President Donald Trump spoke about the progress the country has made under his leadership during an interview with an ABC marking his first 100 days in office.
He made some bald statements, some of which dubious.
Despite receiving criticism regarding many of his decisions, especially those related to immigration, the controversial tariffs, and overhauling the federal government, Trump claimed he made America “a respected country again.”
Sitting down with ABC news anchor and senior national correspondent Terry Moran, Trump claimed the country is doing great. “Prices are down, gasoline is down, energy is down. Tourism is going to be way up—wait until you see the numbers. Tourism is way up,” he said from the Oval Office.
Moran was quick to point out that federal data contradicted Trump’s claim about tourism, showing that tourism is actually down, not up. However, the president doubled down, stating once again that the tourism is doing great and that the real numbers would be out in the months to come.
The National Travel and Tourism Office, a federal agency within Trump’s administration, showed a significant decline in the number of foreign visitors to the US since he has taken office for a second term.
Their data shows a decline of 11.6% of international arrivals compared to the same period last year, with the number of Western visitors going down for 17.2% year-over-year.
Dr. Heather Thompson, director of the Tourism Economics Research Center at Cornell University, explains: “What makes these numbers particularly concerning is that they represent a deviation from the recovery trajectory we were seeing. International tourism to the U.S. had been steadily rebuilding since the pandemic, but we’re now seeing a clear reversal of that trend in the first quarter of 2025.”
Not only Moran, but others also questioned why Trump would lie about something easily proven not true during the interview marking his first 100 days in office.
Among them was the founder of hedge fund Tolou Capital Management, Spencer Hakimian, wondered, “Why lie about the most easily disprovable data points?”
“Tourism is way up.” – Trump
Why lie about the most easily disprovable data points?
— Spencer Hakimian (@SpencerHakimian) April 30, 2025
One person commented: “In a few weeks, the data will be too overwhelming to lie about.”
Another added: “He literally cannot deal with reality when the reality makes him look bad.”
A third suggested: “Believes his own rhetoric it seems!”
Moran challenged Trump on immigration, tariffs, and gang crime, and the exchange grew heated at times, with Trump telling Moran, “I’ve never even heard of you.”
Trump and Moran clashed over the widely discussed case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia who was deported to the world’s worst prison in El Salvador along with other 238 supposed criminals – American immigrants.
Garcia was deported due to an error made by Trump’s administration, but he still has not returned home, and as it seems, he won’t any time soon.
The president of El Salvador said of Garcia, after Trump’s administration claimed it is up to him to return the wrongly convicted man, “I hope you’re not suggesting that I smuggle a terrorist into the United States. How can I smuggle a terrorist into the United States? Of course I’m not going to do it. The question is preposterous.
“We just turned the murder capital of the world to the safest country the western hemisphere. And you want us to go back into the releasing criminals, so we can go back to the murder capital of the world, and that’s not going to happen.”
This is the hand of the man that the Democrats feel should be brought back to the United States, because he is such “a fine and innocent person.” They said he is not a member of MS-13, even though he’s got MS-13 tattooed onto his knuckles, and two Highly Respected Courts found… pic.twitter.com/31sNr2k1SK
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 18, 2025
Later in the interview marking the first 100 days of Trump in office, Moran presented evidence suggesting that Garcia wasn’t a member of the MS-13 gang.
Trump, however, pointed to a photo of Garcia having the gang’s name, “MS-13,” tattooed on his knuckles. When Moran said it was photoshopped, Trump replied, “Wait a minute. Wait a minute. He had MS-13 on his knuckles.
“They’re giving you the big break of a lifetime, you know — you’re doing the interview. I picked you because, frankly, I never heard of you, but that’s OK. But you’re not being very nice.”
Throughout the interview, Moran and Trump also clashed over the tariffs, especially those imposed on China, the Ukrainian-Russian war, and over the leaked chat by the Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth among the rest.
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