There was a lot to unpack in Donald Trump‘s bonkers address to the nation last night. One thing’s for sure, it wasn’t very festive. Having missed the memo that the season is about “goodwill to all men”, Trump launched into a hateful rant against those he thinks are damaging America: immigrants, trans people, Democrats, etc etc.
When he wasn’t trying to blame those who aren’t in the White House and don’t control all branches of government for the nation’s problems, he was, predictably, talking up his own ‘achievements’.
During this, he made the questionable claim that he’s secured a colossal $18 trillion of foreign investment. Over the past few months, that number has been steadily climbing – just a month or so ago, he was touting $17 trillion. I guess a trillion dollars here or there is just a rounding figure?
Anyhow, the response has been widespread mockery at this clearly made-up figure:
Just pure, unfiltered bullshit.
— JΛKΣ (@USMCLiberal) December 18, 2025
$18 trillion is more than half the GDP of our entire country. I guess it’s gonna be steak and lobster dinners from here on out — FOR EVERYONE!!!
HAHAHAHAHAHA
Republicans really picked a winner with this guy. pic.twitter.com/tds4IDkWas
Trump claims he's taken in over $18 trillion in tariffs in the last 10 months.
— Phil Magness (@PhilWMagness) December 15, 2025
To give you an idea of just how nonsensical and detached from reality this claim is, federal taxes in 2024 brought in just under $5 trillion. United States GDP in 2024 was $29 trillion. pic.twitter.com/Z1RwR7JIOR
We knew he was bad at math, but this is ridiculous. The entire amount of all our imports was $3.3 trillion, so he's saying we collected six times that amount in tariffs on those goods! Grade: F. https://t.co/pzeycgtYte
— Richard Stengel (@stengel) December 18, 2025
Why making up numbers is bad
At this point, you may be shrugging and wondering why Trump randomly making up numbers matters. After all, he makes up everything else. Why is this important? Well, economies demand accurate data to function properly, and the president just inventing numbers throws calculations out of the window, raising the specter of economic collapse.
For an example of this, look no further than the Soviet Union in the 1970s and 80s. Their economy was riddled with inaccurate data produced by people who wanted the country to appear more productive than it actually was. That created a distorted image of economic performance, which eventually led to a world superpower collapsing.
That, in combination with the ongoing refusal to release official data on the economy (it’s been tainted by Democrats apparently…) means the U.S. economy is currently flying blind with a fuel tank full of empty promises. One thing’s for sure, 2026 is going to be an interesting year!
