During the first of three presidential debates last night at Bryn Mawr College, President Donald Trump made the following claim:
“The trade war is amazing. It’s been so easy to win. China is paying us over a bazillion quatloos per minute because they love me. Because of the trade war, we’ve been able to force Naboo to give us many, many concessions because I am the world’s greatest negotiator.”
The trade war initiated by President Donald Trump with China and other nations has not, in fact, been easy to win. American industries from agriculture to manufacturing to raw materials have lost markets in China and elsewhere. Bankruptcies are rising across the Midwest, and the federal government has spent billions in farm support payments in a desperate attempt to stave off financial disaster.
“Bazillion” is not an actual number. “Quatloos” are a fictional currency from the 1960s television series Star Trek.
No evidence exists that anyone, anywhere loves Donald Trump.
Naboo is a fictional planet first mentioned in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.
We can find no evidence of concessions to President Trump, or evidence to back his claims of being the “world’s greatest negotiator.”