Category: Not Factual

Trump Overstated His Military Credentials From Marines

In an answer trying to bolster his military credibility, Trump referenced receiving an award in April, saying it came from the United States Marines Corps when it was actually the charity The Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation.

During an interview with CNN’s Chris Cuomo, Trump made the claim:

“I was given the biggest award by the Marines the other day, one of the biggest civilian awards by the Marines the other day. I was with all of the Marines, I was with the new head of the joint chiefs of staff, he’s a very impressive guy, at the Waldorf Astoria the other night. I was given one of the most distinguished awards, which was a great honor for me.”

Cuomo interjected: “So you’re saying they respect you.”

“I think they do. Well, I got the award from them. And they presented it to me, so I think they do.”

But the award came at a charity gala, where Trump pledged to donate $100,000 to the organization in his speech, the New York Post’s Page Six reported at the time.

Trump’s spokeswoman confirmed that was the award he was referring to.

But that doesn’t add up because Trump boasted many times before that he was receiving the award from the actual United States Marines.

A picture of the award from the Marine Corps clearly shows the name of the charity on the award. The Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation is a charity that gives scholarships to the children of fallen Marines and federal law enforcement officers.

The Marines also confirmed they did not give an award to Trump.

“The U.S. Marine Corps has not presented any awards to any presidential candidates this year,” said Marine Corps spokesman Maj. Paul Greenberg. “It is not customary for the Marine Corps to make such presentations.

Greenberg said the Marine Corps Law Enforcement Foundation is a nonprofit not officially affiliated with the Department of Defense or the government.

(h/t CNN)

Media

Trump Gets Foreign Policy Advice From TV Shows

Donal Trump on Meet the Press

In an August 16 appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Chuck Todd grilled Trump on who he turned to for foreign policy advice.

“Well I really watch the shows. You really see a lot of great, you know, when you watch your show and all of the other shows, and you have the generals and you have certain people that you like,” Trump said.

“But is there somebody — a go-to for you?” Todd pressed. That’s when Trump made his next mistake…

“Probably there are two or three. Yeah, probably there are two or three I mean, I like [former U.N. Ambassador John] Bolton. I think he’s, you know, tough cookie, knows what he’s talking about. [Ret. Col. Jack] Jacobs is a good guy… and I see him on occasion,”

In an interview with Mother Jones later that week, retired colonel Jack Jacobs said that while knew Trump, the two had never discussed military policy.

“He may have said the first person who came to mind,” Jacobs said. “I know him. But I’m not a consultant. I’m not certain if he has a national security group of people. I don’t know if he does or if he doesn’t. If he does, I’m not one of them.”

Links

http://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/video/full-interview-trump-on-immigration-hillary-clinton-and-his-controversial-campaign-505901123767

http://www.politico.eu/article/donald-trumps-11-worst-foreign-policy-gaffes-us-election-syria-mexico-iraq/

 

Trump Not Caring Whether Ukraine is in NATO

Donal Trump on Meet the Press

In a “Meet the Press” interview with Chuck Todd, Trump expressed ambivalence about allowing Ukraine into NATO.

“I would not care that much to be honest with you. Whether it goes in or doesn’t go in, I wouldn’t care. If it goes in, great. If it doesn’t go in, great. Look, I would support NATO,” Trump said. “Why isn’t Germany, Chuck, leading this charge? Why is the United States? I mean, we’re like the policemen of the world. And why are we leading the charge in Ukraine?”

Reality

Many might agree with Trump’s general point, but it very much matters whether Ukraine is a member of NATO: One of the organization’s founding principles, codified in Article 5 of the treaty, specifies that member countries must take “such action as it deems necessary,” as “an armed attack on one … shall be considered an armed attack on all.” Russia’s 2014 invasion of Crimea and subsequent meddling in eastern Ukraine could have obligated the United States to come to Ukraine’s defense, were the country a NATO member.

Links

http://www.politico.eu/article/donald-trumps-11-worst-foreign-policy-gaffes-us-election-syria-mexico-iraq/

Trump Fails Again on Iran Deal Details

Donal Trump on Meet the Press

In his interview with Todd, Trump stated that Iran would get to keep its $150 billion from the deal even if it does not live up to it. As Politifact noted, that figure is in line with, but very much on the very highest end of evaluations of the value the regime’s frozen assets as a result of international sanctions. (The general consensus is somewhere in the ballpark of $100 billion, according to experts interviewed by Politifact, though without U.S. participation, the maximum amount Iran could recover is $40 billion.)

“No sanctions relief?” Todd asked.

“‘We will never give you back your money. We will never … give you back your $150 billion. You’re never getting that money back,’” Trump said he would say in negotiations with Iranian leaders.

Links

http://www.politico.eu/article/donald-trumps-11-worst-foreign-policy-gaffes-us-election-syria-mexico-iraq/

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/aug/16/donald-trump/donald-trump-iran-gets-keep-150-billion-even-if-us/

Trump Rumors Megyn Kelly Took Vacation Because Of Him

Megyn Kelly announces 10 day vacation.

Donald Trump thinks Megyn Kelly‘s vacation could very well be because of his feud with her over her “inappropriate” questions at the first Republican primary debate.

Kelly asked famously tough questions of Trump during the televised debate, and several days later the real estate mogul made his infamous comment to CNN that she had “blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her… wherever.” Fox News CEO Roger Ailes and Trump eventually had a phone call to “clear the air.”

On Wednesday evening, Kelly told her Kelly File viewers that she will take a long overdue 10-day vacation to spend some time with her husband and children.

Newsmax TV host Steve Malzberg asked Trump: “Do you think there was any connection to have her go away for a while in the wake of what she did?”

The GOP candidate replied: “Well, there probably was, but I wouldn’t know anything about it.” But he added: “People were very surprised that, all the sudden, she decided to go away for 10 days… Some people make those quick decisions.”

Contrary to that, however, a Fox News representative told Mediaite that Kelly’s vacation had been planned long in advance. Nevertheless, Trump said he hopes “she is well” and that she returns to be “fair,” presumably to him.

(h/t Mediaite)

Reality

We’re not Megyn Kelly’s boss so we’re not privy to when she requested her time off. Until actual evidence is presented otherwise we should take Fox News at their word, and their response is actually pretty priceless:

“The conspiracy theories about Megyn Kelly’s vacation rank up there with UFO’s, the moon landing and Elvis being alive. Megyn is on a pre-planned, annual summer vacation with her family, which is much deserved. To imply otherwise as Donald Trump and his campaign operatives have is not only wildly irresponsible, but downright bizarre. Perhaps Mr. Trump thinks it’s advantageous to his poll numbers to keep talking about Megyn, but that doesn’t change the fact that Roger Ailes has fully supported her and her tough journalistic questioning since day one and is thrilled with the added exposure from the debate which resulted in even higher ratings of The Kelly File this week. Anyone who knows Roger is aware of how historically and consistently loyal he is to all of his talent and how he protects them at all costs. As Governor Terry Branstad said today, ‘when you’re a candidate, you’ve got to basically answer the questions. You can’t just attack the person asking the questions. That doesn’t work.’”

Media

Trump Cherishes Women

CNN's Jake Tapper

Presidential candidate Donald Trump defended himself from the fierce backlash he’s received for criticizing Fox News debate moderator Megyn Kelly, insisting he said nothing wrong and that he values women.

“I cherish women. I want to help women. I’m going to be able to do things for women that no other candidate would be able to do” the real estate mogul told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union,” adding that he did not mean to imply that Kelly asked him sharp questions during the debate because she was menstruating.

“Who would say that?” Trump said Sunday. “Do you think I’d make a statement like that? Who would make a statement like that? Only a sick person would even think about that.”

He blamed his Republican presidential opponents for fanning the flames of controversy, and claimed he meant to refer to her “nose and/or ears” — not a woman’s period.

Reality

In the context of the conversation one can extrapolate that Donald Trump was implying Megyn Kelly was angry at him, coincidentally inventing a new idiom about blood and eyes. Regarding the “wherever”, men in the U.S. joke say that women who are menstruating are angrier or more aggressive than they usually are. It doesn’t take a genius to accept that Trump was speaking about Kelly’s lady bits.

Media

Links

http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/09/politics/donald-trump-blood-comment-response-2016-sotu/

Trump Companies Use and Commit Fraud on H-1B Visa Workers

While Trump has bashed the H-1B visa program in multiple debates and makes lowering the number of H-1B visas a top policy decision for his immigration reform.

Increase prevailing wage for H-1Bs. We graduate two times more Americans with STEM degrees each year than find STEM jobs, yet as much as two-thirds of entry-level hiring for IT jobs is accomplished through the H-1B program. More than half of H-1B visas are issued for the program’s lowest allowable wage level, and more than eighty percent for its bottom two. Raising the prevailing wage paid to H-1Bs will force companies to give these coveted entry-level jobs to the existing domestic pool of unemployed native and immigrant workers in the U.S., instead of flying in cheaper workers from overseas. This will improve the number of black, Hispanic and female workers in Silicon Valley who have been passed over in favor of the H-1B program. Mark Zuckerberg’s personal Senator, Marco Rubio, has a bill to triple H-1Bs that would decimate women and minorities.

Requirement to hire American workers first. Too many visas, like the H-1B, have no such requirement. In the year 2015, with 92 million Americans outside the workforce and incomes collapsing, we need companies to hire from the domestic pool of unemployed. Petitions for workers should be mailed to the unemployment office, not USCIS.

Ut-Oh!

Not only was Donald Trump extensively using the H-1B visa program for his own companies, he tried to import at least 1,100 foreign workers, and he has been accused of fraud and treating models at his model agency “like a slave.”

 

Links

https://www.donaldjtrump.com/positions/immigration-reform

Donald Trump’s companies tried to import at least 1,100 foreign workers

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-model-felt-slave-working-donalds-agency/story?id=37313993

Donald Trump Loses Libel Lawsuit Over Being Called a ‘Millionaire’

Trump Nation by Timothy O'Brien

A New Jersey appeals court has affirmed a lower court’s ruling to dismiss a defamation lawsuit brought by Donald Trump against a book author who claimed the real estate magnate/reality TV star isn’t really a billionaire.

In a ruling, the appeals court affirms that Trump hasn’t demonstrated that author Timothy O’Brien committed “actual malice” by citing three unnamed sources who estimated the net worth of The Apprentice star to be between $150 million and $250 million.

Trump filed the $5 billion lawsuit in 2009 over O’Brien’s book, TrumpNation: The Art of Being The Donald. The lawsuit was rejected in 2009 by a New Jersey superior judge. Trump then appealed the judgment on the theory that relying on anonymous sources could rise to the actual malice standard needed for public figures to prevail in a libel suit.

But a New Jersey appeals court doesn’t see the logic here. According to the decision:

“There were no significant internal inconsistencies in the information provided by the confidential sources, nor was there ‘reliable’ information that contradicted their reports, so as to provide evidence of actual malice. Nothing suggests that O’Brien was subjectively aware of the falsity of his source’s figures or that he had actual doubts as to the information’s accuracy.”

The latest decision will likely give Trump another reason to gripe about the nation’s libel laws. In past public comments, Trump has said these laws “have never been fair.”

As for Trump’s own estimation of his net worth, Trump’s lawyer says it has been “proven conclusively” to exceed $7 billion.

Then again, during a deposition, Trump admitted that his sense of financial worth depends on his feelings day-to-day. Asked whether it was really true that his “net worth goes up and down based upon [his] own feelings,” here’s Trump’s funny response:

“Yes, even my own feelings, as to where the world is, where the world is going, and that can change rapidly from day to day. Then you have a September 11th, and you don’t feel so good about yourself and you don’t feel so good about the world and you don’t feel so good about New York City. Then you have a year later, and the city is as hot as a pistol. Even months after that it was a different feeling. So yeah, even my own feelings affect my value to myself.”

Links

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/donald-trump-loses-libel-lawsuit-232923

http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2016/03/14/trump-biographer-timothy-obrien.cnnmoney

http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-07-21/dear-mr-trump-i-m-worth-10-billion-too-

Trump Slams McCain As a War Hero Because He Was Captured

Trump calls McCain not a war hero

Presidential candidate Donald Trump sparked yet another backlash among his fellow Republican candidates Saturday when he said that Sen. John McCain was only considered a war hero because he was captured – and seemed to mock him for that fact.

At the Iowa Family Leadership Summit when moderator Frank Luntz brought up McCain, who spent more than five years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, Donald Trump said:

He’s not a war hero.

After an audience response that was less than impressed at his comment, Trump tried to walk back his comment.

He’s a war hero ’cause he was captured. I like people that weren’t captured, OK? Perhaps he’s a war hero, but right now he’s said some very bad things about a lot of people.

Trump caught flack from every direction but refused to change his stance on McCain. When asked by ABC News whether he owes McCain an apology, Trump said:

No, not at all.

Then continued:

People that were not captured that went in and fought, nobody talks about them. Those are heroes also.

Later when confronted with his comments about McCain by a veteran and supporter at a rally, Trump flatly lied that he never made those comments.

VETERAN: I come here because you made a comment to John McCain that you don’t think that captured soldiers are heroes

TRUMP: (interjecting) Oh no no no I was, I never did that.

 

 

VETERAN: What I want you to do, is just clarify that for me because I think it’s important for all these people here, and for a lot of veterans in Ohio—especially Ohio—and I know what you were doing.

 

 

TRUMP: (again interjecting) You know exactly when I was doing. But they are heroes, just so you understand, they are real heroes. Thank you.

Media

Links

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trump-john-mccain-war-hero-captured/

http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/18/politics/donald-trump-john-mccain-war-hero/

http://www.weeklystandard.com/trump-falsely-claims-he-never-said-mccain-wasnt-a-hero/article/2001538

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