William Cummings

USA TODAY

President Trump went off script during his announcement of his new Labor secretary nominee, Alexander Acosta, Thursday, admonishing the media and at one point incorrectly claiming to have won the biggest electoral victory since Ronald Reagan.

Trump's 306-vote win was actually only the largest Electoral College victory since the previous election when former president Barack Obama was re-elected with 332 votes in 2012.

When NBC News' Peter Alexander pointed out the inaccuracy, Trump said he meant he won the largest electoral win of any Republican since Reagan. He was informed that George H.W. Bush won with 426 votes in 1988.

"I was given that information," Trump said. "We had a very, very big margin."

"Why should Americans trust you when you accused the information they've received of being fake when you're providing information that's not accurate?" Alexander asked.

"Well, I don't know. I was given that information. Actually, I've seen that information around," Trump said. "But it was a very substantial victory, do you agree with that?" he asked the reporter.

"You're the president," Alexander replied.

Trump has often bragged of his Electoral College victory, and has incorrectly referred to it as a "landslide" when only 12 elections have ever been closer, as The New York Times points out.