Fact checking on Trump's statements

Detailed fact-checking of Donald Trump's statements on his inauguration day by CNN. His false claims and the truth.

Immediately after the crescendo of populism and nationalist rhetoric, which the Donald Trump, shortly after his inauguration as the 47th President of the United States, addressed the American people for the second time, in a speech, which was characterized by the international media as a "orgy of lies".

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Specifically, the oldest president in US history spoke on Monday (20/1) to his supporters gathered at the Capitol Visitor Center's Emancipation Hall, making the following remarks: in a series of false allegations on the economy, immigration, the presidential election, the invasion of the Capitol, and foreign policy.

He then carried out third speech, as planned, at the Capital One Arena in Washington, where he once again unfolded his dangerous agenda, based on non-existent evidence and lies.

The CNN realized fact check at several points in Trump's speeches, highlighting the facts behind the American president's fake news.

Economy

1. Tariffs – China: Trump claimed that the US “collected hundreds of billions of dollars” from China through tariffs he imposed during his first presidency. In reality, the tariffs are paid by American importers, not China. Studies show that Americans bore the vast majority of the cost of Trump's tariffs on China, through increased prices, thus affecting their purchasing power (citizens' ed.).
2. Tariffs – China vol.2: Trump has claimed to be the first president to impose tariffs on China, saying that “China didn’t pay the United States a dime” before him. However, the United States was earning billions of dollars a year in revenue from tariffs on Chinese imports before Trump. In fact, The US has had tariffs on Chinese imports since 1789. Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama, imposed additional tariffs on Chinese products.
3. Customs duties: “Instead of taxing our citizens so that other countries can get rich, we will impose tariffs and taxes on foreign countries so that our citizens can get rich,” Trump said. But this description of tariffs is false. Tariffs imposed by the U.S. government are paid by U.S. importers, not foreign countries.
4. “Record inflation”: The US president claimed that the US has experienced “record inflation” under Biden. Although inflation reached 9,1% in June 2022 — the highest level in the last 40 years — the historical record was 23,7% the 1920Trump also ignored that inflation fell to 2,9% in December 2023.
5. “The EU gets nothing from the US”: Trump claimed that the EU “doesn’t accept agricultural products, cars, almost nothing” from the US. In fact, in 2023 the US exported goods and services worth $639 billion to the EU, including $12,3 billion worth of agricultural products. That's why it's considered the fourth largest export market for U.S. agricultural and related products after China, Mexico, and Canada. Also, according to a December 2023 report from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association, The EU is the second largest market for US vehicle exports. – importing 271.476 American vehicles in 2022, worth almost 9 billion euros.

Immigration and borders

6. Immigrants from prisons and mental hospitals: Trump yesterday, as he has done on other occasions, said that many countries are "emptying out their prisons and mental hospitals" by sending immigrants to the United States. However, he did not present any evidence for this claim. As CNN reports, while it is possible that some immigrants have spent time in such facilities, there is no data or official information to confirm that this is happening on a mass scale, as Trump claims. The US president has also attempted to support his claim by saying that the global prison population has decreased. However, this claim is inaccurateAccording to the World Prison Population List, which was compiled by experts in the United Kingdom, the recorded global prison population increased from about 10,77 million people in October 2021 to about 10,99 million in April 2024. In fact, Helen Fear, co-author of this list and researcher at the Institute for Crime & Justice Policy Research at the University of London, said: "I do daily research into what is happening in prisons around the world and I have found absolutely no evidence that any country is emptying its prisons to send prisoners to the United States."
7. Gangs from Venezuela: Trump claimed that “gang members are being taken off the streets of Venezuela and deposited in our country,” resulting in a decrease in crime in Venezuela. However, this claim is unsubstantiated and there is no evidence to support it.
8. Border wall: Trump reiterated in his inauguration speech that during his first term he built “571 miles of wall” on the border with Mexico. However, official government data shows that they were built 458 miles of wall, including several replacements of previous barriers.
9. Right to acquire citizenship: He claimed that the US is the only country that grants automatic citizenship to those born on its territory. This is error, as more than 30 countries, including Canada and Mexico, grant automatic citizenship to people born on their territory.

Presidential elections and January 6th

10. Pelosi and January 6th: He claimed that Nancy Pelosi rejected his proposal to send 10.000 National Guard troops to protect the Capitol. However, there is no evidence of this. The president, not Pelosi, is responsible for the National Guard, and she denies that such a proposal was made. Her spokesman, Aaron Bennett, stressed that independent audits confirm that Pelosi had no responsibility for Capitol security.
11. The “invaders” of January 6th: Trump claimed that the “riots” of January 6 were caused by “foreign instigators” and not his supporters. However, most of the 1.500 people charged in the Capitol riots were ardent Trump supporters.
12. Destruction of documents of the January 6th Commission: Trump falsely claimed that the January 6th committee destroyed all the documents and the information from her investigation into the Capitol invasion. In fact, more than 1 million documents have been archived and made public. In fact, there was a dispute between Republicans and Democrats over which documents should be archived, but the committee released an 800-page final report and transcripts of more than 140 interviews. It also collaborated with the National Archives to archive over 1 million documents.
13. Fraud in the 2020 and 2024 elections: He repeated the claim that the 2020 elections were "set up" and that there was an attempt at fraud in the 2024 elections. Both elections were free and fair, according to independent authorities.
14. California and elections: He claimed that he would have won California if there were stricter voter ID laws, which is not supported by evidence.
15. Winning margin in Alabama: He claimed to have beaten Alabama by 48 points, while the margin was 30,5 points.
16. “Young people voted for Trump”: The US president claimed in his speech at the Capital One Arena that he “won the youth vote by 36 points” in 2024. But while young voters, especially young men, have indeed shifted towards Trump compared to the 2020 election, exit poll data published by CNN found that Harris beat Trump 54% to 43% among voters aged 18-24, 53% to 45% among voters aged 25-29, and 51% to 45% among voters aged 30-39.

International relations

17. Panama Canal and China: Trump falsely stated that China "controls the Panama Canal" and promised to bring it back under U.S. control. In reality, the Canal is run by the Panama Canal Authority, which is made up of Panamanian officials, and most of the workers are Panamanians. The president of Panama stated that "The Canal is and will remain under Panamanian control."
18. Buying oil from Iran: Trump claimed that he convinced China to stop buying oil from Iran during his presidency. In reality, imports temporarily decreased in 2019, but never stopped completely and rose again before he finished his term. According to analysts, China continued to import Iranian oil. In December 2020, China imported about 511.000 barrels per day.
19. Iran and terrorist groups: Trump repeated in his speech that Iran “had no money for Hamas” and “had no money for Hezbollah” during his presidency. The truth is, however, that Iran’s funding for these groups declined in the second half of his presidency, largely because his sanctions on Iran had a significant negative impact on the Iranian economy, but funding never stopped completely, as four experts told CNN in 2024. In fact, the Trump administration itself stated in 2020 that Iran continued to fund terrorist groups, including Hezbollah.
20. BRICS and Spain: He stated that Spain is a member of the international organization known as BRICS, telling a reporter: “It is a BRICS nation, Spain. Do you know what a BRICS nation is? You will understand.” In reality, however, Spain is not a member of BRICS.– the “S” is for South Africa, which joined the group previously known as BRIC – Brazil, Russia, India and China – in 2010.