Donald Trump Today

Claims assessed

April 2025,
by the verdicts.

A claims-only index of every assessment published in that month’s daily editions. Activity without an assessed claim is excluded.

30daily editions
49claims assessed
0supported
Supported0False29Misleading17Unresolved3

What the verdicts show

Only attributable claims count.

Attendance, travel, meetings and other schedule facts remain in daily timelines but are excluded from claim totals.

Unresolved marks an evidence limit.

This verdict is reserved for a specific Trump claim when available evidence cannot support a conclusive finding.

Full index

Every assessed claim

Supported 0

False 29

A deported Salvadoran man's knuckle tattoos literally read MS-13.

The letters and numbers shown in a circulated image were digitally added labels, not tattoos spelling MS-13.

Nobody was really investing in the United States during Biden's presidency, including Apple.

Foreign direct investment continued under Biden, and Apple announced major U.S. spending and investment commitments during his term.

For the first time in modern history, more Americans thought the country was on the right track than the wrong track.

The cited result came from one Trump-aligned poll; multiple other contemporary polls found the opposite.

International tourism to the United States was doing great.

Overseas visits in March were 11.6% lower than in March 2024, contradicting the contemporaneous claim.

Seven to eight trillion dollars was invested in the United States in Trump's first two months.

The White House cited future announcements above $5 trillion, not completed investment, and the stated $7 trillion to $8 trillion total was not supported.

The administration had restored free speech in America.

Courts had already found administration actions restricting news access and other expression contrary to the First Amendment, contradicting the categorical claim.

Gasoline was selling for $1.98 per gallon in some states.

No statewide average was near $1.98, and a review of roughly 150,000 stations found none selling at that price at the time.

Representative John James proposed impeaching Trump.

The Michigan lawmaker who introduced the impeachment resolution was Representative Shri Thanedar, not John James.

Trump brought back Columbus Day after Biden ended it.

Columbus Day remained a federal holiday throughout Biden's presidency, and Biden issued an annual Columbus Day proclamation.

Whoever operated Biden's autopen was the real president.

Presidents may authorize use of an autopen, and its mechanical operation does not transfer presidential authority to the operator.

Prices were going down, not up.

The Consumer Price Index and food-at-home index were still rising in the available data; the statement was not true as a broad price claim.

Gasoline was averaging $1.98 in several states.

No statewide average was below $2; the national average was above $3.

Retail egg prices had fallen 93% or 94% since inauguration.

The latest retail average was higher than in January.

Grocery prices were down.

The food-at-home index increased in the latest available month.

Trump's first term produced the greatest economy in United States history.

Economic measures did not establish a historical best: earlier periods recorded stronger growth, lower unemployment or other superior results, and the first term ended with the pandemic recession.

Gasoline had fallen to $1.98 per gallon in several states.

No state average was near $1.98; Mississippi and Tennessee had the lowest averages at about $2.71 per gallon.

The administration had already solved inflation.

Prices were still rising, though the annual rate had slowed.

China had a $1 trillion annual trade surplus with the United States.

Official 2024 data put the U.S. goods-and-services deficit with China near $263 billion and the goods-only deficit near $295 billion.

Japan paid nothing toward the cost of the United States military presence there.

Japan provided billions per year in cash, in-kind and indirect support; GAO recorded $12.6 billion in direct and in-kind support from 2016 through 2019.

The European Union was formed to take advantage of the United States.

European integration was supported by successive U.S. administrations to stabilize Western Europe and promote shared security and prosperity.

Trump went four years essentially without inflation during his first term.

Consumer prices rose about 8% over the term, and year-over-year inflation was 1.4% in January 2021.

Trump built 571 miles of southern border wall during his first term.

Official data recorded 458 miles, much of it replacing preexisting barriers.

The United States was collecting $2 billion per day from tariffs.

Treasury data showed customs duties of about $258.8 million per day in February and $263.5 million per day in March, while Customs and Border Protection cited more than $200 million per day in additional tariff revenue.

Coal-fired power plants were being opened all over Germany.

Germany temporarily restarted a handful of older plants during the 2022 energy crisis, closed them again in 2024 and maintained plans to end coal-fired generation by 2038.

The United States subsidized Canada by close to $200 billion per year.

Official 2024 data put the bilateral goods-and-services trade deficit near $36 billion and the goods-only deficit near $71 billion, with no basis for a $200 billion subsidy figure.

Before Trump, China never paid ten cents in tariffs to any United States president.

The United States collected billions annually from tariffs on Chinese imports before Trump and had imposed tariffs on Chinese goods for generations.

The tariff era from 1789 to 1913 was proportionately the wealthiest period in United States history.

Standard measures such as real per-capita output and living standards are many times higher today; fiscal surpluses do not make the historical claim true.

Biden presided over the highest inflation in United States history.

Inflation peaked at 9.1% in 2022, the highest in about 40 years but far below the historical peak of 23.7% in 1920.

Trump had already brought gasoline prices way down to well under $3 nationally.

The national average was about $3.24, higher than the roughly $3.12 average on inauguration day; sub-$3 prices were regional rather than nationwide.

Misleading 17

Democrats claimed the government was not allowed to deport people in the country illegally.

The cited objections concerned due process and compliance with court orders, not a categorical claim that deportation was forbidden.

The administration had banned eight major artificial food dyes.

The administration announced a plan to seek voluntary phaseouts and further regulatory action, not an immediate comprehensive ban.

The military suddenly had the best recruiting numbers in 30 years because Trump returned to office.

Recruiting had improved, but the gains began before Trump took office and analysts said the shift reflected work over the prior two to five years.

Native-born job gains exceeded foreign-born job gains for the first time in recent memory.

Native-born employment did exceed foreign-born employment over the cited recent span, but similar two-month periods occurred several times in 2024.

The administration set all-time records for the lowest number of illegal border crossings ever recorded.

The monthly totals were the lowest in modern monthly data, but average monthly apprehensions were lower during several years in the 1960s.

Egg prices had fallen 87% since Trump took office.

Wholesale prices had fallen about 61% from their February peak, not 87%, while the latest retail price remained above its January level.

New automobile plants were being built because of Trump's policies at unprecedented levels.

Most cited announcements concerned existing plants or previously planned investments, and no evidence established a record level attributable to the new administration.

If Democrats prevailed on the tax bill, Americans would receive a 58% tax increase.

Expiration of the 2017 provisions would raise taxes, but Democrats supported extending cuts below $400,000 and the 58% formulation did not describe a general taxpayer increase.

Trump was ending the worst inflation in United States history.

Inflation had already fallen from its June 2022 peak of 9.1% to 2.4% by March 2025, and several historical periods had substantially higher inflation.

Coal was clean because modern coal production was cleaner than it had been historically.

Emissions per unit of coal-fired electricity had declined, but burning coal still emitted carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides and was not clean in an absolute sense.

Biden had mandated that Americans buy electric vehicles, and Trump had terminated that mandate.

The Biden rule set fleetwide emissions limits rather than requiring consumers to buy electric vehicles, and the Trump EPA had announced reconsideration but had not yet terminated the rule.

China paid the United States hundreds of billions of dollars in first-term tariffs.

U.S. importers paid the tariffs, with studies finding American purchasers bore most of the cost.

Environmental regulations were principally responsible for the decline of the United States coal industry.

Energy researchers identified cheaper natural gas, lower demand, renewable-energy growth and productivity gains as the main drivers; environmental rules played a smaller role.

Coal was clean, cheap and incredibly efficient compared with other power sources.

Coal combustion produces more carbon dioxide than other fossil fuels used for power and emits other pollutants, while natural gas and renewable generation were generally cheaper alternatives.

After the first little carton of milk, United States dairy exports to Canada faced tariffs of 275% to 300%.

The USMCA guaranteed tens of thousands of metric tons of tariff-free U.S. dairy access, and exports had not reached the quota levels at which the high over-quota tariffs applied.

China paid the United States hundreds of billions of dollars in first-term tariffs.

U.S. importers paid the tariffs, and research found American businesses and consumers bore most of their cost.

There was virtually no inflation during Trump's first term.

Consumer prices rose about 8% over the four years, and year-over-year inflation was 1.4% when he left office.

Method

Totals reflect verdicts on attributable Trump claims published in the daily editions for this month. Evidence gaps that are not claims are excluded.