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Fact checking a Donald Trump appearance in Milwaukee

Republican presidential contender Donald Trump campaigned during a rally in Janesville, Wis., on March 29, 2016. (Rick Wood photo) Republican presidential contender Donald Trump campaigned during a rally in Janesville, Wis., on March 29, 2016. (Rick Wood photo)

Republican presidential contender Donald Trump campaigned during a rally in Janesville, Wis., on March 29, 2016. (Rick Wood photo)

Tom Kertscher
By Tom Kertscher April 1, 2016

At a CNN town hall meeting on March 29, 2016, Donald Trump made claims about his wealth, self-funding his campaign and climate change that, in one way or another, have been fact checked previously by PolitiFact.

Here is a look at the claims and related ratings:

"I started off with $1 million and now I'm worth over $10 billion."

PolitiFact hasn't done a fact check on that claim. But in a March 2016 article, PolitiFact Florida reported Trump inherited money, though there was no independent way to confirm the amount. News reports from when Fred Trump Sr. died in 1999 said the Trump family estimated the value of his estate at up to $300 million.

"I'm self-funding" my own campaign.

Trump has made that claim numerous times. In February 2016, PolitiFact National rated it Half True.

As of the end of 2015, Trump’s own contributions accounted for more than half of all money the campaign had taken in. He had contributed far more of his own money than any other candidate this cycle.

However, at that stage, a significant portion of Trump’s campaign money came from individual contributions. Additionally, most of Trump’s contributions had been loans rather than donations, so he may hope to recoup those funds.

Says Barack Obama said "the biggest threat to the world today is global warming."

The president has used a different term -- climate change..

In June 2015, Gov. Scott Walker said Obama told the U.S. Coast Guard Academy "that the number one threat to the military and the world today is global warming." We rated that Mostly False.

We noted in that item, and as Trump suggested, that Obama on various occasions and in a general context has said there is no greater threat to the world than climate change.

But in the speech Walker cited, the president told Coast Guard graduates that climate change was a serious threat, not the number one threat to the military or the world.

We would also note that we and PolitiFact National have produced new fact checks while Trump has campaigned in Wisconsin ahead of the state’s primary on April 5, 2016:

Says GOP presidential contender Ted Cruz distributed an ad showing a nude Melania Trump on a rug. PolitiFact National’s rating: Mostly False.

Says that when reporter Michelle Fields "found out that there was a security camera, and that they had her on tape, all of a sudden that story changed." PolitiFact National’s rating: Pants on Fire.

Wisconsin’s "effective" unemployment rate is 20 percent. Our rating: False.

 
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CNN, transcript of Donald Trump town hall appearance, March 29, 2016

PolitiFact items as noted

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Fact checking a Donald Trump appearance in Milwaukee