On Inauguration Day, we provide a look at various metrics on the state of the country at the start of President Donald Trump’s second term.
What President Trump Inherits, Part 2
Issues: deficits
Trump’s Spin on Tax Cuts Raising Revenues
Former President Donald Trump is proposing to lower the federal corporate tax rate to 15%, insisting that when he lowered it to 21% starting in 2018, revenues received by the government actually went up due to economic growth it spurred. Economists say that’s not what happened.
FactChecking Biden’s State of the Union
His speech included misleading claims on inflation, crime, clean energy investments, wages and other subjects.
FactChecking Trump’s Iowa Town Hall
The Republican presidential front-runner repeated many claims he has made before.
Biden’s Numbers, April Update
A quarterly update of statistical measures of the president’s time in office.
Biden’s Numbers, January 2023 Update
Here’s how the United States has fared since President Joe Biden took office two years ago.
Biden’s Numbers (Second Quarterly Update)
The most recent statistical measures of how the U.S. has changed since the president took office.
Biden’s Deficit Spin
In recent speeches, President Joe Biden has been misleadingly taking credit for cutting federal deficits by historic amounts, though most of the reduction in deficits is the result of expiring emergency pandemic spending. Deficits fell between fiscal year 2020 and 2021 far less than initially projected after Biden added to them with more emergency pandemic and infrastructure spending.
Trump’s Final Numbers
Statistical indicators of President Trump’s four years in office.
Biden Leaves Misleading Impression on U.S. Debt
In promoting his own spending priorities, President Joe Biden blamed his predecessor’s “unpaid tax cuts and other spending” for increasing the national debt by nearly $8 trillion over four years. The total debt figure is correct, but trillions of that were due to bipartisan coronavirus relief packages.