- President Donald Trump tweeted about "409k's" on Thursday while touting the stock market's "ALL-TIME HIGH!"
- A 409k is not a thing. The president was presumably referring to a 401k, which is a company-sponsored retirement account to which employees contribute a certain amount that employers match either fully or partially.
- He also followed up the 409k tweet with another one linking the lowest cancer death rate in history to his presidency.
- But the Trump administration has actually proposed drastic cuts to science and medical research programs. Under the administration's latest budget proposal, the National Cancer Institute would have been among the divisions to see the biggest slash in funding.
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President Donald Trump was jubilant on Thursday.
"STOCK MARKET AT ALL-TIME HIGH! HOW ARE YOUR 409K'S DOING? 70%, 80%, 90% up? Only 50% up! What are you doing wrong?" he tweeted.
A "409k" is not a thing. Trump was presumably referring to a 401k, which is a company-sponsored retirement account to which employees can contribute a certain amount that employers match either fully or partially.
Nearly an hour later, the president deleted the original tweet and issued a new one that included the correct terminology. But here's the initial tweet:
A few minutes after the "409k" tweet, Trump continued heaping praise on his administration.
"U.S. Cancer Death Rate Lowest In Recorded History! A lot of good news coming out of this Administration," he tweeted.
Trump's tweet comes after the American Cancer Society released a new report which found that the cancer death rate in the US is indeed at an all-time low. According to the report, the largest single-year drop ever recorded happened in 2017. But the ACS said some types of cancers, like prostate and breast cancer, are improving at a slower rate than others.
It's unclear why the president linked the cancer death rate to his administration.
In August, Trump promised that under his leadership the US will "very shortly" find a cure for childhood cancer and end AIDS.
"We will achieve new breakthroughs in science and medicine," the president told the cheering crowd Thursday night as he ran through the achievements of his administration.
"I see what they are doing. I see it. They show me. The things we are doing in our country today. There's never been anything like it. We will be ending the AIDS epidemic shortly in America, and curing childhood cancer very shortly."
But data shows that the Trump administration has repeatedly sought big cuts to science and medical research programs.
The president's 2019 budget proposal requested a 13% cut to the National Science Foundation and a 12% cut to the National Institutes of Health. It also sought to eliminate a division of the Department of Energy that funds speculative technology deemed to be too risky for private investors.
According to the proposal, funding for the NIH would've been slashed by roughly $4.5 billion, and the National Cancer Institute would have been one of the hardest hit divisions, as well as the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.