The Claim

Reduced the trade deficit to its lowest since 2009.

The Claim, Unpacked

What is literally being asserted?

That the U.S. trade deficit was reduced to its lowest level since 2009. The phrasing “reduced” implies active policy achievement.

What is being implied but not asserted?

That the trade deficit fell substantially and durably. That this represents a meaningful economic accomplishment attributable to the administration’s policies. That the improvement is structural rather than statistical.

What is conspicuously absent?

Any acknowledgment that this is the same claim already listed as Item #89 (“Cut the U.S. trade deficit to its lowest level since 2009 through tariff enforcement and reciprocal trade pressure”) in the “Rebuilding an Economy for Working Americans” section. The slight rewording — “reduced” instead of “cut,” dropping the “through tariff enforcement” qualifier — does not change the underlying assertion. The same cherry-picked data point (October 2025’s anomalous $29.4 billion monthly figure) is the only factual basis for this claim, and it appears here a second time to inflate the win count.

Padding Analysis: Verbatim Duplicate of Item #89

This is the same claim as Item #89, which appeared in the “Rebuilding an Economy for Working Americans” section. Item 89 stated: “Cut the U.S. trade deficit to its lowest level since 2009 through tariff enforcement and reciprocal trade pressure.” Item 108 states: “Reduced the trade deficit to its lowest since 2009.” The only differences are cosmetic — “reduced” replaces “cut,” and the causal attribution to tariffs is dropped. The underlying factual assertion is identical: the trade deficit reached its lowest point since 2009.

This is a textbook example of list padding. The White House counts the same claimed achievement twice by placing it in two different thematic sections with slightly different wording. This inflates the “365 wins” count by one without any additional substantive accomplishment.

For the full evidence assessment, see Item #89, which was analyzed with a verdict of misleading. The key findings:

• The “lowest since 2009” refers only to October 2025’s monthly deficit of $29.4 billion — a single anomalous month driven by one-off swings in gold and pharmaceutical imports, neither of which faced tariffs. ¹
• The annual 2025 trade deficit was $901.5 billion — virtually unchanged from 2024’s $903.5 billion and more than double the 2009 figure ($380.7 billion). ²
• The goods trade deficit hit an all-time record of $1.24 trillion in 2025. ³
• The October figure reversed immediately: November rebounded to $56.8 billion, December to $70.3 billion. ⁴

Evidence Assessment

Established Facts

Item 108 is substantively identical to Item 89. Both claim the trade deficit reached its lowest level since 2009. Item 89 appeared in “Rebuilding an Economy for Working Americans”; Item 108 appears in “Championing American Workers and American Industry.” The only textual differences are minor rewording. ⁵

The underlying claim was assessed as misleading in Item 89. The full evidence assessment — including BEA annual data, CFR’s Brad Setser analysis of the October anomaly, the record goods deficit, and the immediate reversal — is documented in the Item 89 analysis. No new facts have emerged to alter that assessment. ⁶

What the Evidence Shows

This item adds nothing to the factual record. It is the same trade deficit claim from Item 89 restated in a different section of the White House list. The practice of counting a single claimed achievement multiple times is a straightforward padding technique designed to reach the “365 wins” headline number.

The underlying claim remains misleading for the reasons documented in Item 89: the “lowest since 2009” characterization cherry-picks a single anomalous month (October 2025) driven by non-tariffed commodity swings, while the annual deficit was essentially unchanged and the goods deficit hit a record.

The Bottom Line

This is padding. The administration lists the same trade deficit claim twice — once as Item 89 and again as Item 108 — with cosmetic rewording. Both cite the same cherry-picked October 2025 monthly figure. The underlying claim was assessed as misleading in Item 89; repeating it in a different section does not make it more accurate. It does, however, inflate the “365 wins” count by one.

Sources

Footnotes

1. BEA/Census Bureau, “U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services, October 2025,” January 8, 2026. CFR’s Brad Setser demonstrated the October low was driven by gold and pharmaceutical swings unrelated to tariffs. See Item #89, assertion 089-a1 and 089-a4. https://www.bea.gov/news/2026/us-international-trade-goods-and-services-october-2025 ↩

2. BEA, “U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services, December and Annual 2025,” February 19, 2026. Annual deficit: $901.5 billion, down 0.2% from $903.5 billion. See Item #89, assertion 089-a2. https://www.bea.gov/news/2026/us-international-trade-goods-and-services-december-and-annual-2025 ↩

3. BEA Annual 2025 data. Goods deficit: $1,240.9 billion (all-time record). See Item #89, assertion 089-a3. https://www.bea.gov/news/2026/us-international-trade-goods-and-services-december-and-annual-2025 ↩

4. BEA monthly data and FactCheck.org. November deficit: $56.8 billion; December: $70.3 billion. See Item #89, assertion 089-a5. https://www.factcheck.org/2026/02/trumps-selective-comparison-overstates-trade-deficit-decline/ ↩

5. White House, “365 Wins in 365 Days,” January 20, 2026. Item 89 (section: “Rebuilding an Economy”) and Item 108 (section: “Championing American Workers”) both claim the trade deficit reached its lowest since 2009. https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2026/01/365-wins-in-365-days-president-trumps-return-marks-new-era-of-success-prosperity/ ↩

6. Analysis of Item #89. Verdict: misleading. Full evidence assessment covers BEA data, CFR analysis, trade rerouting patterns, and the immediate reversal of October’s anomalous figure. ↩