AP Fact Check: Trump distortions on the wall, steel, climate

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump claimed great progress in building the border wall even though it's no longer than before he took office. He dismissed the reality of global warming because of a fierce, passing cold spell. He described the steel industry as "totally revived" despite 20,000 job losses over the past decade.

A look at his recent rhetoric and the reality:

THE WALL

TRUMP: "The chant now should be 'finish the wall' as opposed to 'Build the Wall' because we're building a lot of wall. I started this six months ago — we really started going to town — because I could see we were going nowhere with the Democrats." — comments Friday.

TRUMP: "Large sections of WALL have already been built with much more either under construction or ready to go. Renovation of existing WALLS is also a very big part of the plan to finally, after many decades, properly Secure Our Border. The Wall is getting done one way or the other!" — tweet Thursday.

THE FACTS: Despite all his talk of progress, he's added no extra miles of barrier to the border to date. Construction is to start this month on a levee wall system in the Rio Grande Valley that will add 14 miles of barrier, the first lengthening in his presidency. That will be paid for as part of $1.4 billion approved by Congress last year.

Most work under contracts awarded by the Trump administration has been for replacement of existing barrier.

When Trump says large parts of the wall "have already been built," he's not acknowledging that previous administrations built those sections. Barriers currently extend for 654 miles (1,052 kilometers), or about one-third of the border. That construction was mostly done from 2006 to 2009.

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https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/factcheck/ap-fact-check-trump-distortions-on-the-wall-steel-climate/ar-BBT4K53?li=BBnbfcL