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16 of Trump’s Biggest Lies of 2025, Fact-Checked

By Keener
A stop sign with the word "LIES" in the center of a road, as an explosion of newspapers and screens showing Donald Trump's face erupts behind it. In the foreground, open books with the word "FACTS" lie on the pavement.
In an era of rampant misinformation, establishing the facts is more critical than ever.

Introduction: Methodology and Scope

This report provides an independent, evidence-based analysis of verifiable falsehoods and misleading statements made by President Donald J. Trump during the first nine months of his second term in office, spanning from his inauguration on January 20, 2025, to September 23, 2025. The objective of this analysis is to catalogue significant public assertions made by the President and assess their factual accuracy against the available empirical record.

The methodology employed aligns with the rigorous standards of established, non-partisan fact-checking organizations. A statement is classified as a “verifiable falsehood” if it is a specific, factual claim that can be demonstrably proven inaccurate through objective evidence. This evidence includes, but is not limited to, official government data and records, reports from independent and bipartisan commissions, peer-reviewed academic research, expert consensus in relevant fields, and direct, verifiable historical accounts. During his first term, President Trump made over 30,000 false or misleading claims, establishing a pattern of communication that has continued into his second administration.1

This report does not seek to infer the intent behind any given statement. Its purpose is strictly to provide a clear, contextualized, and meticulously sourced record of the President’s public claims versus the documented facts. The falsehoods are organized thematically to illuminate recurring narratives and their broader implications for public policy, governance, and democratic institutions. Each entry details the specific claim, presents the countervailing evidence, and analyzes the context in which the statement was made.

Section I: Falsehoods Concerning the U.S. Economy and Federal Governance

During the initial months of the second Trump administration, a series of significant false claims were directed at the U.S. economy and the non-partisan government bodies responsible for its measurement. These statements were not isolated errors but formed a coordinated narrative aimed at discrediting established sources of economic data, justifying sweeping policy changes, and centralizing control over public information.

1. The Myth of Widespread Social Security Fraud Among Centenarians

In a high-profile address to a joint session of Congress on March 4, 2025, President Trump made the extraordinary claim that the Social Security program was riddled with massive fraud, specifically alleging that millions of people at impossible ages were receiving benefits. This assertion became a cornerstone of the administration’s justification for its newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).3

The Claim: President Trump alleged “shocking levels of incompetence and probable fraud in the Social Security program.” He claimed that government databases showed “3.5 million people from ages 140 to 149 and money is being paid to many of them”.3 In other remarks, he expanded on this, citing figures of “1.3 million people from ages 150 to 159,” over 130,000 people over 160, and even a single individual listed at 360 years of age.4

The Facts: This claim, rated “False” by fact-checkers, is a severe misrepresentation of a known data-keeping anomaly within the Social Security Administration (SSA).3 The numbers cited by the President originated from a chart shared on the social media platform X by Elon Musk, who was advising the administration’s DOGE initiative.3 The chart highlighted aged records in an SSA database, but it did not show that these records were associated with active, fraudulent benefit payments.

The SSA’s acting commissioner, Lee Dudek, publicly clarified the issue, stating that the data represent people in the system’s records who “do not have a date of death associated with their record” and that “these individuals are not necessarily receiving benefits”.6 The actual number of Social Security beneficiaries aged 99 and older is approximately 89,000, not millions.3

A 2023 report from the SSA’s Inspector General provided further context. It found that while there were 18.9 million records for individuals born in 1920 or earlier that lacked death information, only 44,000 of them—or 0.2%—were still receiving payments.6 The report did not specify how many of these 44,000 cases constituted improper payments. Furthermore, the SSA has had an automated process in place since 2015 to terminate benefits for individuals aged 115 or older.6

The administration’s narrative of rampant fraud served as a powerful tool to advance a specific political agenda. By manufacturing a crisis of “shocking” incompetence and theft, the White House created a public justification for the existence and actions of its Department of Government Efficiency. This pattern—the identification or exaggeration of a problem to legitimize a predetermined political solution—would become a recurring feature of the administration’s governance model. The falsehood about Social Security fraud was not merely an error; it was the foundational premise for an effort to overhaul entitlement programs under the guise of eliminating waste.

2. Baseless Allegations of “Rigged” Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Data

In a direct assault on the credibility of a core federal statistical agency, President Trump accused the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) of politically motivated data manipulation. This culminated in the firing of the agency’s commissioner and an attempt to delegitimize official economic indicators.

The Claim: On August 1, 2025, President Trump fired BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer, claiming the agency’s job numbers were “phony”.9 In a subsequent CNBC interview on August 5, he elaborated, stating that BLS employment numbers “were rigged” and that the agency had announced a downward revision of “almost 900,000 jobs”

after the 2024 election in an effort to help his political opponents.10

The Facts: This claim was rated “Pants on Fire!” by PolitiFact and is unsupported by any evidence.11 The President’s timeline is incorrect. The large downward revision he referenced—a preliminary estimate of 818,000 jobs—was part of a standard, annual process known as “benchmarking.” This revision was announced by the BLS on August 21, 2024, which was more than two months

before the November election, not after.12

Such revisions are a routine and transparent feature of the BLS’s methodology, designed to improve the accuracy of initial survey-based estimates with more comprehensive state-level data that becomes available later.9 They are not evidence of manipulation.

Furthermore, the notion that a BLS commissioner can “rig the numbers” is dismissed by experts and former agency heads from both parties. Kathy Utgoff, a commissioner appointed by President George W. Bush, and William Beach, a commissioner appointed by President Trump himself, both confirmed that the process is designed to be independent. The commissioner is presented with the finalized numbers shortly before their public release and has no ability to alter them.9

This attack on the BLS represents a systematic effort to undermine an independent, non-partisan institution. By branding official economic data as “phony” and politically “rigged,” the administration attempts to create an information environment where its own narratives can supersede objective reality. This erodes public trust in foundational economic statistics, such as unemployment rates and job growth, and creates an information vacuum that the administration can then fill with its own politically curated “facts,” thereby controlling the public’s perception of its economic performance.

3. Exaggerated Savings by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)

As part of its narrative of rooting out waste, the administration made grandiose claims about the financial savings achieved by its Department of Government Efficiency.

The Claim: In his March 4 address to Congress, President Trump asserted, “We found hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud, and we’ve taken back the money”.5 The DOGE website at the time claimed $105 billion in savings.3

The Facts: This claim is “False.” The department’s own public-facing “wall of receipts,” which was intended to document these savings, showed a total of less than $20 billion and was reportedly “riddled with errors”.3 An investigation into the administration’s methodology revealed that the White House was not identifying fraud in the legal sense, which requires intent to deceive and is determined by courts. Instead, it was unilaterally labeling federal spending on projects it ideologically opposed—such as those related to diversity, equity, and inclusion or climate change—as “waste” or “fraud” and claiming the associated funds as “savings”.3

4. Misleading Claims on Inflation and Consumer Prices

The administration frequently portrayed a misleadingly positive picture of the economy, particularly concerning everyday costs for American families.

The Claim: During a Cabinet meeting on August 26, 2025, President Trump stated, “Groceries are down. Energy is way down…. Was $4 and $5 for a gallon of gas”.10

The Facts: This claim was rated “False” by PolitiFact.10 While the prices of specific goods can fluctuate, broad economic data at the time did not support a general or significant decline in overall grocery and energy costs. In one notable example, fact-checkers pointed out that the price of eggs was actually

higher than it had been during its peak under the previous administration, having risen by about $2 since Trump was sworn in.3

5. False Assertion About Stacey Abrams and a $1.9 Billion Grant

In an effort to highlight supposed government waste, the President singled out a political opponent with a completely fabricated claim.

The Claim: In his March 4 address, Trump alleged that “$1.9 billion [went] to recently created decarbonization of homes committee, headed up — and we know she’s involved… — by a woman named Stacey Abrams”.3

The Facts: This claim was rated “False”.18 No such committee exists, and Stacey Abrams, the former Georgia gubernatorial candidate, did not head any such entity or receive these funds. The claim appears to be a gross distortion of a $2 billion Environmental Protection Agency grant that had been awarded under the previous administration to Power Forward Communities, a coalition of five clean energy groups. One of those groups, Rewiring America, had employed Abrams as senior legal counsel from March 2023 until 2024, but she had no direct role in receiving or managing the grant money.3

Section II: Falsehoods on Foreign Policy and National Security

The administration’s public statements on foreign policy were characterized by a consistent pattern of exaggerating the President’s personal achievements, misrepresenting complex geopolitical realities, and, in some cases, adopting narratives that aligned with those of foreign adversaries over those of U.S. allies.

6. The Exaggerated Claim of Having “Stopped Six or Seven Wars”

A central theme of the administration’s foreign policy messaging was the portrayal of President Trump as a uniquely effective global peacemaker, a narrative supported by the recurring and exaggerated claim of having single-handedly ended numerous wars.

The Claim: President Trump repeatedly claimed to have stopped multiple wars since returning to office. On July 28, 2025, he stated, “I’ve stopped six wars”.10 He later increased this tally, saying in an interview, “I’ve solved seven wars. We ended seven wars”.21

The Facts: This claim was rated “Mostly False” by fact-checkers.19 While international relations experts acknowledge that the Trump administration played a significant role in mediating ceasefires and de-escalating tensions in several global hotspots, the assertion of having “stopped” or “ended” six or seven “wars” is a substantial overstatement of the facts.21 An examination of the specific conflicts reveals a more complex reality:

  • Israel and Iran: This represents the strongest case for the President’s claim. The administration is credited with helping to end a 12-day conflict in June 2025 by mediating a ceasefire, an effort that included direct U.S. military strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities to bring Iran to the negotiating table.20
  • India and Pakistan: The U.S. played a role in de-escalating a military flare-up between the two nuclear-armed powers over the disputed Kashmir region. However, the Indian government has explicitly denied that President Trump or the U.S. served as a mediator in the ceasefire talks.20
  • Egypt and Ethiopia: The President claimed to have brought peace to a “fight” between these two nations. However, this was a long-running diplomatic dispute over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Nile River; it never escalated into a “war.” Furthermore, no final agreement has been reached.20
  • Other Conflicts: The administration was also involved in brokering agreements or ceasefires in disputes between Thailand and Cambodia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Serbia and Kosovo. While these diplomatic efforts were noted by experts, characterizing each as “stopping a war” is a misrepresentation of the nature and status of these often long-simmering conflicts.21

This pattern of communication constructs a narrative where intricate international conflicts are resolved not through complex, multilateral diplomacy but solely through the personal, transactional deal-making of the President. This “Great Man” theory of geopolitics oversimplifies global affairs for a domestic audience and risks alienating allies by erasing their contributions to diplomatic solutions.

7. The “Pants on Fire” Falsehood that Zelenskyy “Started” the War with Russia

In a stark departure from the established position of the United States and its NATO allies, President Trump publicly blamed Ukraine for Russia’s invasion.

The Claim: On February 18, 2025, President Trump stated that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “started” the war with Russia. He remarked, “You should have never started it. You could have made a deal”.11

The Facts: This claim is demonstrably false and was rated “Pants on Fire!” by PolitiFact.11 The historical record is unequivocal and extensively documented: on February 24, 2022, the Russian Federation launched a full-scale, unprovoked military invasion of Ukraine.26 The President’s statement is not a simple misstatement but a direct echo of a key disinformation narrative propagated by the Kremlin, which has consistently sought to blame Ukraine and NATO for its act of aggression.28

This falsehood represents one of the most significant of the period, as it constitutes a complete inversion of reality regarding a major ongoing European war. The claim’s alignment with an adversary’s propaganda created a deep diplomatic rift with Ukraine, alarmed NATO allies, and signaled a potential strategic realignment in which the administration’s public statements were more in sync with those of an adversary than with traditional democratic partners.26

8. False Claims About U.S. vs. European Aid to Ukraine

The administration repeatedly misrepresented the scale of U.S. financial and military support for Ukraine, using false figures to argue that American allies were not contributing their fair share.

The Claim: President Trump made multiple false claims regarding aid to Ukraine. He asserted that the U.S. has given Ukraine more than three times as much aid as Europe.22 In a separate instance, during an Oval Office meeting, he inflated the total U.S. contribution to “$350 billion”.34

The Facts: These claims are false. Independent analysis from organizations such as the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, which tracks global support for Ukraine, consistently shows that European nations collectively have committed and allocated more direct, bilateral aid to Ukraine than the United States has.22 The actual total of U.S. aid appropriated by Congress since the 2022 invasion is in the range of $175 billion to $185 billion, roughly half of the $350 billion figure claimed by the President.3

Section III: Falsehoods Regarding Crime, Law, and Immigration

A consistent narrative from the administration involved the portrayal of major U.S. cities, particularly those led by Democrats, as exceptionally dangerous and lawless. This was achieved through the use of false and misleading crime statistics, which were then used to create a public justification for an unprecedented assertion of federal law enforcement power over local jurisdictions.

9. The Repeated Falsehood that Chicago is the “Murder Capital of the World”

President Trump repeatedly singled out Chicago, using false statistics to depict it as the most violent city on Earth.

The Claim: On September 2, 2025, the President posted on Truth Social, “CHICAGO IS THE MURDER CAPITAL OF THE WORLD!” and also referred to it as the “worst and most dangerous city in the World, by far”.22

The Facts: This claim is false. While Chicago’s large population means it often has one of the highest raw numbers of homicides among U.S. cities, its homicide rate (the number of homicides per 100,000 residents, which is the standard metric for comparing violence levels) is not the highest in the world, or even in the United States.37

A 2023 study of global city violence by the Igarapé Institute, a Brazilian think tank, did not rank Chicago among the world’s 50 most violent cities. In fact, several other American cities—including Memphis, New Orleans, St. Louis, and Baltimore—had higher homicide rates and were included on that list.37 Furthermore, at the time the President made his claim, Chicago’s homicide rate had declined by more than 30% in the first half of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024.37

The purpose of this falsehood was to create a public perception of an extreme crisis in a major Democratic-run city. This manufactured crisis then served as the pretext for the administration’s threats to deploy the National Guard to the city, a move that would bypass the authority of state and local officials who opposed such an intervention.40

10. Multiple False Claims About Homicide Rates in Washington, D.C.

The nation’s capital was the target of a sustained campaign of false claims about crime, which directly preceded a federal takeover of the city’s police force.

The Claim: In August 2025, President Trump made a series of false statements about crime in Washington, D.C. These included:

  • That the city “always have a murder a week”.10
  • That its homicide rate of “41 per 100,000” is “No. 1 that we can find anywhere in the world”.10
  • That the city’s murder rate in 2023 reached the “highest rate probably ever”.46

The Facts: All of these claims are verifiably false.

  • The claim of “a murder a week” is incorrect. Data from 2025 shows the city had a period of more than two weeks without a single reported homicide.43
  • The “41 per 100,000” figure was based on outdated data from 2023. The city’s homicide rate has fallen significantly since then. Even in 2023, D.C.’s rate was not the highest in the world; at least 49 other cities globally had higher rates. Within the U.S., cities such as St. Louis, New Orleans, and Detroit had higher homicide rates.44
  • The claim of a record-high murder rate is also false. Washington, D.C.’s highest-ever murder rate occurred in 1991, when it exceeded 80 homicides per 100,000 residents—more than double the 2023 rate.46

These falsehoods were not incidental remarks; they were the explicit and foundational justification for the administration’s decision to declare a “crime emergency” in the District of Columbia via Executive Order 14333 and assume federal control of its local police force.46 This use of misinformation to manufacture a crisis that legitimizes an expansion of executive power represents a significant challenge to the principles of federalism and local governance. By creating a false narrative of local incompetence and apocalyptic danger, the executive branch provided itself with the rationale for overriding the authority of elected municipal leaders.

Section IV: Falsehoods on Elections and Democratic Processes

A number of the administration’s false statements targeted the foundational mechanics of American democracy. By spreading disinformation about the security, efficiency, and international standing of U.S. voting methods, the administration appeared to be laying the groundwork to challenge future election outcomes and justify sweeping, federally mandated changes to election administration, a power traditionally reserved for the states.

11. The False Claim that the U.S. is the “Only Country” Using Mail-In Voting

In an attempt to portray a widely used voting method as illegitimate and uniquely American, the President made a false claim about international election practices.

The Claim: On August 18, 2025, President Trump posted on Truth Social, “We are now the only Country in the World that uses Mail-In Voting. All others gave it up because of the MASSIVE VOTER FRAUD ENCOUNTERED”.10

The Facts: This claim is false. Numerous established democracies around the world utilize some form of mail-in or postal voting. A 2024 report from the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance found that 34 countries and territories allow postal voting, including Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, and Switzerland.50 There is no evidence that other nations have abandoned this practice due to widespread fraud.

This falsehood serves to isolate a common and secure voting method, framing it as a uniquely American vulnerability. This stokes unfounded fears of fraud and provides a rationale for the administration’s stated goal of eliminating mail-in voting, potentially through an executive order that would challenge the constitutional authority of states to set the “Times, Places and Manner” of their own elections.51

12. Misleading Claims on the Speed and Accuracy of Voting Machines vs. Paper Ballots

To further undermine confidence in the current electoral system, the President made claims about the speed of vote counting that are the opposite of reality.

The Claim: On August 18, 2025, President Trump asserted that with voting machines, “They say we’re going to have the results in two weeks. With paper ballots, you have the results that night”.10

The Facts: This statement is false. The consensus among election administration experts, supported by real-world examples, is that machine tabulation of paper ballots is exponentially faster and more accurate than counting them by hand.55

A full hand count of the millions of ballots cast in a major election would not be completed on election night; it would take weeks or even months. It would also be prohibitively expensive and far more susceptible to human error. For instance, a 2020 hand recount of the presidential race in Georgia—a single contest on the ballot—required thousands of workers, took nearly a week to complete, and cost millions of dollars.55 In contrast, modern ballot scanners can accurately tabulate thousands of ballots per hour.55

These falsehoods about voting methods represent a strategic, pre-emptive attack on the infrastructure of American democracy. By convincing a segment of the electorate that the current systems are inherently corrupt, fraudulent, and inefficient, the administration creates a permission structure to contest unfavorable results in future elections. This strategy could lead to attempts to federalize election rules, disenfranchise voters who rely on mail-in ballots (such as military personnel, the elderly, and rural voters), and generate chaotic, delayed, and unreliable election results by forcing a return to the antiquated and impractical method of hand-counting ballots.

Section V: Conspiratorial and Unsubstantiated Accusations

This final category of falsehoods includes claims rooted in conspiracy theories, characterized by a complete departure from the factual record. These statements were used to attack political opponents, cultural institutions, and private citizens in highly inflammatory terms, often as a means of deflecting scrutiny or advancing a political narrative.

13. The “Pants on Fire” Claim that the Jeffrey Epstein Files Were “Made Up” by Opponents

In response to questions about the investigation into the deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, President Trump deployed a conspiratorial falsehood to discredit the evidence itself.

The Claim: On July 15, 2025, when asked about the case, President Trump claimed the Jeffrey Epstein files “were made up by Comey. They were made up by Obama. They were made up by Biden”.10

The Facts: This claim was rated “Pants on Fire!” by PolitiFact.11 The “Epstein files” are not a fabrication; they are a collection of official law enforcement documents, court records, and victim testimonies compiled during two separate federal investigations. The timelines of these investigations make the President’s claim impossible. The first federal probe took place from 2006-2008, under the administration of President George W. Bush. The second federal investigation and Epstein’s subsequent arrest occurred in 2019, during President Trump’s own first term.58 Neither Barack Obama nor Joe Biden were in the White House during these periods, and former FBI Director James Comey was working in the private sector at the time of both investigations.58 This falsehood is a clear attempt to preemptively invalidate any potentially damaging information within the case files by framing the evidence itself as a political fabrication created by his enemies.

14. The Baseless Accusation of a 2016 “Coup” Attempt by Obama and Clinton

The administration revived and amplified a conspiracy theory regarding the origins of the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

The Claim: On July 22, 2025, President Trump claimed that in 2016, former President Barack Obama “was trying to lead a coup” with his opponent, Hillary Clinton.10

The Facts: This claim, also rated “Pants on Fire!”, is a baseless conspiracy theory.11 Multiple exhaustive and independent investigations—including the 2019 report by Special Counsel Robert Mueller and a bipartisan 2020 report from the Senate Intelligence Committee—confirmed that the Russian government interfered in the 2016 election in a “sweeping and systematic fashion” to benefit Donald Trump’s candidacy.61 These reports found no evidence to support the claim of a “coup” attempt by the Obama administration. The theory relies on deliberately conflating two distinct issues: Russia’s documented influence campaign (e.g., hacking and releasing emails) and the separate, unfounded allegation that Russia manipulated actual vote tallies.61

15. The False Claim that Smithsonian Museums Show “Nothing About Success”

As part of a broader culture war narrative, the President launched a factually inaccurate attack on one of the nation’s premier cultural institutions.

The Claim: In an August 19, 2025, Truth Social post, President Trump claimed the Smithsonian Institution includes “nothing about success, nothing about brightness, nothing about the future,” and that its exhibits focus only on negative aspects of American history like slavery.10

The Facts: This claim was rated “Pants on Fire!” and is easily disproven by a visit to the museums.11 The Smithsonian’s museums are filled with exhibits celebrating American achievement, innovation, and culture. For example, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, a specific target of criticism, dedicates its upper floors to celebrating Black excellence in music (featuring Chuck Berry’s iconic red Cadillac), sports (honoring Jackie Robinson and Serena Williams), and entertainment (highlighting Oprah Winfrey).21 The President’s statement was a stark reversal of his own 2017 comments, in which he praised the same museum as a “beautiful tribute”.64 The falsehood was issued in the context of a new White House-ordered review of all Smithsonian exhibits to ensure they align with a narrative of “American exceptionalism”.65

16. The Unsubstantiated Claim that Democrats Paid Beyoncé $11 Million for an Endorsement

The President made a false and unsubstantiated claim about a high-profile celebrity endorsement from the 2024 election cycle.

The Claim: In a July 26, 2025, Truth Social post, President Trump alleged that the Democratic Party paid singer Beyoncé $11 million for her endorsement of Kamala Harris in 2024.10

The Facts: This claim is “False”.18 Publicly available Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings show that the Harris campaign made a single payment of $165,000 to Beyoncé’s production company. This payment was legally disclosed and listed for “campaign event production,” a standard and permissible expense for costs associated with staging a campaign rally.69 There is no record of any $11 million payment. Both Beyoncé’s publicist and her mother, Tina Knowles, publicly stated that she was not paid for the endorsement and, in fact, paid for her own travel and other expenses to attend the event.69

These conspiratorial falsehoods function as building blocks for an alternate reality. In this constructed narrative, the President is the perpetual victim of vast, treasonous conspiracies orchestrated by a “deep state,” “woke” ideologues, and his political enemies. This strategy serves to inoculate his supporters against any damaging facts or evidence that may emerge. If the very sources of information—intelligence agencies, the justice system, cultural institutions, and the media—are framed as part of the conspiracy, then their findings can be dismissed out of hand, not on the basis of evidence, but as an act of political loyalty.

Conclusion: Patterns and Implications

The analysis of President Trump’s verifiable falsehoods during the first nine months of his second term reveals more than just a series of isolated inaccuracies. The statements form a coherent and strategic pattern of communication designed to reshape public perception, consolidate executive power, and undermine the institutions of a fact-based democracy. Several key patterns emerge from this record.

First is the consistent use of a “Problem-Justification-Action” model of governance. The administration repeatedly manufactures or wildly exaggerates a crisis—be it massive Social Security fraud, apocalyptic crime in major cities, or a “rigged” electoral system—to provide public justification for a predetermined political action, such as creating a new government department, seizing control of local police, or attempting to overhaul election laws by executive fiat. Misinformation is not merely a rhetorical tool but a direct instrument of policy implementation.

Second is the systematic delegitimization of independent institutions. The attacks on the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Social Security Administration, the electoral process, and cultural institutions like the Smithsonian are part of a broader effort to erode public trust in non-partisan sources of information. By branding objective data as “phony” or “rigged,” the administration creates an information vacuum that it can then fill with its own politically advantageous narratives, positioning the executive as the sole arbiter of truth.

Third is the rhetorical strategy of statistical manipulation and the “big number” technique. Claims of “3.5 million” 140-year-olds on Social Security, “$350 billion” in aid to Ukraine, or “hundreds of billions” in fraud found by DOGE are designed to be shocking and to create a sense of overwhelming crisis and corruption that rationalizes radical action, even when the numbers themselves are baseless.

Finally, these falsehoods are interwoven with conspiratorial counter-narratives. The President is consistently portrayed as the victim of vast, treasonous plots orchestrated by his enemies. This narrative framing—that the Russia investigation was a “coup,” the Epstein files a “hoax,” and cultural institutions part of a “woke” agenda—serves to discredit any and all criticism or negative evidence before it can be considered on its merits.

Collectively, these patterns have profound implications. They challenge the principle of evidence-based policymaking, strain the constitutional balance of federalism, and attack the shared basis of fact upon which democratic discourse depends. The consistent and strategic use of verifiable falsehoods aims to replace evidence-based debate with a loyalty-based acceptance of a leader’s narrative, a practice that poses a fundamental challenge to the health and stability of democratic governance.

Appendix: Summary Table of Verifiable Falsehoods

Lie #Date of StatementStatement (Brief Summary)Topic CategoryFact-Check Rating
1March 4, 2025Claimed millions of people aged 140+ are fraudulently receiving Social Security benefits.Economy/GovernanceFalse
2August 5, 2025Claimed Bureau of Labor Statistics employment numbers were “rigged” after the 2024 election.Economy/GovernancePants on Fire!
3March 4, 2025Claimed his Dept. of Government Efficiency found “hundreds of billions” in fraud.Economy/GovernanceFalse
4August 26, 2025Claimed that “groceries are down” and “energy is way down.”Economy/GovernanceFalse
5March 4, 2025Falsely claimed Stacey Abrams headed a committee that received a $1.9 billion grant.Economy/GovernanceFalse
6July – August 2025Repeatedly and falsely claimed to have “stopped six or seven wars” since taking office.Foreign PolicyMostly False
7February 18, 2025Falsely claimed Ukrainian President Zelenskyy “started” the war with Russia.Foreign PolicyPants on Fire!
8August – March 2025Falsely claimed the U.S. gave far more aid to Ukraine than Europe and inflated the total to $350B.Foreign PolicyFalse
9September 2, 2025Falsely claimed Chicago is the “murder capital of the world.”Crime/LawFalse
10August 2025Made multiple false claims about D.C. homicide rates (e.g., “highest ever,” “No. 1 in the world”).Crime/LawFalse
11August 18, 2025Falsely claimed the U.S. is the “only country in the world” that uses mail-in voting.ElectionsFalse
12August 18, 2025Falsely claimed counting paper ballots is faster than using voting machines.ElectionsFalse
13July 15, 2025Claimed the Jeffrey Epstein files were “made up” by Obama, Biden, and Comey.ConspiracyPants on Fire!
14July 22, 2025Claimed Obama and Clinton were “trying to lead a coup” in 2016.ConspiracyPants on Fire!
15August 19, 2025Claimed the Smithsonian Institution shows “nothing about success, nothing about brightness.”ConspiracyPants on Fire!
16July 26, 2025Falsely claimed Democrats paid Beyoncé $11 million for an endorsement.ConspiracyFalse
Fact-Checking Trump’s Second Term: An Infographic

Verifying the Record

An analysis of notable false statements made during Donald Trump’s second term in 2025.

Total Falsehoods Cataloged

12

Timeframe

2025

Timeline of Falsehoods

This timeline tracks the occurrence of each cataloged false statement throughout 2025, revealing a consistent pattern of misinformation across the year.

Feb: Social Security, Ukraine War

Jul: Epstein Files, Beyoncé

Aug: Job Numbers, Crime, Voting, Wars

Sep: Crime, Missile Defense

Breakdown by Category

The false statements spanned multiple topics, with a significant focus on crime, elections, and foreign policy. This visualization shows the proportion of lies attributed to each major category.

Severity of Claims

Fact-checking organizations assign ratings based on the severity and blatantness of a falsehood. A large portion of the claims received a “Pants on Fire” rating, indicating they were not only false but also ridiculous.

In Focus: The Most Egregious Falsehoods

The “U.S. Iron Dome”

The Claim:

A state-of-the-art missile defense shield, like Israel’s Iron Dome, will be built over the entire U.S. in just one year.

The Reality:

Aerospace and defense experts confirm this is logistically and technologically impossible. The scale of the U.S. makes such a project unfeasible with current technology, especially on a one-year timeline.

The “Social Security Fraud”

The Claim:

The government is paying benefits to 3.5 million people aged 140-149.

The Reality:

This is a massive distortion of an Inspector General report. The report found database errors for deceased individuals but no evidence of widespread payments. The claim exaggerates the issue to an absurd degree.

The “Mail-In Voting” Myth

The Claim:

The U.S. is the “only country in the world that uses mail-in voting.”

The Reality:

This is demonstrably false. Many established democracies, including Canada, the UK, Germany, and Australia, have secure and long-standing postal voting systems.

In an environment saturated with information, critical evaluation and reliance on primary sources are paramount. This analysis is based on data compiled from leading, non-partisan fact-checking organizations.

Sources

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2025 Irish Presidential Election Candidate Guide