Defense expert lists 6 Trump errors in 2 minutes of his Navy speech

President Trump made six false statements in the span of two minutes during his commencement speech at the Naval Academy on Friday, according to defense expert Todd Harrison.

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Harrison, who serves as the Director of Defense Budget Analysis and the Aerospace Security Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, tweeted on Friday that he watched a portion of the speech and couldn’t “let it go.”

I watched this portion of @realDonaldTrump‘s speech at the Naval Academy today, and can’t let it go. In just 2 minutes he makes at least 6 factual errors. Watch the clip and then read the rest of this thread: https://t.co/4QrUFktStp

— Todd Harrison (@ToddHarrisonDC) May 25, 2018

“Error #1: The $700B defense budget for [fiscal year] FY18 is not the largest ever,” Harrison tweeted. “It was larger under the Obama administration: $710B in FY11 and $714B in FY10. And that’s without adjusting for inflation!”

Error #1: The $700B defense budget for FY18 is not the largest ever. It was larger under the Obama administration: $710B in FY11 and $714B in FY10. And that’s without adjusting for inflation!

— Todd Harrison (@ToddHarrisonDC) May 25, 2018

Harrison then called out Trump’s claim that the U.S. was using the fewest Navy ships since World War I.

“We have 283 ships today, and in 2007 (Bush administration) we had 279,” he said.

Error #2: The number of ships in the Navy today is not the smallest since the end of WWI. We have 283 ships today, and in 2007 (Bush administration) we had 279.

— Todd Harrison (@ToddHarrisonDC) May 25, 2018

Harrison also wrote that, under the Navy’s current 30-year plan, it will not get to 355 ships until after 2050. Trump claimed they’d reach that number “very soon.” 

Error #3: The Navy will not get to 355 ships “very soon.” The Navy’s 30-year plan says it will not get to that level until after 2050, but it could possibly be accelerated to the 2030s. Either way, it’s not very soon.

— Todd Harrison (@ToddHarrisonDC) May 25, 2018

Trump also said that increasing the Navy’s arsenal to 355 ships was an increase of a “couple of hundred.”

“Here’s the math: 355 – 283= 72,” he tweeted. 

Error #4: Getting to 355 ships is not an increase of “a couple of hundred” ships. Here’s the math: 355 – 283 = 72

— Todd Harrison (@ToddHarrisonDC) May 25, 2018

The 355-ship fleet has not been authorized yet — Congress appropriates the money one year at a time, Harrison said.  

Error #5: The 355-ship fleet has not yet been “approved.” The ships have not all been authorized yet, and Congress appropriates the money one year at a time.

— Todd Harrison (@ToddHarrisonDC) May 25, 2018

He went on to blast Trump’s claim about the military receiving a pay raise for the first time in 10 years, laying out the pay raises the military has received each year since 2009.  

Error #6: This year’s military pay raise is not the first in ten years. There were pay raises in each of the past ten years, & some were higher than this year’s raise.
FY09: 3.9%
FY10: 3.4%
FY11: 1.4%
FY12: 1.6%
FY13: 1.7%
FY14: 1.0%
FY15: 1.0%
FY16: 1.3%
FY17: 2.1%
FY18: 2.4%

— Todd Harrison (@ToddHarrisonDC) May 25, 2018

Trump told graduates at the U.S. Naval Academy on Friday that they are joining “the greatest fighting force for peace, justice and freedom in the history of the world,” adding that the world is “respecting us again.”