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To the editor:
I really don't understand how President Trump thinks he's "Making America Great Again" as just about everything he's doing is costing the American public more. Listening to his extremely long Address to Congress, I could not believe hearing the President of the United States making so many false and misleading claims, and fabricating numbers. Even more depressing was watching the Republican puppets stand and cheer at each false statement.
Thank God for the "Fact-checkers" like BBC, NPR, NBC, CNN, Washington Post, NY Times, Politfact, just to name a few. They all had the same summary, identifying so much erroneous and misleading information that Trump presented.
The following are just a few examples of the misleading things Trump stated, and what the fact-checked true information is:
1. Trumped claimed that the DOGE identified government spending of "$8.3 million for making mice transgender." False.
a. The money was used in gender affirming health care, meant to figure out how treatments might affect the health of humans that take them. Trump twisted the statement to his own liking.
2. Trump is imposing tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, claiming that "we will take in trillions and trillions of dollars."
a. False, as tariffs are paid by the U.S. consumer when we purchase something made in Mexico, Canada, or China. Trump's math is backwards.
b. Trump's 25% tariff war with Canada, has resulted in Canada imposing a 25% tariff on electricity that is consumed by Michigan, New York, and Minnesota. That means that, 1.5 million American homes and businesses need to absorb a $400,000 per day price increase for the length of that tariff.
c. Lumber, steel, and aluminum coming from Canada will also now include a 25% tariff, which will again be paid by Americans in new homes, new cars and other products.
d. Much of the produce coming from Mexico that each American purchases every day could potentially cost 25% more, as the grocery stores will not absorb that increased cost, but instead pass it on to the U.S. consumer.
3. Trump has repeatedly stated that the U.S. has spent $350 billion on aid to Ukraine, and he says Europe has collectively only provided about $100 billion. Incorrect.
a. According to the Keil Institute for the World Economy, The EU has collectively committed about $138.7 billion in military, financial and humanitarian aid to Ukraine. The U.S. has committed about $119.7 billion. The U.S. Department of Defense has a slightly higher figure of $182.8 billion, but this is number is still half of what Trump says was spent. And, one should note that much of the $182.8 billion was spent here within the U.S. for war materials built here by U.S. citizens and then shipped to Ukraine.
b. Trump has done a "loan shark" like ploy, with Zelensky, telling him that the U.S. has spent $350 billion dollars (false) on Ukraine's war, and that he wants Ukraine to sign off on his $500 billion dollar agreement to their rare earth materials. This means Ukraine is not only giving the U.S. the original $182.8 billion back, but also and additional $317.2 billion, and without any assurance of security from further Russian persecution. I would say this is sort of a highway robbery deal.
c. Because Zelensky did not sign the deal after the argument with Trump and Vance, Trump being the bully, paused all current shipments of arms to Ukraine, as well as turned off U.S. intelligence to Ukraine, threatening the lives of all Ukrainians. This is not how the leader of the United States should ever act.
Trump's infatuation of wanting Canada and Greenland to become part of the U.S., threatening to take over the Panama Canal, tariffs, and what he's doing to Ukraine, is alienating the U.S. from all the free world countries. The U.S. is losing respect worldwide, and as an American, this hurts.
If the Democrats can't stand up to this chaos, maybe the Stock Market's vote of "no confidence" over the last two weeks will get Trump's attention, as we see our retirement funds disappearing. The last thing we need is for the U.S. to slip into a recession, bringing the rest of the world into a recession because of Trump's lack of true leadership.
Ronald Swan
Cape Coral