So apparently Donald Trump has fabricated — out of whole cloth — six new U.S. Steel buildings that U.S. Steel has yet to hear anything about. Must be Thursday.
The president of the United States making up a fairy tale about the economy with literally nothing to back it up would have been a huge story just a few short years ago. Today, it barely rates a mention … because our current president is nuttier than porcupine shit.
When Trump is finally, thankfully arrested for treason, our country will be missing a huge opportunity if the FBI doesn’t send four white coat-clad agents with butterfly nets to apprehend him as he darts around the Rose Garden like a coked-up prairie chicken.
From WaPo’s redoubtable fact-checker, Glenn Kessler:
“The head of U.S. Steel called me the other day, and he said, ‘We’re opening up six major facilities and expanding facilities that have never been expanded.’ They haven’t been opened in many, many years.”
— President Trump, roundtable with American workers, Duluth, Minn., June 20, 2018
“U.S. Steel just announced they’re expanding or building six new facilities.”
— Trump, remarks at the White House, June 26
“I’ve been hearing that from steel companies, and in particular from U.S. Steel, where I was with the president, as I said. And he — they’re just talking about opening plants now, and so many things have changed.”
— Trump, roundtable on tax reform, Cleveland, May 5
Here’s a puzzler: Why is the president of the United States announcing the opening of new factories that a major U.S. company has not announced?
Good question, Glenn Kessler! But I think you already know the answer.
Kessler continues:
President Trump has a tendency to cite conversations that did not occur quite the way he describes them — if they took place at all. [Just stop to think how extraordinary it is that this sentence was written at all, much less in reference to the president of the United States.] So we were a bit suspicious when he mentioned a phone conversation with Dave Burritt, chief executive of U.S. Steel.
Burritt did take part in a roundtable in March at the White House, and in May the president appeared to reference that meeting.
But then, on June 20, the conversation became a phone call. On June 26, Trump suggested the news was disclosed in a public announcement.
One would think this would be easy to clear up. But the White House did not respond to a query. Burritt also did not respond to an email from The Fact Checker asking him to confirm the conversation.
Meghan M. Cox, U.S. Steel’s spokeswoman, simply offered this response: “To answer your question, we post all of our major operational announcements to our website and report them on earnings calls. Our most recent one pertained to our Granite City ‘A’ blast furnace restart.”
Translation: The president is wrong. But apparently U.S. Steel is afraid to say that out loud.
Trump got yet another Four Pinocchios rating for this one, by the way. Just in case you were on the edge of your seat.
God bless America.
Sigh.
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