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During his inaugural address, President Donald Trump made a number of claims about the state of the nation as he takes office.

Trump echoed themes from his campaign, painting a bleak picture of some aspects of American life, but also offering his presidency as a way forward for those who he says have been forgotten.

ABC News dug into his inaugural address and broke down the facts behind some of Trump's claims.

Trump: "For many decades we've enriched foreign industry at the expense of American industry, subsidized the armies of other countries while allowing for the very sad depletion of our military.

Question: Has the U.S. enriched foreign business and hurt its own?

Answer: This is difficult to quantify and experts disagree on the issue. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the number of manufacturing jobs has declined since the late 1990s (although they have rebounded slightly since 2010). And data from the U.S. International Trade Commission shows the U.S. negative trade balance with China growing significantly over the last decade. Still, the correlation between trade agreements that Trump disapproves of -- NAFTA and the Trans-Pacific Partnership -- and the economy is disputed by experts.

Question: Has the U.S. subsidized other countries' militaries while depleting its own?

Answer: It is true that the United States government provides military assistance to some foreign allies (around $5.6 billion in 2015, much of which goes to Israel). But it is difficult to argue that the U.S. military is depleted, given the U.S. defense budget is larger than any other department in government ($582.7 billion in 2017, although spending has fluctuated under President Obama). Defense sequestration mandated under the Budget Control Act of 2011 created a dip in spending, as did the withdrawals from Iraq and Afghanistan, but in 2016 defense spending actually went up from 2015. Some of the cuts in manpower were related to sequestration, which Gen. Daniel Allyn, vice chief of staff of the Army last year called "our No. 1 readiness risk." Those mandatory cuts, combined with the post-war era, led Obamas military to decide it had to shrink the Army to 450,000 by the end of 2018. The Army reached its highest force level of President Barack Obama's tenure in 2011 -- 570,000. The word depletion is subjective.

Trump described "an education system flush with cash but which leaves our young and beautiful students deprived of all knowledge."

Question: Is the education system financially "flush with cash?"

Answer: According to the Department of Education, expenditures on elementary and secondary schools in the United States totaled $620 billion in the 2012-13 school year. Spending per student has increased 5 percent over the last decade -- $10,455 to $11,011 spent on the operations of schools, adjusted for inflation, according to the agency. But over the last five years, operations spending has dropped roughly $500 per student, according to the department. The American people invest slightly more of the country's GDP in education compared to the 35 member nations of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the agency says. The United States spends 6.4 percent of its GDP on education vs. an average of 5.3 percent for comparable nations. The U.S. is the fifth-highest spending among those almost three dozen comparable countries.

Question: How do our students rank compared to others around the world?

Answer: The Program for International Student Assessment has measured the performance of American students compared to those in other countries. The U.S. average score in mathematics was lower than the average for all countries in the 35 member nations of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development -- ranked behind 29 of the 35 comparable member countries. The country's science and reading scores were average among nations of the organization -- ranked behind 13 and 19 of the 35 comparable countries respectively, according to the Department of Education.

Trump: "And the crime and the gangs and the drugs that have stolen too many lives and robbed our country of so much unrealized potential."

Question: Is crime going up or down?

Answer: Crime did increase slightly nationwide from 2015 to 2016, according to data from the FBI, but it's been trending down for the last couple of decades. According to data from the Bureau of Justice's National Crime Victimization Survey, the rate of both violent crime and property crime has declined dramatically since the early 1990's. The number of arrests for drug-related crime has also decreased over the last decade, from 1.8 million arrests in 2007 to 1.5 million arrests in 2015, according to data from the FBI. Still, Chicago ended 2016 with the city's highest number of homicides in two decades -- averaging more than two per day. Shootings in the city nearly doubled since 2013 to roughly 10 per day, according to the Chicago Police Department.

Trump: "Weve defended other nation's borders while refusing to defend our own."

Question: How much foreign military assistance does the U.S. give?

Answer: In 2015, the U.S. gave $5.65 billion in foreign military assistance, according to the State Department. Over $3 billion of the fiscal year 2015 foreign military assistance went to Israel, with the remaining funds distributed among nations all over the world, including in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and South America, the State Department said.

Question: What about defending our borders?

Answer: The U.S. spends $18 billion a year on border control -- more spent on agents, technology, and weapons than ever before, according to analysis from the Immigration Policy Institute. Some 700 miles of fence already exist along the 2,000-mile southern border, compared to only 77 in 2000, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The government has also has more than 11,000 underground sensors, 107 aircraft, 175 mobile surveillance units and 273 remote video surveillance cameras, allowing the border patrol to monitor more effectively, according to the National Immigration Forum and Department of Homeland Security. There are more than 8,000 cameras watching the border wall, watching the ports of entry and watching above from helium balloons.

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Fact-Checking President Donald Trump's Inaugural Address - ABC News

New York Times

Donald Trump Is Sworn In as President, Capping His Swift Ascent New York Times WASHINGTON Donald John Trump was inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States on Friday, ushering in a new and more unpredictable era in which he vowed to shatter the established order and restore American greatness. From the West ... Donald Trump is sworn in as president, vows to end 'American carnage'Washington Post In Inaugural Address, Trump Decries 'Carnage' And Promises 'America First'NPR Donald Trump Sworn In as 45th President of the United StatesABC News BBC News -CNET -USA TODAY all 5,000 news articles »

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Donald Trump Is Sworn In as President, Capping His Swift Ascent - New York Times

On Jan. 20, 2017, President Trump took the oath of office, pledging in his inaugural address to embark on a strategy of "America first." Here are key moments from that speech. (Sarah Parnass/The Washington Post)

The president of the United States is now Donald Trump, who just took the oath of office and, shortly thereafter, delivered his inaugural address.

We've posted the entire transcript below and highlighted the key portions. To see an annotation, click on the yellow, highlighted text. To make your own, sign up for or log in to your account with Genius.

TRUMP: Chief Justice Roberts, President Carter, President Clinton, President Bush, President Obama, fellow Americans and people of the world, thank you.

(APPLAUSE) We, the citizens of America, are now joined in a great national effort to rebuild our country and restore its promise for all of our people.

(APPLAUSE)

Together, we will determine the course of America and the world for many, many years to come. We will face challenges, we will confront hardships, but we will get the job done.

Every four years, we gather on these steps to carry out the orderly and peaceful transfer of power, and we are grateful to President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama for their gracious aid throughout this transition. They have been magnificent. Thank you.

(APPLAUSE)

Today's ceremony, however, has very special meaning because today, we are not merely transferring power from one administration to another or from one party to another, but we are transferring power from Washington, D.C. and giving it back to you, the people.

(APPLAUSE)

For too long, a small group in our nation's capital has reaped the rewards of government while the people have borne the cost. Washington flourished, but the people did not share in its wealth. Politicians prospered, but the jobs left and the factories closed. The establishment protected itself, but not the citizens of our country. Their victories have not been your victories. Their triumphs have not been your triumphs. And while they celebrated in our nation's capital, there was little to celebrate for struggling families all across our land.

(APPLAUSE)

That all changes starting right here and right now because this moment is your moment, it belongs to you.

(APPLAUSE)

It belongs to everyone gathered here today and everyone watching all across America. This is your day. This is your celebration. And this, the United States of America, is your country.

(APPLAUSE)

What truly matters is not which party controls our government, but whether our government is controlled by the people.

(APPLAUSE)

January 20th, 2017 will be remembered as the day the people became the rulers of this nation again.

(APPLAUSE)

The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer.

(APPLAUSE)

Everyone is listening to you now. You came by the tens of millions to become part of a historic movement, the likes of which the world has never seen before.

(APPLAUSE)

At the center of this movement is a crucial conviction, that a nation exists to serve its citizens. Americans want great schools for their children, safe neighborhoods for their families, and good jobs for themselves. These are just and reasonable demands of righteous people and a righteous public.

But for too many of our citizens, a different reality exists: mothers and children trapped in poverty in our inner cities; rusted out factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape of our nation; an education system flush with cash, but which leaves our young and beautiful students deprived of all knowledge; and the crime and the gangs and the drugs that have stolen too many lives and robbed our country of so much unrealized potential.

This American carnage stops right here and stops right now.

(APPLAUSE) We are one nation and their pain is our pain. Their dreams are our dreams. And their success will be our success. We share one heart, one home, and one glorious destiny. The oath of office I take today is an oath of allegiance to all Americans.

(APPLAUSE)

For many decades, we've enriched foreign industry at the expense of American industry; subsidized the armies of other countries, while allowing for the very sad depletion of our military. We've defended other nations' borders while refusing to defend our own.

(APPLAUSE)

And spent trillions and trillions of dollars overseas while America's infrastructure has fallen into disrepair and decay. We've made other countries rich, while the wealth, strength and confidence of our country has dissipated over the horizon.

One by one, the factories shuttered and left our shores, with not even a thought about the millions and millions of American workers that were left behind. The wealth of our middle class has been ripped from their homes and then redistributed all across the world.

But that is the past. And now, we are looking only to the future.

(APPLAUSE)

We assembled here today are issuing a new decree to be heard in every city, in every foreign capital, and in every hall of power. From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land. From this day forward, it's going to be only America first, America first.

(APPLAUSE)

Every decision on trade, on taxes, on immigration, on foreign affairs will be made to benefit American workers and American families. We must protect our borders from the ravages of other countries making our products, stealing our companies and destroying our jobs.

(APPLAUSE)

Protection will lead to great prosperity and strength. I will fight for you with every breath in my body and I will never ever let you down.

(APPLAUSE)

America will start winning again, winning like never before.

(APPLAUSE)

We will bring back our jobs. We will bring back our borders. We will bring back our wealth. And we will bring back our dreams.

(APPLAUSE)

We will build new roads and highways and bridges and airports and tunnels and railways all across our wonderful nation. We will get our people off of welfare and back to work, rebuilding our country with American hands and American labor.

(APPLAUSE)

We will follow two simple rules; buy American and hire American.

(APPLAUSE)

We will seek friendship and goodwill with the nations of the world, but we do so with the understanding that it is the right of all nations to put their own interests first. We do not seek to impose our way of life on anyone, but rather to let it shine as an example. We will shine for everyone to follow.

(APPLAUSE)

We will reinforce old alliances and form new ones and unite the civilized world against radical Islamic terrorism, which we will eradicate from the face of the Earth.

(APPLAUSE)

At the bedrock of our politics will be a total allegiance to the United States of America, and through our loyalty to our country, we will rediscover our loyalty to each other. When you open your heart to patriotism, there is no room for prejudice.

(APPLAUSE)

The Bible tells us how good and pleasant it is when God's people live together in unity. We must speak our minds openly, debate our disagreements honestly, but always pursue solidarity. When America is united, America is totally unstoppable.

(APPLAUSE)

There should be no fear. We are protected and we will always be protected. We will be protected by the great men and women of our military and law enforcement. And most importantly, we will be protected by God.

(APPLAUSE)

Finally, we must think big and dream even bigger. In America, we understand that a nation is only living as long as it is striving. We will no longer accept politicians who are all talk and no action, constantly complaining, but never doing anything about it.

(APPLAUSE)

The time for empty talk is over. Now arrives the hour of action.

(APPLAUSE)

Do not allow anyone to tell you that it cannot be done. No challenge can match the heart and fight and spirit of America. We will not fail. Our country will thrive and prosper again.

We stand at the birth of a new millennium, ready to unlock the mysteries of space, to free the earth from the miseries of disease, and to harness the energies, industries and technologies of tomorrow. A new national pride will stir ourselves, lift our sights and heal our divisions.

It's time to remember that old wisdom our soldiers will never forget, that whether we are black or brown or white, we all bleed the same red blood of patriots.

(APPLAUSE)

We all enjoy the same glorious freedoms and we all salute the same great American flag.

(APPLAUSE)

And whether a child is born in the urban sprawl of Detroit or the wind-swept plains of Nebraska, they look up at the same night sky, they will their heart with the same dreams, and they are infused with the breath of life by the same almighty creator.

(APPLAUSE)

So to all Americans in every city near and far, small and large, from mountain to mountain, from ocean to ocean, hear these words: You will never be ignored again.

(APPLAUSE) Your voice, your hopes, and your dreams will define our American destiny. And your courage and goodness and love will forever guide us along the way.

Together, we will make America strong again. We will make America wealthy again. We will make America proud again. We will make America safe again. And yes, together we will make America great again.

(APPLAUSE)

Thank you. God bless you. And God bless America.

(APPLAUSE)

Thank you.

(APPLAUSE)

God bless America.

(APPLAUSE)

Further reading:

Donald Trumps inaugural address: Full text as prepared for delivery

Are Democrats being Donald Trumps pawns by boycotting his inauguration?

Donald Trumps through-the-looking-glass presidency starts today

After taking the oath of office, Donald Trump lays out his vision for the future of the United States. (The Washington Post)

More:
Donald Trump's full inauguration speech transcript, annotated - Washington Post

The day before Donald Trump's inauguration as president of the United States an actual event taking place in the universe we live in news broke that his administration plans to eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities. And I wanted to scream.

This is Donald Trump's America: one where things like art and books and science and learning and thoughtful consideration of complicated problems are deemed worthless and tossed aside. This can't be surprising after the Trump we saw on the campaign trail, the man who never answered a question with a hint of intelligence or depth. In an interview this week, he couldn't name a single book he's reading. He's appointed a secretary of education who wants to destroy public schools. He reportedly offered a notorious anti-vaccination activist a position leading a commission investigating vaccines. He called global warming a Chinese hoax.

Of course he's getting rid of the NEA and the NEH. What use does Donald Trump have for the things that make life beautiful and good? He surrounds himself with gilded ugliness. He's a billionaire who hangs a Renoir reproduction in the $100 million abattoir he lives in, because why would he want an original? He has enough money and fame to access to the finest tailors in the world, and his suits don't fit. His hair is stupid.

I know, I'm petty. I'm a snob. I'm a liberal elitist, and elitist liberal snobbery is why Trump won. You know what? I don't care. I'm tired of shouldering the burden of cultural empathy when no one asks the folks who voted for the racist, misogynist manbaby to take two damn seconds to consider the moral implications of putting an ignorant pussy-grabber into the most powerful job on the planet.

We have a president who doesn't read books. He doesn't read books. Even George W. Bush read books, and he still managed to destroy the economy and entangle us in two unwinnable wars. What horrors will Trump visit upon the nation and the world? How will he change America for the worse?

Of course Donald Trump wants to destroy the government's (frankly meager) efforts to promote the humanities and the arts. It's not just that those things have never made the slightest impact on his life. (Imagine having a thoughtful discussion with Donald Trump about a piece of art. A painting. A song. A poem.) The arts and humanities are tools for getting at the truth of things. Trump hates the truth. He drapes himself in comforting lies about everything from the size of his hands to the size of his Electoral College victory. He doesn't just lie constantly, he labels the truth a lie, the tellers liars.

We won't fund public art programs, but we'll have Breitbart in the White House briefing room. We won't fund historical preservation projects or cultural explorations, but the president will attack journalists on Twitter.

Trump doesn't have plans to make America great again; he's going to remake America in his own image. He thinks art means plaster statues of eagles that look like they came out of SkyMall. He thinks news comes from Morning Joe and Fox & Friends. He separates books into two categories: those with his face on the cover and those without. (He doesn't read either kind.)

Trump doesn't represent a shift to the right; this is more cataclysmic than a simple change of party. Donald Trump represents the dark side of human nature: ugliness, ignorance and fear. He wants to build a giant wall, an act contrary to the idea of art. He won on the promise of banning a religion from immigrating, a rejection not just of an entire culture but of the idea of culture itself.

This is our new president: a man who revels in rejecting truth and anything that helps us find it. He wants to make America look more like him. We can't let that happen.

More than 50 House members,representing more than 10 percent of Congress, have said they'll skip this week's festivities.

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Welcome to Donald Trump's Ignorant America - RollingStone.com

Vice President-elect Mike Pence walks through the halls of the Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on Tuesday. Carolyn Kaster/AP hide caption

Vice President-elect Mike Pence walks through the halls of the Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on Tuesday.

Shortly before Donald Trump takes the oath of office on Friday, Mike Pence will put his hand on Ronald Reagan's Bible and be sworn in as vice president. It's a job that has varied in influence from administration to administration. So how will Pence cut his path?

It was clear from the day he was introduced as Donald Trump's pick for vice president that Mike Pence came second. Trump took a full 30 minutes to introduce Pence, but he spent most of that time talking about himself and his Democratic rival, before ending with a story about how Pence endorsed another candidate in the Republican primary.

"So even though he was under pressure, cause I'm so outside of the establishment it was the single best nonendorsement I've had in my life," said Trump.

In Washington, D.C., this week, Pence recalled getting invited to join the ticket:

"When the phone call came that night at the Indiana governor's residence and that familiar voice came across the phone line, and he said, 'Mike, I've got an assignment for you and it's going to be great.' And I can testify that it has been."

Already they've proved to be an odd couple stylistically, with Trump turning to cable news or Twitter to say what he's thinking, and Pence coming in behind to calm, clarify or just clean up.

There was the time Trump tweeted at the "overrated" cast of Hamilton for delivering a message to Pence at the end of a performance.

Meanwhile, Pence was on CBS praising the musical and downplaying the kerfuffle. "I wasn't offended by what was said," Pence said. "I'll leave it to others to determine whether it was the appropriate venue to say it."

And recently Trump warned congressional Republicans in a series of tweets to be careful as they moved to repeal Obamacare, moments before Pence met with those very Republicans.

In a press conference afterward, Pence seemed to translate Trump's tweets into congressional speak. "Step 1 will be to repeal Obamacare," he said. "But as the president-elect said today, and I admonished members of the House Republican conference today, it is important that we remind the American people of what they already know about Obamacare, that the promises that were made were all broken."

Republican Congressman Jeb Hensarling became friends with Pence when they served in the House of Representatives together. "Yeah, he's a different guy than the president-elect," said Hensarling. "But it's very complementary, and they make an excellent partnership."

Pence retweets Trump, using language more typical of a politician. Screen shot hide caption

As Hensarling sees it, Pence has credibility with Trump, and the decision to put Pence in charge of the transition process is one sign of that. Hensarling says Pence also has credibility with Republicans in Congress because of his many years carving a conservative course in the House.

"President-elect Trump has the vision," he said. "And what Mike Pence brings to the table as vice president-elect is someone who knows Capitol Hill. So he can take Donald Trump's vision, help translate into actual policy, legislative language, bill text work it through the process so that it ends up back on Donald Trump's desk so that he can sign it into law."

Pence plans to serve as the lead emissary between the White House and Congress. But how well that works may depend on the strength and durability of Pence's bond with Trump, according to vice president-watcher and St. Louis University School of Law professor Joel Goldstein.

"A vice president's usefulness to members of the House and the Senate depends on his or her access to the president," he said. "If the vice president's not getting much face time with the president, or is out of favor with the president, then what's the point of talking to the vice president?"

When asked in a recent interview which vice president he is looking to as a model, Pence said he saw parallels to George H.W. Bush, who served under President Ronald Reagan another larger-than-life personality who came from outside of Washington promising to shake things up.

See the original post here:
Donald Trump And Mike Pence, The Odd Couple In The White House - NPR