In his inauguration speeches, US President Donald Trump falsely claimed, among other things, that China operates the Panama Canal and that the EU imports almost nothing from the United States.
19:52•Updated 20:25
President of the United States Donald Trump’s the speeches at the inauguration contained a lot of incorrect and exaggerated claims.
The most blatant examples are listed here.
1. False: China operates the Panama Canal
In his inauguration speech, Trump claimed that China is responsible for the Panama Canal traffic.
The claim is not true. Chinese companies do own two ports at both ends of the Panama Canal, but the canal itself is operated by the Panamanian government.
Trump also claimed that US ships would have to pay a premium for canal fees. However, Panama has denied that any country is being discriminated against.
In his speech, Trump promised that the United States would regain control of the canal and that the United States would generally grow in area during his presidency. In addition to the canal, the expansion may also refer to the idea of connecting Canada and Greenland to the United States.
2. False: The 2020 election was rigged
In his speech to Congress, Trump repeated the claim that the 2020 presidential election was rigged.
This is not true. Election officials, other authorities, or Trump’s own attorney general have not found evidence of election fraud.
Trump has repeated the claim since his election loss. His attempt to overturn the election result culminated in an attack by supporters on the congressional building at the end of 2021. Trump pardoned almost all those convicted of the congressional riot early on Tuesday.
3. Wrong: Only the United States grants citizenship to those born in the country
Trump claimed when signing the orders that only the United States grants citizenship to anyone born on its soil.
The claim is wrong. More than 30 countries have the same practice, USA Today magazine says.
Many of these are located on the American continent, while in Europe, for example, citizenship is mostly granted on the basis of a parent’s citizenship.
Trump’s new order stops granting citizenship to children born in the United States whose parents entered the country illegally.
The decree contradicts the current interpretation of the constitution. The Supreme Court will have to weigh its legality in the near future.
4. Wrong: The EU imports almost nothing from the United States
Trump claimed in the White House that the European Union does not “take” agricultural products, cars or anything at all from the United States.
This is not true at all. The United States is the EU’s second largest importing country.
The EU imported goods and services worth 643 billion euros from the United States in 2023, The European Commission says. The EU imports agricultural products from the United States for about 12 billion euros and cars for about 9 billion euros, CNN reports.
Trump also falsely claimed that the US is losing $300 billion in trade with the EU. In reality, the trade balance deficit was 162 billion euros, or about 168 billion dollars in favor of the EU in 2023.
5. Misleading: The US electric car mandate will be cancelled
In his inauguration speech, Trump promised to cancel the “electric car ban” in order to “save the auto industry”.
In reality, there has been no mandate to manufacture electric cars in the United States. Instead, the environmental administration was the president Joe Biden imposed emission limits for new cars during the period, AP tells.
According to the environmental administration, they would have resulted in about two-thirds of new cars being emission-free in 2032.
Trump has not canceled the decision himself, but plans to direct the environmental administration to change it. He has already canceled subsidies for the purchase of electric cars.
Trump was also telling the truth
There were also parts of the truth in Trump’s speeches.
For example, he said that the United States spends more money on health care than any other country in the world, and he mostly correctly described the fact that the inflation during the Biden era was caused by public sector consumption and the energy crisis.
Sources, AP, Reuters