“Facts” in the Trump 2.0 era: Trump said it and I believe it!

One of my longtime Facebook friends who seems to be a bit, uh, uncritical about Trumpista claims, did a post there welcoming people to disagree with what she says. This is a somewhat edited version of what I posted in response.

I would say these days that we all have to keep in mind that misinformation and “alternative facts” are more easily accessible than ever. But exchanging opinions about claims that are badly reported and/or disconnected from reality isn’t especially meaningful.

For instance, Trump has recently been claiming he has secured commitments of 15 or maybe 17 trillion dollars in new investments in the US. I’ve heard that reported and have seen from at least two legitimate news sites video of Trump making the claims. So it was not an AI fake or something. And I’ve heard one or two usually-careful commentators dismissing the number as frivolous because the amount would be half or more of US GDP. I at least looked up what the current US GDP estimate is, which is between 29 and 30 trillion dollars. So the amounts he stated would be half or more of the GDP. And to me the claim seems extravagantly absurd.

Now, if I were going to do further fact-checking, I would look for some kind of official list of those expected investments via the White House website or maybe Truth Social. I would want to know what the timelines on the investments would be: One year? Five years? Ten years? And I would want to see what kind of investments they are: New factories built? Foreign companies planning to expand their retail facilities in the US? Money expected to be invested in US private equity funds or stocks in American companies? Additional income from tariffs? I assume that most economists would see those latter two as not being all “hard” investments. And actually, tariff income isn’t investment at all, it is income to the federal government – something Trump himself seems genuinely not to understand – and some of that theoretically could go into government spending that would generate more investment.

I would also ask how firm and specific these investment commitments are. Are they signed contracts? Explicit trade agreements? Serious projections? Informal pronouncements?

But if facts are irrelevant, then the only exchange that can happen would be exchanging slogans. And it’s also true (based on decades of polling data) that a big part of Trump’s voting base are fundamentalist Christians, most of whom are very familiar with the bumper sticker showing a Bible and the slogan, “God said it, I believe it, and that’s all there is to it.” In that mode of thinking and believing, facts really don’t matter, only which side someone picks.

Here's a version from Derric Johnson’s Vocal Orchestra, which has a certain amount of dorky whitebread charm. Complete with quotations from the King James’ Bible. (1)



Notes:

(1) God Said It, I Believe It, That Settles It. Derric Johnson’s Vocal Orchestra-Topic YouTube channel 05/18/2025. <https://youtu.be/znAR9swvdCc?si=t7EiVoDU43Qex9Yo> (Accessed: 2025-30-10).