest at 2.89 percent of GDP. — Kate Rydell Immigration“The first pillar of our framework generously offers a path to citizenship for 1.8 million illegal immigrants who were brought here by their parents at a young age. That covers almost three times more people than the previous administration covered. Under our plan, those who meet education and work requirements, and show good moral character, will be able to become full citizens of the United States over a 12-year period.” FACT CHECK: TRUE, AS FAR AS CAN BE DETERMINED It’s unclear exactly how many immigrants Mr. Trump’s proposed immigration framework would affect, so his claim is impossible to rate with certainty. The White House has said his proposal to provide a pathway to citizenship to immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children by their parents amounts to 1.8 million. If that figure is correct — and it’s virtually impossible to say if it is — then Mr. Trump’s claim is true. U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services said that as of Sept. 4, 2017, there were 689,800 recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which former President Barack Obama established in 2012. Three times that figure would amount to a little more than 2 million individuals, and Mr. Trump said “almost.” — Kathryn Watson Drugs and the border“For decades, open borders have allowed drugs and gangs to pour into our most vulnerable communities. They’ve allowed millions of low-wage workers to compete for jobs and wages against the poorest Americans. Most tragically, they have caused the loss of many innocent lives.” FACT CHECK: PARTLY TRUE, INCONCLUSIVE The president has been making versions of this statement since his campaign. On the claim about illegal immigrants causing the loss of “many” innocent lives, PolitiFact has pointed out that the statement is so vague that sure, it’s bound to be true, but it doesn’t really say much. University of California, Irvine criminology professor Charis Kubrin points out that it’s about as accurate as saying “thousands of Americans have been killed by men.” It is true that drugs are coming in through the southern border, though. Politifact says that even though Asia is the source of heroin for most of the rest of the world, “nearly all the heroin available in the United States comes from Mexico and South America.” An April 2017 Pew Research Center report says the U.S. civilian workforce includes 8 million unauthorized immigrants, accounting for 5 percent of those who were working or were unemployed and looking for work, according to separate Pew Research Center estimates. With so many millions, the New York Times points out there’s a range in which that’s the case — they are both taking the jobs nobody wants, as their defenders would have you believe, and they are taking American jobs and resources, as the White House and Republican hardliners believe. — Katiana Krawchenko Family immigration“Under the current broken system, a single immigrant can bring in virtually unlimited numbers of distant relatives.” FACT CHECK: FALSE According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, a U.S citizen can petition for a spouse; unmarried children under 21; sons and daughters, married and/or over 21; parents, if you are 21 and over; and siblings, if you are 21 and over. A green card holder can petition for spouses, unmarried children under 21, and an unmarried son or daughter of any age. — Ellee Watson Regulations“In our drive to make Washington accountable, we have eliminated more regulations in our first year than any administration in the history of our country.” FACT CHECK: PARTIALLY TRUE, BUT INCOMPLETE METRIC The Washington Post has taken a look at this claim, which the president has made before. “Trump may have grounds to brag,” the Post found, “but his claim cannot be easily verified. There is no reliable metric on which to judge his claim — or to compare him to previous presidents.” The modern regulatory state didn’t really begin until Nixon, and since the 1970s, the Post points out that there have been periods when entire segments of the economy were deregulated — airline and trucking, for instance, in the 1970s and 1980s. And those acts had greater impact on the economy than rolling back individual rules. But on the number of regulations withdrawn, Mr. Trump’s claim can be determined using figures from an OMB database for President Trump, Barack Obama, George W. Bush and five years of Bill Clinton’s presidency. Over the course of these presidencies, the database shows the following numbers for withdrawn regulations:
Of course, Mr. Trump’s presidency has barely begun. Narrowing the range to what he suggests– “in our first year” — his claim adds up:
— Katiana Krawchenko Health care“We repealed the core of the disastrous Obamacare. The individual mandate is now gone. Thank heaven.” FACT CHECK: FALSE The individual penalty of $695 is still in effect for the uninsured in 2018. The mandate dies in 2019. — Maggie Dore Employee bonuses“Since we passed tax cuts, roughly 3 million workers have already gotten tax cut bonuses — many of them thousands and thousands of dollars per worker. And it’s getting more every month, every week.” FACT CHECK: TRUE, BUT… Americans for Tax Reform, a pro-GOP group, has been keeping track of this by aggregating a bunch of companies’ press releases. The group claims 285 companies and at least 3 million Americans are receiving special tax reform bonuses. But Obama economic adviser Larry Summers has thrown cold water on this methodology, arguing that firms are raising wages because the labor market is tight. He called it “a gimmick” in an interview a few days ago on CNBC’s “Squawk Alley.” “That’s a very common device. If you want to give somebody some money but you don’t want to promise it to them on a continuing basis, you frame it as a bonus,” Summers said. “Look, the corporate tax cuts are going to be forever. If the firms really believe this had to do with corporate tax cuts, why aren’t they committing to bonuses forever?” — Maggie Dore and Katiana Krawchenko Pharmaceutical drugs“To speed access to breakthrough cures and affordable generic drugs, last year the FDA approved more new and generic drugs and medical devices than ever before in our country’s history.” FACT CHECK: TRUE, BUT THIS HAS BEEN A TREND FOR THE LAST FEW YEARS For the full year of 2017, according to the FDA commissioner, the FDA approved a record number of generic drugs. Fortune magazine has tracked drug approvals, and reported earlier this month that U.S. drug approvals hit a 21-year high last year. Forty-six novel medicines were greenlighted, Fortune noted, which was twice the number of the previous year. But the rapid rate of generic drug and medical device approvals is not new and has on the rise for a couple of years, going back to at least 2015, during the Obama administration. — Allyson Ross Taylor Guantanamo Bay and terrorism“In the past, we have foolishly released hundreds and hundreds of dangerous terrorists, only to meet them again on the battlefield — including the ISIS leader, al-Baghdadi, who we captured, who we had, who we released.” FACT CHECK: TRUE The director of National Intelligence (DNI) reported that as of Jan. 15, 2017, 208 people released from Guantanamo Bay are confirmed or suspected of re-engaging in terrorist activity. The vast majority were released under the Bush administration. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the head of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, was detained at a U.S.-run facility during the height of the Iraq War before he founded the terrorist group. al-Baghdadi was never held in Guantanamo Bay, however. One-hundred and twenty-one detainees released from Guantanamo Bay are confirmed to have re-engaged in terrorist activity, and 87 other Guantanamo detainees who were released are suspected of doing so. — Andy Triay ISIS“One year later, I’m proud to report that the coalition to defeat ISIS has liberated very close to 100 percent of the territory just recently held by these killers in Iraq and Syria and in other locations, as well. But there is much more work to be done. We will continue our fight until ISIS is defeated.” FACT CHECK: TRUE, This claim is accurate as of Jan. 1, 2018, according to the Defense Department. Army Lt. Gen. Paul E. Funk II, who is the commanding general on the Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve for the campaign against ISIS, said “more than 98 percent of the land once claimed by the terrorist group has been returned to the people.” — Jack Turman America’s standing abroad“As we rebuild America’s strength and confidence at home, we are also restoring our strength and standing abroad.” FACT CHECK: DEBATABLE In terms of strength, America certainly projected military might abroad, dropping the largest bomb in its arsenal for the first time in 2017 on a target in Afghanistan, and launching missile attacks on military targets in Syria. However, the State Department also issued a worldwide safety warning to American citizens in December after Mr. Trump’s announcement that the U.S. would recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. It was the first time such a warning had been issued since the beginning of the Iraq war in 2003. In terms of standing abroad, the 2018 edition of Edelman’s annual trust barometer showed trust in the U.S. declining by 9 percentage points since their 2017 report, the steepest decline ever measured. By way of contrast, trust in China increased by the biggest proportion globally. — Markham Nolan Opioid addiction“These reforms will also support our response to the terrible crisis of opioid and drug addiction. Never before has it been like it is now. It is terrible. We have to do something about it. In 2016, we lost 64,000 Americans to drug overdoses — 174 deaths per day; 7 per hour. We must get much tougher on drug dealers and pushers if we are going to succeed in stopping this scourge.” FACT CHECK: PARTLY TRUE Yes, 64,000 Americans died in 2016 from opioid overdoses according to the CDC. But what the president doesn’t mention is that since he took office, the number of deaths has continued to rise. From June 2016 to June 2017 the number of overdose deaths increased by 16 percent, to 66,817. While the president refers to drug pushers and drug dealers, 80 percent of heroin users developed their addiction because of a previous addiction to prescription opioids, according to the federal government. There has been no movement so far by the federal government on any major funding for drug treatment. — Laura Strickler Judges“Working with the Senate, we are appointing judges who will interpret the Constitution as written, including a great new Supreme Court Justice, and more circuit court judges than any new administration in the history of our country.” FACT CHECK: TRUE Mr. Trump has nominated 12 circuit court judges who have been successfully confirmed by the Senate, more than any other president since circuit courts were created in 1891. Barack Obama got three through the Senate in his first year. — Gaby Ake The VA“Last year, Congress also passed, and I signed, the landmark VA Accountability Act. Since its passage, my administration has already removed more than 1,500 VA employees who failed to give our veterans the care they deserve. And we are hiring talented people who love our vets as much as we do.” FACT CHECK: TRUE The VA says 1,470 employees were dismissed in 2017, with another 526 so far in 2018. — Maggie Dore Tax savings“A typical family of four making $75,000 will see their tax bill reduced by $2,000, slashing their tax bill in half.” FACT CHECK: TRUE, FOR NOW Business Insider estimated the tax savings for a family of four with an annual income of $75,000 will save $2,244. Under the previous law, they would have paid $3,983. However, the Joint Committee on Taxation says down the road, by 2027, families making $50,000 to $75,000 per year will be paying more in taxes. Meanwhile, households earning $1 million per year would see their average tax rate decline to 30.4 percent in 2019, and they’d still be better off than they are now by 2027, paying an average rate of 31.7 percent, rather than the 32.1 percent under current law. — Kate Rydell Apple investments“Apple has just announced it plans to invest a total of $350 billion in America, and hire another 20,000 workers.” FACT CHECK: TRUE Apple announced on Jan. 17 that it will build a second corporate campus and hire 20,000 workers in a $350 billion, five-year commitment. — Kate Rydell Energy“We have ended the war on American energy, and we have ended the war on beautiful clean coal. We are now very proudly an exporter of energy to the world.” FACT CHECK: PARTIALLY TRUE Mr. Trump has made a similar claim before. If by “now” he means the U.S. has only now just begun exporting energy, that is false. The U.S. has been exporting coal, and it is true that the U.S. is a net exporter of coal — that is, that it exports more coal to other countries than it imports. By the end of 2017, the U.S. had also become a net exporter of natural gas, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). But the U.S. is not yet a net exporter of energy sources overall. The EIA projects the U.S. could become a net exporter of energy around 2026. — Julia Kimani Burnham Iran“When the people of Iran rose up against the crimes of their corrupt dictatorship, I did not stay silent.” FACT CHECK: MOSTLY TRUE While thousands of protesters took to the streets in Iran a few weeks ago, Mr. Trump tweeted, and the White House released a paper statement. There was, however, not an on-camera statement. The Treasury Department issued related sanctions, and the State Department made strong comments but basically did nothing. Still, this is arguably more than Obama publicly did in 2009 when protesters were shot in streets of Tehran. — Margaret Brennan and Gaby Ake American ingenuity“America is a nation of builders. We built the Empire State Building in just one year. Isn’t it a disgrace that it can now take 10 years just to get a minor permit approved for the building of a simple road?” FACT CHECK: MOSTLY TRUE The Empire State Building was structurally complete 410 days after demolition began on the Waldorf Astoria, which previously occupied the site on which it now stands. There were 577 days between the beginning of demolition and the official opening date. Mr. Trump’s claims about it taking 10 years to get a permit approved for a simple road suffers from a lack of data, and the Washington Post has also critiqued previous comparisons of this nature, pointing out that previous comparisons of this nature do not compare like with like. Mr Trump is contrasting the swift construction time of a pre-planned project which may have taken years to come to fruition with the planning time it takes to bring a project to the construction phase. — Markham Nolan
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Source: US Government Class
