logo
6 Inaccurate Claims Trump Has Used to Justify His Flurry of Orders

6 Inaccurate Claims Trump Has Used to Justify His Flurry of Orders

New York Times06-02-2025
President Trump, while issuing a rapid-fire series of executive orders and directives since taking office, has rationalized his initiatives with a series of false and misleading claims.
In trying to deny automatic citizenship for some born in the United States, he falsely described other countries' laws. In rescinding climate policies, he mischaracterized obligations made by countries in the Paris climate agreement. And in defending a chaotic rollout that froze federal funding, he cited an example of waste that lacked evidence.
Here's a fact check.
What Was Said Video
False. There are more than a dozen U.S.-based banks and subsidiaries operating in Canada.
Mr. Trump made the claim after he imposed tariffs on Canada, but before Canada negotiated a delay. His assertion would have been more correct about a quarter of a century ago. Since 1999, though, foreign banks have been allowed to establish branches in the country, according to a report by Statistics Canada, a government data agency. Previously, foreign banks could only operate subsidiaries there.
Branches are essentially the Canadian offices of banks headquartered in other countries, but they cannot accept deposits smaller than 150,000 Canadian dollars. Subsidiaries can accept smaller deposits, but they are separate legal entities from their parent companies.
American banks operating in Canada as either subsidiaries or branches include: Amex Bank of Canada, Bank of America, Bank of New York, Capital One, Citibank Canada, Comerica Bank, Fifth Third Bank, J.P. Morgan Canada, M&T Bank, Northern Trust, PNC Bank, State Street, U.S. Bank and Wells Fargo.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
Already a subscriber? Log in.
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

US applications for jobless benefits rise last week, but layoffs remain historically low
US applications for jobless benefits rise last week, but layoffs remain historically low

The Hill

time18 minutes ago

  • The Hill

US applications for jobless benefits rise last week, but layoffs remain historically low

WASHINGTON (AP) — More Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week, but U.S. layoffs remain in the same historically healthy range of the past few years. Applications for unemployment benefits for the week ending Aug. 16 rose by 11,000 to 235,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That's slightly more than the 229,000 new applications that economists had forecast. Weekly applications for jobless benefits are seen as a proxy for layoffs and have mostly settled in a historically healthy range between 200,000 and 250,000 since the U.S. began to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic more than three years ago. While layoffs remain low by historical comparisons, there has been noticeable deterioration in the labor market this year and mounting evidence that people are having difficulty finding jobs. U.S. employers added just 73,000 jobs in July, well short of the 115,000 analysts forecast. Worse, revisions to the May and June figures shaved 258,000 jobs off previous estimates and the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.2% from 4.1%. That report sent financial markets spiraling, spurring President Donald Trump to fire Erika McEntarfer, the head of Bureau of Labor Statistics, which tallies the monthly employment numbers. The BLS does not contribute to the weekly unemployment benefits report except to calculate the annual seasonal adjustments. The BLS reported earlier this week that the unemployment rate in Washington, D.C. eclipsed 6% in July, the third straight month that it was the highest in the U.S. The rising D.C. jobless rate is a reflection of the mass layoffs of federal workers by Trump's Department of Government Efficiency earlier this year. An overall decline in international tourism — a main driver of D.C.'s income — is also expected to have an impact on the climbing unemployment rate in the District. Neighboring states of Maryland and Virginia, where many federal employees reside, also saw an uptick in unemployment rates in July. Since the beginning of Trump's second term, federal workers across government agencies have been either laid off or asked to voluntarily resign, spurring lawsuits from labor unions and advocacy groups. Another recent report on the U.S. labor market showed that employers posted 7.4 million job vacancies in June, down from 7.7 million in May. The number of people quitting their jobs — a sign of confidence in finding a better job — fell in June to the lowest level since December. Some major companies have announced job cuts this year, including Procter & Gamble, Dow, CNN, Starbucks, Southwest Airlines, Microsoft, Google and Facebook parent company Meta. Intel and The Walt Disney Co. also recently announced staff reductions. Many economists contend that Trump's erratic rollout of tariffs against U.S. trading partners has created uncertainty for employers, who have grown reluctant to expand their payrolls. The Labor Department's report Thursday showed that the four-week average of claims, which softens some of the week-to-week swings, rose by 4,500 to 226,500. The total number of Americans collecting unemployment benefits for the previous week of Aug. 9 jumped by 30,000 to 1.97 million, the most since November 6, 2021.

Live updates: Texas barrels toward new district maps; White House details EU trade deal
Live updates: Texas barrels toward new district maps; White House details EU trade deal

The Hill

time18 minutes ago

  • The Hill

Live updates: Texas barrels toward new district maps; White House details EU trade deal

The Texas House gave its seal of approval to new congressional district maps, and the state Senate takes up the effort on Thursday. President Trump is pushing for the new lines to give Republicans a boost of five seats in Congress. California's effort to counter Texas redistricting is full steam ahead, with both legislature chambers debating the issue Thursday. The California Supreme Court on Wednesday handed state Democrats a win, rejecting a petition filed by state Republican legislators seeking to halt Gov. Gavin Newsom's (D) plan to redistrict California's congressional map. The Trump administration on Thursday morning rolled out details of its trade deal with the European Union, setting its exports tariff at 15 percent. The EU has agreed to eliminate all tariffs on industrial goods imported from the U.S. and to widen preferential market access to U.S. seafood and agricultural products. At the White House, Trump will sign executive orders at 3 p.m.

Putin has a Melania Trump problem, and the DC media is too slanted to see it
Putin has a Melania Trump problem, and the DC media is too slanted to see it

The Hill

time18 minutes ago

  • The Hill

Putin has a Melania Trump problem, and the DC media is too slanted to see it

Of all the people in the White House not to end up on the wrong side of, outside of President Trump, I would put Melania Trump at the top of the list. Very private and not at all liking politics (although far too classy to constantly whine about it, unlike a certain former first lady), Melania Trump has taken a very low profile. But that doesn't mean she is uninvolved. Too bad for Vladimir Putin that he didn't get the memo. Now the Russian president is paying the price. In fact, Trump himself revealed the first lady is not buying Putin's soft-soap routine. USA Today reported that when the president told Melania about Putin's desire for peace, she quickly noted that Russia had just bombed another city, killing more civilians. In response, Russia's ham-handed propaganda machine went on the attack, peddling nasty gossip and calling her a 'danger to Russia.' But the first lady was not about to engage. To all appearances, she had a far more shrewd and effective response in mind. Her letter to Putin was a clear shot at the Russians. In the letter, she essentially says that Putin and the Russians abducted Ukrainian children, and she wants them released. Melania did not call Putin a war criminal, but that conclusion is just a step away. Has Putin figured out his attack dogs blundered? There is evidence to suggest just that. Putin compounded the Russian propaganda mistake with an even more serious blunder, possibly to make up for insulting the first lady. At the Anchorage summit — which was a success for Trump, since he didn't give anything away and forced Putin to confer on a U.S. Air Force Base on American soil — Putin was an obsequious as he could be. But in doing so he went a step too far, agreeing with Trump that he would not have invaded Ukraine if Trump had been president. For over three years Putin has claimed to the Russian people and the world that he is in a civilizational fight and battling Nazis in Ukraine. And that is a lie. Putin's invasion was opportunistic. He started the war because he thought he would win easily. Of course, it's one thing for a national leader to lie (happens all the time), and another thing to admit it — and make your loyalists look like fools. Even more problematic for Putin are his inner circle and the security state that surrounds him. Tied to Putin, his sheepish sycophancy to Trump is a humiliation for them as well. Instead of a proud, patriotic Russia fighting for its survival, Putin has portrayed himself and Russia as supplicants to Trump. Pretty humiliating, if you ask me. Putin is the main power in Russia, but he is not a dictator in the style of Kim Jong Un. There are other power centers in the country, and his personal control still relies on the support of Russia's security state. Expect Putin to pivot to a more aggressive posture in order to regain some semblance of pride and control — which will undermine his position with Trump. Of course, these complexities are utterly beyond the understanding and interest of a Western media that is obsessed with loathing Trump — and by proxy anyone associated with him, including the first lady. Instead of recognizing the subtle and substantive moves of Melania Trump, the progressive left immediately sought to demean her letter. Salon's pages snarked like an overqualified freshman English teacher. Others claimed it was an AI paste-up job. But even if the letter wasn't everyone's cup of tea or not quite the Gettysburg Address, that's beside the point. The significant revelation is that Putin and his thugs may well have created an implacable foe in the White House who cannot be displaced. Too focused on their mission to throw mud at anything and everything Trump, the establishment media and leftist echo chamber are unwilling (or unable) to amplify Putin's humiliation and fuel discontent within Russia. It all makes their support for Ukraine ring hollow, to say the least. When push comes to shove, there is no principle that supersedes hatred for Trump. Time will tell on this latest burst of diplomacy. It is more likely than not that Putin is in too deep to offer any compromise that could be remotely acceptable. His own propaganda and ultra-nationalist allies may well have put him in a box he cannot get out of. Not that this circumstance should surprise anyone with a rudimentary knowledge of Russian history. There is a reason Russian autocrats almost never survive losing a war. This war will most likely not end until Putin is removed from power and a new Russian leadership can start over, blaming the dead man for all of the mistakes — another classic Russian trope. If and when that happens, Melania Trump will deserve some credit.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store