We’ve eliminated a record number of job-killing regulations, giving the average American household $3,000 more to spend every single year.”
— President Trump, remarks during a campaign rally in Cincinnati, Aug. 1, 2019
“Our record-breaking regulatory reduction campaign has saved every American household an average of $3,000 per year.”
— Trump, remarks during a campaign rally in Orlando, June 18, 2019
In compiling our latest update of The Fact Checker’s database of President Trump’s false and misleading claims, we noticed the president has a fresh talking point he’s been using at his campaign rallies — that the administration’s war on regulations is giving each American household an additional $3,000 a year.
We’re always suspicious when we see any president tout a number like this. We traced this particular figure to a 31-page report issued in June by the White House Council of Economic Advisers, titled, “The Economic Effects of Federal Deregulation since January 2017: An Interim Report.” We’ve spent a couple of weeks digging into the report, communicating with the CEA and talking to outside experts. Here’s our assessment of Trump’s claim.
The Facts
The first thing we noticed is that the president apparently does not understand the nuanced presentation of this number in the report. The estimate in the report is that after five to 10 years, the administration’s freeze on new regulations and rollback of Obama-era regulations will raise real incomes by $3,100 per household per year.
View the complete August 15 article by Glenn Kessler on The Washington Post website here.