Fact-checking Trump linking 2013 Exxon plan to his policies to grow jobs

WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump is again citing corporate investments planned before he took office as evidence that his policies are growing jobs and business.

“We are already winning again, America!” he tweeted Monday after Exxon Mobil announced the latest details of an expansion initiative that actually began in 2013. “Buy American & hire American are the principals at the core of my agenda, which is: JOBS, JOBS, JOBS,” he said in another tweet thanking Exxon Mobil for the announcement.

It’s the latest in a string of corporate announcements about jobs and investments that date back to plans companies largely made when Barack Obama was president.

The Exxon chairman and CEO, Darren Woods, said the company will spend $20 billion over 10 years on refineries, chemical and liquefied natural gas plants along the Gulf Coast in an investment plan that responds to the rising supply of natural gas. The work would create 12,000 permanent jobs and 35,000 temporary construction jobs. Woods replaced Rex Tillerson when he left the helm of the company to become Trump’s secretary of state.

Trump also tweeted a video giving himself credit. “This is something that was done to a large extent because of our policies and the policies of this new administration,” he said in the video. “I said we’re bringing back jobs. This is one big example of it.”

A statement released by the White House quoted Woods as telling a petroleum conference in Houston that private sector investment is “enhanced” by Trump’s support for a “stable regulatory environment.”

But the statement also acknowledged that Exxon’s “Growing the Gulf” program involves investments that started in 2013 and are expected to continue through 2022 at least.

Trump has credited his policies for a variety of corporate announcements - by Ford, Fiat-Chrysler, General Motors, Sprint, Intel and more - that reflect decisions made before his presidency.