Separating fact vs fiction in Trump's State of the Union

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump likes to describe the state of the union as he wants it to be, not how it really is.

In day-to-day comments, he routinely inflates the magnitude of what he's done, grandly claiming, for example, that he's "created the greatest economic success in the history of our country." Or he'll rewrite a campaign promise on the spot — asserting he never meant Mexico will pay for his border wall directly; "obviously they're not going to write a check."

The State of the Union address, though, is a different species than most political rhetoric and a whole different animal than Trump's visceral tweets. It's carefully prepared, thematic in nature and light on raw, "lock-her-up" partisanship. Those touchstones are likely to be reflected in Trump's speech to Congress on Tuesday night.

Still, Trump's State of the Union speech a year ago wandered from reality.

He inaccurately described his tax cuts as the largest ever (they were perhaps the eighth largest) and hailed rising wages "finally" even though they rose more under President Barack Obama in 2016. He wrongly described the visa lottery program as one that "randomly hands out green cards without any regard to skill, merit or the safety of our people," when it actually requires education or experience and extensive background checks.

A guide to separating fact from fiction on subjects Trump is expected to address in Tuesday night's speech:

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