This was the year of Donald Trump, and the New York businessman who will be sworn in as president next month made a lot of claims and promises on the campaign trail.
There were also a lot of attacks against candidate Trump, many based on what he did as a businessman.
During a September conference call with reporters, Democratic Congressional candidate Scott Peters from California talked about Trump and his record. During the call, Peters made the claim that Trump "rooted for the housing crisis, because he knew he could make money off of it."
Our partners at PolitiFact looked into Peters' claim to see whether it was accurate.
PolitiFact reporter Joshua Gillin says that Peters' claim rates MOSTLY TRUE on the Truth-O-Meter. Gillin says that it's indeed the case that this was a situation that Trump could have profited from.
"This actually goes back to a 2006 audio book that Trump recorded," Gillin said. "In the tape, he was asked about signs pointing to a potential housing crash, and he said he sort of hoped that it would happen, because cash-rich investors like himself would be able to go in and buy properties at reduced prices."
Gillin notes that there is a slight difference between what Trump said and the claim that Peters made.
"The difference here is that Trump did not say he necessarily wanted the housing market to crash," Gillin said. "There's a big difference between speculating on what might happen as opposed to wishing for something to happen, especially something like the 2008 crash where people lost their jobs and the economy floundered, which is what actually happened."
Gillin says that, although Trump was saying in general terms "when prices are lower, I can buy more," he wasn't actively rooting for a housing crash so that he could directly make money from that, which leads to Peters' claim being rated MOSTLY TRUE by the Truth-O-Meter.
SOURCES: Did Trump want the 2008 housing crash?
- PolitiFact ruling
- U.S. Rep. Scott Peters, media conference call, July 12, 2016.
- Interview, Jacob Peters, spokesman for Rep. Scott Peters, July 18, 2016.
- Interview, Walter Garcia, spokesman, Democratic National Committee, July 18, 2016.
- PolitiFact, "Hillary Clinton faults Donald Trump for hoping for real estate crash that led to the Great Recession," May 24, 2016.
- Hillary Clinton For America, campaign ad "Donald Trump rooted for the real estate crash," May 24, 2016
- CNN, "Donald Trump in 2006: I 'sort of hope' real estate market tanks," May 19, 2016, accessed May 25, 2016
- MSNBC, "Trump in 2007: ‘I’m excited’ for housing market crash," May 23, 2016
- Toronto Globe and Mail, "Trump touts soft markets in cities like Toronto," March 20, 2007, updated March 13, 2009