AP FACT CHECK: Obama is a silent partner in Trump's boasts

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has a silent partner behind several of the accomplishments he likes to boast about: Barack Obama.

Despite assailing his Democratic predecessor for waging a "cruel and heartless war on American energy," for example, Trump can brag about U.S. energy supremacy thanks to the sector's growth in the Obama years.

And the Obama-Trump decade is soon to yield an economic record if things stay on track a little longer — the most sustained expansion in U.S. history. Though Trump claims all the credit, the expansion started in Obama's first year, continued through his presidency and has been maintained under Trump.

There are no fist bumps in the offing, however.

The past week saw the kickoff of Trump's 2020 campaign with a rally in Florida and interviews outside his usual comfort zone on Fox News. Such events provided Trump a platform that he used to exaggerate what he's done, take some factually challenged swipes at Obama and Democrats at large, and make promises that will be hard to keep.

A sampling:

MIGRANTS

TRUMP, on separating children from adults at the Mexican border: "You know, under President Obama you had separation. I was the one that ended it." — interview broadcast Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press."

TRUMP: "When I became president, President Obama had a separation policy. I didn't have it. He had it. I brought the families together. I'm the one that brought 'em together. Now, I said something when I did that. I'm the one that put people together. ... They separated. I put 'em together.' — interview with Telemundo broadcast Thursday.

JOSE DIAZ-BALART, interviewer: "You did not."

THE FACTS: Trump is not telling the truth. The separation of thousands of migrant children from their parents resulted from his "zero tolerance"...