What Mr. Trump said
“We rebuilt the American manufacturing base, opened thousands of new factories and brought back the beautiful phrase ‘Made in the USA’”
This lacks evidence. Industry employment increased by just under 500,000 before the pandemic, but by December, it had fallen by more than 75,000 since Trump took office. Industrial production also increased modestly, before dropping to less than when Trump took office. The number of industrial establishments has increased under the Trump administration, but most of them employ five people or less.
What Mr. Trump said
“We approve VA Choice, VA Accountability, Right to Try and a major criminal justice reform.”
This is misleading. The Veterans Choice health program was created in 2014; Mr. Trump signed an update to that law. Likewise, the 2018 “right to try” law allows terminally ill patients to seek access to experimental drugs that have not yet been fully approved by the Food and Drug Administration, but a similar program has been in place since the 1970s.
What Mr. Trump said
“NATO countries are paying hundreds of billions of dollars more than when I arrived just a few years ago. It was very unfair. We were paying the cost of the world ”.
This is exaggerated. Four years in office have not altered Mr. Trump’s misunderstanding and the characterization of the military spending obligations of members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Member countries make direct contributions to the organization’s relatively small central fund, based on national income, and also agree to spend at least 2% of gross domestic product on defense.
Trump’s complaints led the alliance to reduce the United States’ contribution to the common fund, which covers headquarters operations and some joint exercises, from 22% to 16% of the total. NATO’s strength, however, comes from the military budgets of each member nation. The number of countries that comply with the 2 percent guideline has increased from five to 10 in recent years. Mr. Trump may claim some credit for the increased spending, but it is important to note that in 2014, before taking office, countries pledged to meet that goal in a decade.
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