Trump averaged 15 inaccuracies or mistruths a day in 2018 - almost triple the rate from the year before

From tax cuts to border wall, the president issued a lot of falsehoods

If it appeared Donald Trump uttered a lot of untruths in 2017, then 2018 was a year of almost unimaginable fabrication.

Over the course of the year, the president delivered an estimated 5,611 false or misleading claims, according to a celebrated fact-checking project.

The Washington Post said the president made 1,989 such claims during 2017, and by the last day of 2018 the total figure had risen to 7,600 – a figure for 2018 of 5,611. While the president is said to have made 83 false statements on a single day – that was October 22 when he flew to Texas for a rally with Ted Cruz – he has averaged 15 a day.

“The fusillade of tweets was the start of a year of unprecedented deception during which Trump became increasingly unmoored from the truth. When 2018 began, the president had made 1,989 false and misleading claims, according to The Fact Checker’s database, which tracks every suspect statement uttered by the president,” said the Post.

“By the end of the year, Trump had accumulated more than 7,600 untruths during his presidency — averaging more than 15 erroneous claims a day during 2018, almost triple the rate from the year before.”

In reviews of 2018, the US media has focussed on some of Mr Trump’s more egregious comments, including his claim to foreign leaders at the United Nations in September that his government had “accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country”.

When he was met by a ripple of laughter, the president looked a little shocked. “Didn’t expect that reaction, but that’s okay.”

NBC News reminded readers that in a speech in the Rose Garden in June, the president claimed: “We’ve accomplished an economic turnaround of historic proportions.” As the website said, Mr Trump did not inherit an ailing economy – far from it – and did little to impact it.

At the same time, Mr Trump has continued to attack the media for “fake news” while claiming he always seeks to tell the truth, or his version of it.

In an interview with ABC News earlier this year, Mr Trump was asked about accusations he was often dishonest.

“Well, I try. I do try….and I always want to tell the truth. When I can, I tell the truth,” he replied. “And sometimes it turns out to be where something happens that’s different or there’s a change, but I always like to be truthful.”