{"id":63822,"date":"2018-04-23T06:01:19","date_gmt":"2018-04-23T06:01:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=63822"},"modified":"2018-04-23T06:01:19","modified_gmt":"2018-04-23T06:01:19","slug":"ap-fact-check-trump-distorts-nkorea-aim-to-denuclearize","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/world-news\/ap-fact-check-trump-distorts-nkorea-aim-to-denuclearize.html","title":{"rendered":"Ap Fact Check: Trump distorts NKorea aim to \u2018denuclearize\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ap Fact Check: Trump distorts NKorea aim to ‘denuclearize’<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

President Donald Trump and his aides are leaving a false impression about the extent of North Korea\u2019s plans to give up its nuclear weapons.<\/span><\/p>\n

They say North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un has basically agreed to \u201cdenuclearization.\u201d In fact, Kim\u2019s announcement Friday before summits with the U.S. and South Korea is more limited, agreeing to freeze missile and nuclear weapons tests and close one nuclear facility already believed to have been rendered unusable.<\/span><\/p>\n

There is no mention by North Korea of full nuclear disarmament.<\/span><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Trump offered a shifting rationale in recent days for his firing of FBI Director James Comey and joined other Republicans in exaggerating how much simpler it will become for Americans to file their taxes next time. He also erred, though by just a hair, in claiming a historic achievement in black and Hispanic joblessness.<\/span><\/p>\n

A look at the questionable statements:<\/span><\/p>\n

TRUMP: \u201cSleepy Eyes Chuck Todd of Fake News NBC just stated that we have given up so much in our negotiations with North Korea, and they have given up nothing. Wow, we haven\u2019t given up anything & they have agreed to denuclearization (so great for World), site closure, & no more testing!\u201d \u2014 tweet Sunday.<\/span><\/p>\n

KELLYANNE CONWAY, White House counselor: \u201cThe American people certainly do like what is going on, including this president making huge strides in short order towards denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.\u201d \u2014 remarks Sunday on CNN\u2019s \u201cState of the Union.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

THE FACTS: They\u2019re misrepresenting the extent of North Korea\u2019s intentions to \u201cdenuclearize,\u201d a term that holds different meanings to the two sides. Key lawmakers also are skeptical Kim will fulfill even his limited pledge.<\/span><\/p>\n

South Korea, set to meet North Korea this week, has said Kim has expressed genuine interest in dealing away his nuclear weapons. But the North for decades has been pushing a concept of \u201cdenuclearization\u201d that bears no resemblance to the American definition, vowing to pursue nuclear development unless Washington removes its troops from the Korean Peninsula and the nuclear umbrella defending South Korea and Japan.<\/span><\/p>\n

South Korea\u2019s president has said Kim isn\u2019t asking for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the Korean Peninsula as a condition for abandoning his nuclear weapons. If true, that would seem to remove a major sticking point to a potential disarmament deal.<\/span><\/p>\n

But that still doesn\u2019t address a North Korean arsenal that now includes purported thermonuclear warheads and developmental ICBMs created during a decades-long cycle of crises, stalemates and broken promises.<\/span><\/p>\n

Asked what denuclearization means, White House Legislative Director Marc Short on Sunday acknowledged a fuzzy concept. \u201cI think from our perspective, it means full denuclearization,\u201d Short said on NBC. \u201cNo longer having nuclear weapons that can be used in warfare against any of our allies.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said on CNN that North Korea\u2019s announcement should be treated with \u201cskepticism and caution,\u201d noting that Kim can easily reverse it. \u201cI don\u2019t think he said anything about denuclearizing on the front end necessarily,\u201d Corker said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Trump followed up his over-the-top tweet with a more cautious one, saying: \u201cWe are a long way from conclusion on North Korea, maybe things will work out, and maybe they won\u2019t – only time will tell.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

TRUMP: \u201cSlippery James Comey, the worst FBI Director in history, was not fired because of the phony Russia investigation where, by the way, there was NO COLLUSION (except by the Dems)!\u201d \u2014 tweet Wednesday.<\/span><\/p>\n

THE FACTS: Only Trump knows why he decided to fire Comey. But Trump has changed his story. In May 2017, two days after ousting Comey, Trump told NBC: \u201cIn fact, when I decided to just do it, I said to myself, I said, \u2018You know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Comey\u2019s firing, and Trump\u2019s subsequent suggestion that the investigation into Russian meddling in the election was a factor, led Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to appoint special counsel Robert Mueller to oversee the probe. Mueller now is examining the Comey firing as part of an investigation of potential obstruction of justice by the president. The wide-ranging investigation also has been looking into potential collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian interests.<\/span><\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s rationale for dismissing Comey has changed before. Initially, the White House attributed the firing to Comey\u2019s handling of the FBI\u2019s investigation of Hillary Clinton\u2019s email practices. Trump contradicted that explanation in his NBC interview, and now has changed it again.<\/span><\/p>\n

TRUMP: \u201cThis is the last time you\u2019re going to fill out that long, complicated, horrible return. … Tomorrow, last day. Very importantly, next year, it\u2019s going to be a simple \u2014 for the most part, one page. It may get a little bit bigger. But it will be simple and easy to do.\u201d \u2014 remarks in Hialeah, Florida, on April 16.<\/span><\/p>\n

VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE: \u201cThanks to the historic TRUMP TAX CUTS, today marks the last time the American people will file taxes under a complicated & outdated tax system.\u201d \u2014 tweet Tuesday.<\/span><\/p>\n

THE FACTS: These assurances from the White House, echoed by Republican lawmakers, only apply to a subset of the \u201cAmerican people.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Long, complicated returns are not going away. The Trump tax overhaul does not introduce a system permitting everyone to file a one-page or so form, or one that sustains a blanket promise of simplicity. The process will become easier for some people, not for others.<\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s already a one-page form, the 1040EZ, which has been around for years. It can be used by people who have less than $100,000 in taxable income and no dependents and who meet other criteria. Trump previously had promised a card-size tax form but now appears to be backing off that claim by describing next year\u2019s form as \u201cfor the most part one page\u201d but \u201cmay get a little bit bigger.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In fact, there\u2019s no sign the IRS is planning new filing forms, card-size or otherwise, for the 2018 tax year.<\/span><\/p>\n

Many taxpayers will indeed have an easier time filing because of the doubling of the standard deduction. But they\u2019ll still have to do legwork to figure out their taxable income and whether they qualify for the deduction or would be better off itemizing. They will also need to figure in the hit they could take from the capping of deductions for mortgage interest and state and local taxes. Tax-filing migraines are not vanishing.<\/span><\/p>\n

TRUMP: \u201cUnemployment for African-American workers, for Hispanic workers, unemployment is at an all-time-low in history. In the history of our country, it\u2019s at the lowest point.\u201d \u2014 news conference Wednesday.<\/span><\/p>\n

THE FACTS: Not quite.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hispanic unemployment hit a record low in October 2006, 4.8 percent, a record matched in three months last year. In the latest report, for March, it stood at 5.1 percent.<\/span><\/p>\n

Black unemployment indeed reached a record low, 6.8 percent, in December. That nudged up to 6.9 percent in February and March.<\/span><\/p>\n

This progress comes with some caveats. Jobless figures for blacks and Hispanics can jump around from month to month, such that any record can be short-lived. The unemployment rate for whites is consistently much lower than for the other groups, now 4.1 percent. And the black unemployment rate would be much higher if the rate of black labor force participation was near its levels before the Great Recession. The most dramatic drop in black unemployment came during the Obama administration, when it fell from a recession high of 16.8 percent in March 2010 to 7.8 percent in January 2017.<\/span><\/p>\n

PENCE: \u201cOur Tax Cuts- the largest in American history- will save YOU money, increase opportunity & create more JOBS for American workers.\u201d \u2014 tweet Tuesday.<\/span><\/p>\n

THE FACTS: The tax cuts are not the largest in history.<\/span><\/p>\n

They considerably trail Ronald Reagan\u2019s 1981 tax cuts, Barack Obama\u2019s 2013 extension of George W. Bush\u2019s tax cuts, and more.<\/span><\/p>\n

The estimated cost of Trump\u2019s package is $1.5 trillion over 10 years. In October, before the details were complete, the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget assumed a higher value to the package \u2014 $2.2 trillion. Even that more significant plan ranked as only the eighth largest in history as a percentage of the GDP and the fourth largest by another measure \u2014 inflation-adjusted dollars.<\/span><\/p>\n

Trump has persistently called his cuts the biggest in history. But, notably, he pulled that back a notch in his USA Today piece published Tuesday, even if his vice president didn\u2019t.<\/span><\/p>\n

Trump wrote, more modestly: \u201cI signed one of the largest tax cuts in history and the most sweeping tax reform in a generation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

TRUMP: \u201cRussia and China are playing the Currency Devaluation game as the U.S. keeps raising interest rates. Not acceptable.\u201d \u2014 tweet April 16.<\/span><\/p>\n

THE FACTS: Trump\u2019s claim misstates the current economic situation and contradicts his own Treasury Department, which several days earlier released a report showing no country was labeled a currency manipulator.<\/span><\/p>\n

Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign had vowed to brand China a currency manipulator immediately after taking office. But in three straight currency reports issued since Trump took office, the administration has not branded China or any other country as a currency manipulator.<\/span><\/p>\n

Asked why the administration has not labeled China a currency manipulator in the Treasury reports, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Monday that China was placed on a watch list and \u201cthat\u2019s something that the Treasury Department is watching very closely, and we\u2019re continuing to monitor it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s tweet also inaccurately describes the economic situation. China\u2019s currency, the yuan, has actually been rising in value and now stands at the highest levels against the dollar in about three years.<\/span><\/p>\n

By contrast, Russia\u2019s ruble has been falling against the dollar and did plunge sharply last week. But that reflected new economic sanctions the United States imposed on Russia \u2014 not rising U.S. interest rates or efforts by the Russian government to drive down the ruble\u2019s value.<\/span><\/p>\n

Trump is correct that rising U.S. interest rates could contribute to boosting the dollar\u2019s value against other currencies by making investments in the United States more attractive to foreign investors. But U.S. interest rates are only one factor that can determine the dollar\u2019s value against other countries.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is not clear what Trump meant by calling the current situation \u201cnot acceptable.\u201d It is true that a stronger dollar can increase America\u2019s trade deficit by making American exports more expensive in overseas markets while making foreign goods cheaper for U.S. consumers.<\/span><\/p>\n

But the Federal Reserve\u2019s current moves to gradually raise U.S. interest rates are being taken to ensure the economy does not overheat at a time when unemployment is at a 17-year low and the economic expansion is now the second longest in U.S. history. Previous administrations have usually been careful not to make public comments about Fed interest-rate policies to protect the Fed\u2019s political independence.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/whitehouse\/ap-fact-check-trump-distorts-nkorea-aim-to-denuclearize\/2018\/04\/23\/ddf1ad92-46b0-11e8-8082-105a446d19b8_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.c74431f9ee87<\/span><\/p>\n

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