Politics

12 Fact Checks From Donald Trump’s First Formal Address to Congress

Jane C. Timm
WATCH LIVE
President Donald Trump, center, pauses as U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, left, and U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan, a Republican from Wisconsin, applaud during a joint session of Congress in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2017.
Jim Lo Scalzo | Pool Image via Getty Images

In his first speech to Congress, Donald Trump made a number of claims about the state of the nation and his accomplishments a little more than a month into his presidency. NBC News fact checked his statements throughout the speech.

1. Trump says he's begun to "drain the swamp." That's true.

2. Trump claims immigration enforcement makes us safer. Experts say it drives crime up.

3. Did Trump really save the U.S. millions of dollars on fighter jets? Not really.

4. Trump takes credit for companies bringing back or keeping jobs in the U.S. CEOs say: Not so fast.

More from NBC News:
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5.Trump says he'll speed up FDA drug approvals. Former FDA officials say it can't get much faster.

6. Trump said that more than 4,000 people were shot in Chicago last year, and cited other crime statistics. He got the numbers right, but crime in general is still near historic lows.

7. Trump says 94 million people are out of the labor force. That's incredibly misleading.

8. Trump said the Yemen raid yielded "vital intelligence." That's disputed.

9. Trump says Obamacare is collapsing. Not so fast.

10. Trump says immigrants cost taxpayers billions. That's half-true, though immigrants become a bigger boon over time.

11. Trump says the Dakota Access and Keystone pipelines create tens of thousands of jobs. That's true, but less than 100 are estimated to outlast construction.

12. Trump said the "vast majority" of terrorists are foreign-born. That's false.