• by Nina Lentini  @Nina_Lentini, March 7, 2017

Exxon Mobil must be exulting in the White House endorsement of its Growing the Gulf initiative. President Trump is certainly taking credit for it.

Slate connected the dots. On Monday, former Exxon head and current Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was to meet with Trump in D.C. around 1:30 pm EST. Current Exxon head Darren Woods touted the $20 billion investment at a conference between 3:10 and 3:40 pm

At 3:10 pm, Exxon sent out a press release about the initiative. Some 35 minutes later, out came a release from the White House, congratulating the company, using nearly exactly the same words Exxon used in its release and touting it as evidence of Trump delivering on his promise to bring back jobs. Trump tweeted it out at 4:19 pm.

But someone dropped the ball because both press releases contained a telling sentence: “Investments began in 2013 and are expected to continue through at least 2022.” 

And who was president in 2013? That’s right: Not Trump.