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** Donald Trump and NATO
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We've written ([link removed]) multiple ([link removed]) articles ([link removed]) on the ways that former President Donald Trump has distorted the facts about NATO.

Trump was at it again recently -- packing several false or misleading claims about NATO into a two-minute span during a rally in South Carolina.

And, in the process, Trump drew worldwide condemnation when he said that he once told the leader of a large NATO country that he "would encourage [Russia] to do whatever the hell they want" to a NATO member that is “delinquent” in its payments to NATO.

Our longtime readers know that Trump has long mischaracterized what he calls “delinquent” payments from alliance members to NATO. As we explained (again) in a story this week, Trump was referring to NATO countries that spend less than 2% of their gross domestic product on their own defense. Countries don’t owe money to anyone else if they spend less on defense than other member countries.

Trump also falsely claimed that "NATO was busted until I came along" and demanded "everybody’s going to pay." As we have written, after years of decreases, combined defense spending by non-U.S. NATO members has increased every year since 2015 — two years before Trump assumed office.

He was wrong, too, when he claimed that former President Barack Obama "didn’t ask for anything" from NATO countries. Obama and his top aides repeatedly pressured NATO countries to increase their military spending, but it wasn’t until Russia in early 2014 invaded and took control of Crimea in Ukraine that the member countries agreed to take action.

James Goldgeier ([link removed]) , a former dean of the School of International Service at American University who wrote a book on NATO, told us: "The most important person since 2014 for getting NATO members to spend more on defense has been [Russian President] Vladimir Putin. He poses a clear threat to Europe, and NATO members have responded."

Read our full story, "Trump’s Distorted NATO ‘Delinquent’ Comments ([link removed]) ."
HOW WE KNOW
The Environmental Protection Agency produces an annual report on the sources of greenhouse gas emissions, which cause global warming. "The national greenhouse gas inventory is submitted under the Paris Agreement and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change," explains ([link removed]) the EPA, which produces the report in collaboration with "hundreds of experts." Staff writer Catalina Jaramillo cited the report when writing an Ask SciCheck that answered a reader's question about electric vehicles. Read more ([link removed]) .
FEATURED FACT
The average monthly job growth under former President Donald Trump was 180,000 per month before the pandemic hit. By June 2022, employment hit and slightly surpassed the pre-pandemic peak. Since then, the job growth under President Joe Biden has been an average of 282,000 per month — about 100,000 more than the pre-pandemic average under Trump. All told, the economy has added nearly 14.8 million jobs under Biden -- an average monthly job growth of more than 400,000. Read more ([link removed]) .
WORTHY OF NOTE
We recently posted our financial disclosure statement for the second quarter of fiscal year 2024, which ended Dec. 31.

During this three-month period, we received a total of 560 gifts from individual donors totaling $67,426, and the largest single donation was $15,000.

In addition, we received $42,300 from Facebook as part of a fact-checking project to debunk social media misinformation. Facebook has no control over our editorial decisions.

We also received $75,810 from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. SciCheck articles correcting health misinformation are made possible by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The foundation has no control over our editorial decisions, and the views expressed on our website do not necessarily reflect the views of the foundation.

If you would like to join the fight against misinformation, you can make a tax-deductible, credit card donation through our “Donate ([link removed]) ” page, which is managed on our behalf by the University of Pennsylvania. If you prefer to give by check, send to: FactCheck.org, Annenberg Public Policy Center, 202 S. 36th St., Philadelphia, PA 19104-3806.

For more information, including a list of donors who contributed $1,000 or more, please see "Our Funding ([link removed]) " page.
REPLY ALL

Reader: How was the economy under a Trump presidency? I don't recall our economy doing well at all nor was unemployment lower than it is now.

FactCheck.org Director Eugene Kiely: Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that the U.S. had “the greatest economy in the history of the world” when he was president. He made that claim on his last day in office. This is what we wrote ([link removed]) on January 20, 2021:

In his farewell speech, Trump pointed to the stock market — as he often does — as a measure of the nation’s economic success. But economists generally measure a nation’s health by the growth of its real (inflation-adjusted) gross domestic product. The U.S. rate of growth was 2.3% in 2017, 3.0% in 2018 and 2.2% in 2019, according to revised figures from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Over the last 39 years — dating to Ronald Reagan’s presidency — the nation’s real economic growth has exceeded Trump’s peak year of 3.0% 17 times, including most recently under then-President Barack Obama in 2015.

After Trump left office, the Bureau of Economic Analysis released the change in the real GDP for 2020 and revised the figures for previous years. Thefinal numbers ([link removed]) were: 2.5% in 2017, 3.0% in 2018, 2.5% in 2019 and -2.2% in 2020. The negative growth in 2020 was the result of the pandemic. But even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the economy began slowing – which is reflected in the 2019 figure.

Trump continues to make this claim as a candidate in 2024. He did so during an Iowa town hall in January, as we wrote ([link removed]) .

As for jobs, job growth was high, and unemployment was low under Trump – until the pandemic hit.

In our story “Trump’s Final Numbers ([link removed]) ,” we wrote:

As president, Trump saw 100 months of continuous U.S. monthly job gains end in February 2019 as the economy slowed. In 2020, job growth collapsed entirely when COVID-19 went from being a localized problem in Wuhan, China, to a global pandemic.

We said this in that story about the unemployment rate:

A month before widespread lockdowns would virtually shut down the economy, the unemployment rate stood at 3.5% in February 2020, the lowest since December 1969. During the pandemic, the unemployment rate peaked at 14.8% in April 2020, the highest since BLS began tracking the figure in 1948.

In “Biden’s Numbers ([link removed]) ,” which we published last month, we wrote this about the unemployment rate under Biden:

The unemployment rate fell from 6.4% at the time Biden took office to 3.4% in January 2023 and again in April, the lowest since June 1969. Since then, the rate has crept up — but only to 3.7% in December, just 0.2 point above the pre-pandemic rate.

The unemployment rate ([link removed]) remained at 3.7% in January.


** Wrapping Up
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Here's what else we've got for you this week:
* "Haley’s Ad Misleads About Trump’s Proposed Tariffs ([link removed]) ": As former President Donald Trump campaigns on the exaggerated claim to being the largest tax cutter in U.S. history, the latest ad from Nikki Haley’s campaign misleadingly claims Trump now favors “a 10% across the board tax increase.”
* "Biden’s Claims About Special Counsel Report on Classified Documents Investigation ([link removed]) ": Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report on his investigation of President Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents concluded that “no criminal charges are warranted in this matter.” But in a press conference, Biden made several false or misleading claims concerning other details in that report.
* "Posts Mislead About Record-Setting Canadian Wildfires Fueled by Climate Change ([link removed]) ": The record-setting Canadian wildfires in 2023 were caused mainly by lightning igniting forests that were unusually hot and dry, in part due to climate change. But the recent conviction of a Quebec man led to false claims on social media that the majority of the fires were the result of arson.
* "Biden’s Job Growth Chart Ignores Impact of Pandemic ([link removed]) ": Since President Joe Biden took office, the economy has added nearly 14.8 million jobs, 5.4 million more than the pre-pandemic peak in early 2020. All told, it’s an average monthly job growth of more than 400,000. But Biden misleadingly contrasts that with a loss of jobs under former President Donald Trump — a loss that occurred because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
* "Posts Misrepresent Saudi Prince’s Comment on Investment in Kushner Fund ([link removed]) ": Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund invested money with Jared Kushner, former President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, after he left the White House in 2021. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told Fox News that the fund would keep its commitment to that investment. But social media posts are making the unfounded claim that Kushner has to return the money.

Y lo que publicamos en español ([link removed]) (English versions are accessible in each story):
* "Publicaciones tergiversan un estudio del virus del pangolín en ratones ([link removed]) ": Un estudio mostró que un tipo de ratón de laboratorio es muy susceptible a un coronavirus derivado del pangolín, un mamífero con escamas del tamaño de un gato. Esto no significa que el virus sea peligroso para los humanos. El virus está emparentado con el que causa el COVID-19, pero no desciende de él, contrariamente a las afirmaciones de que se trata de una “cepa mutante del COVID-19”. Además, el virus no fue “creado” por científicos.
* "Los vehículos eléctricos aportan menos emisiones que los vehículos de gasolina a lo largo de su vida útil ([link removed]) :" P: ¿Son los coches eléctricos realmente mejores para el medio ambiente que los de gasolina a lo largo de su vida útil? Sí. Los vehículos eléctricos suelen emitir menos gases de efecto invernadero que los vehículos con motor de combustión interna durante su ciclo de vida, incluso después de contabilizar la cantidad elevada de energía necesaria para fabricar sus baterías. Además se espera que sus huellas de carbono se reduzcan en un futuro cercano.

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