[ { "id": "know-tv-ratings-2012", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "TV ratings", "title": "Knew more about who gets ratings than anyone", "quote": "The TODAY Show should call me about who to put on the show— I know more about people who get ratings than anyone.", "date": "2012-10-26", "venue": "Post on Twitter (@realDonaldTrump)", "era": "pre-politics", "category": "other", "what_happened": "The Apprentice averaged 20.7 million viewers in its first season (2003–04); by season 10 (2010–11) it averaged 4.7 million and ranked 113th. The two-hour Celebrity Apprentice finale on February 16, 2015 drew a 1.6 rating/4 share among adults 18–49. NBC cut ties with Trump in June 2015 after his comments about Mexican immigrants, and on August 13, 2015 said the show would return with a new host.", "sources": [ { "title": "Tweet by @realDonaldTrump, October 26, 2012", "outlet": "Twitter", "url": "https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/261938362137587712", "date": "2012-10-26" }, { "title": "The foremost experts on various topics according to Trump, most of whom are Trump", "outlet": "The Washington Post", "url": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/01/02/foremost-experts-various-topics-according-trump-most-whom-are-trump/", "date": "2019-01-02" }, { "title": "'Celebrity Apprentice' Finale Ratings Rise, Stevie Wonder Special Soft, 'Sleepy Hollow' & 'Originals' Up From Lows", "outlet": "Deadline", "url": "https://deadline.com/2015/02/celebrity-apprentice-finale-ratings-stevie-wonder-beyonce-bachelor-sleepy-hollow-originals-abc-1201375048/", "date": "2015-02-17" }, { "title": "NBC officially fires Trump from 'Celebrity Apprentice'", "outlet": "Fox News", "url": "https://www.foxnews.com/politics/nbc-officially-fires-trump-from-celebrity-apprentice", "date": "2015-08-13" }, { "title": "The Apprentice (American TV series) — Statistics by season", "outlet": "Wikipedia", "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Apprentice_(American_TV_series)", "date": "2026-09-25" } ] }, { "id": "know-military", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "the military", "title": "Nobody bigger or better at the military than him", "quote": "There's nobody bigger or better at the military than I am.", "date": "2015-06-16", "venue": "Interview with Bill O'Reilly, Fox News's The O'Reilly Factor", "era": "campaign-2016", "category": "foreign-policy", "what_happened": "The remark came while he described how he would defeat ISIS; when O'Reilly asked whether that meant sending U.S. ground troops into Syria, he answered, \"I'm not telling you anything.\" He was exempted from the Vietnam-era draft on a claim of bone spurs in his heels. By the end of 2018, several retired four-star generals had broken with him: Jim Mattis resigned as defense secretary, Stanley McChrystal said he would never work for him, and Jack Keane called the Syria pullout a \"serious strategic mistake.\"", "sources": [ { "title": "Donald Trump running for President (transcript)", "outlet": "Fox News", "url": "https://www.foxnews.com/transcript/donald-trump-running-for-president", "date": "2015-06-16" }, { "title": "Foreign policy of Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential election", "outlet": "Wikipedia", "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_policy_of_Donald_Trump_during_the_2016_presidential_election", "date": "2026-09-25" }, { "title": "Donald Trump", "outlet": "Wikipedia", "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump", "date": "2026-09-25" }, { "title": "Trump claimed he knew 'more than the generals.' Now they want nothing to do with him.", "outlet": "ThinkProgress", "url": "https://archive.thinkprogress.org/generals-want-nothing-to-do-with-trump-0a5ad80cb682/", "date": "2018-12-31" }, { "title": "19 things Donald Trump knows better than anyone else, according to Donald Trump", "outlet": "Washington Post", "url": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/10/04/17-issues-that-donald-trump-knows-better-than-anyone-else-according-to-donald-trump/", "date": "2016-10-04" } ] }, { "id": "know-courts", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "courts", "title": "Knew more about courts than any human being on Earth", "quote": "I know more about courts than any human being on Earth. Okay?", "date": "2015-11", "venue": "Campaign rally in Texas", "era": "campaign-2016", "category": "justice", "what_happened": "A year later, on November 18, 2016, he agreed to pay $25 million to settle three Trump University fraud cases (two federal class actions in California and a New York attorney general suit) covering more than 5,000 former students, after saying during the campaign that he could settle \"for very little money, but I don't want to do it out of principle.\" The settlement included no admission of wrongdoing.", "sources": [ { "title": "Analysis: Trump touts his experts — often it's Trump himself (syndicated Washington Post)", "outlet": "Mercury News", "url": "https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/01/02/analysis-trump-touts-his-experts-often-its-trump-himself/", "date": "2019-01-02" }, { "title": "The foremost experts on various topics according to Trump, most of whom are Trump", "outlet": "Washington Post", "url": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/01/02/foremost-experts-various-topics-according-trump-most-whom-are-trump/", "date": "2019-01-02" }, { "title": "Everything Trump says he knows \"more about than anybody\"", "outlet": "Axios", "url": "https://www.axios.com/2019/01/05/everything-trump-says-he-knows-more-about-than-anybody", "date": "2019-01-05" }, { "title": "Donald Trump Settles Trump University Lawsuits for $25 Million", "outlet": "Fortune", "url": "https://fortune.com/2016/11/18/donald-trump-university-case-settlement", "date": "2016-11-18" }, { "title": "Trump University", "outlet": "Wikipedia", "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trump_University", "date": "2026-09-25" } ] }, { "id": "know-social-media", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "social media", "title": "Understood Facebook better than almost anybody", "quote": "I understand social media. I understand the power of Twitter. I understand the power of Facebook maybe better than almost anybody, based on my results, right?", "date": "2015-11", "venue": "Campaign remarks, November 2015 (per Axios and Washington Post compilations)", "era": "campaign-2016", "category": "other", "what_happened": "His @realDonaldTrump account had more than 88.9 million followers when Twitter permanently suspended it in January 2021 after the January 6 Capitol attack; Twitter also suspended the @TeamTrump campaign account. Facebook blocked him from posting on January 6, 2021, extended the suspension to two years in June 2021, and reinstated him on February 7, 2023.", "sources": [ { "title": "Everything Trump says he knows \"more about than anybody\"", "outlet": "Axios", "url": "https://www.axios.com/2019/01/05/everything-trump-says-he-knows-more-about-than-anybody", "date": "2019-01-05" }, { "title": "19 things Donald Trump knows better than anyone else, according to Donald Trump", "outlet": "Washington Post", "url": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/10/04/17-issues-that-donald-trump-knows-better-than-anyone-else-according-to-donald-trump/", "date": "2016-10-04" }, { "title": "Social media use by Donald Trump", "outlet": "Wikipedia", "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media_use_by_Donald_Trump", "date": "2026-09-25" } ] }, { "id": "know-contributions", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "campaign contributions", "title": "Knew more about contributions than anybody", "quote": "I used to be, George, the fair-haired boy — you know, when I was a contributor. I know more about contributions than anybody.", "date": "2015-11", "venue": "Interview with George Stephanopoulos, ABC News", "era": "campaign-2016", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "On February 10, 2016 PolitiFact rated his statement \"I'm self-funding my own campaign\" Half True: by the end of 2015 he had put in nearly $13 million of the campaign's $19.4 million, but about two-thirds of that was loans he could recoup, and roughly 34 percent of the money came from individual donors. In June 2016 NPR reported his fundraising lagged far behind Hillary Clinton's.", "sources": [ { "title": "19 things Donald Trump knows better than anyone else, according to Donald Trump", "outlet": "Washington Post", "url": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/10/04/17-issues-that-donald-trump-knows-better-than-anyone-else-according-to-donald-trump/", "date": "2016-10-04" }, { "title": "Everything Trump says he knows \"more about than anybody\"", "outlet": "Axios", "url": "https://www.axios.com/2019/01/05/everything-trump-says-he-knows-more-about-than-anybody", "date": "2019-01-05" }, { "title": "Donald Trump self-funding his campaign? Sort of", "outlet": "PolitiFact", "url": "https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2016/feb/10/donald-trump/donald-trump-self-funding-his-campaign-sort", "date": "2016-02-10" }, { "title": "Trump's Fundraising Lags Far Behind Clinton's", "outlet": "NPR", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2016/06/20/482853356/trumps-fundraising-lags-far-behind-clintons", "date": "2016-06-20" } ] }, { "id": "know-isis-generals", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "ISIS", "title": "Knew more about ISIS than the generals", "quote": "I know more about ISIS than the generals do. Believe me.", "date": "2015-11-12", "venue": "Campaign rally, Fort Dodge, Iowa", "era": "campaign-2016", "category": "foreign-policy", "what_happened": "He repeated the theme through 2016: in June 2016 he said the generals \"don't know much because they're not winning,\" and in July 2016 that he knew \"more about offense and defense than they will ever understand.\" On September 6, 2016 he said he would give his generals 30 days to submit a plan to defeat ISIS. ISIS lost its last territory in Syria on March 23, 2019 under the U.S.-led Operation Inherent Resolve coalition working with Iraqi forces and the Syrian Democratic Forces, a campaign begun before he took office. By December 2018 Defense Secretary Jim Mattis had resigned over the Syria withdrawal and retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal said he would never work for Trump.", "sources": [ { "title": "How many people actually saw Donald Trump's bizarre Iowa speech, anyway?", "outlet": "Washington Post", "url": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/11/13/how-many-people-actually-saw-donald-trumps-bizarre-iowa-speech-anyway/", "date": "2015-11-13" }, { "title": "Trump: 'I Know More About ISIS than the Generals Do, Believe Me'", "outlet": "Grabien", "url": "https://grabien.com/story?id=41501", "date": "2015-11-13" }, { "title": "Donald Trump will turn to ignorant generals whom he's smarter than to destroy ISIS, bigly.", "outlet": "The New Republic", "url": "https://newrepublic.com/article/136603/donald-trump-will-turn-ignorant-generals-hes-smarter-destroy-isis-bigly", "date": "2016-09-07" }, { "title": "19 things Donald Trump knows better than anyone else, according to Donald Trump", "outlet": "Washington Post", "url": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/10/04/17-issues-that-donald-trump-knows-better-than-anyone-else-according-to-donald-trump/", "date": "2016-10-04" }, { "title": "Trump claimed he knew 'more than the generals.' Now they want nothing to do with him.", "outlet": "ThinkProgress", "url": "https://archive.thinkprogress.org/generals-want-nothing-to-do-with-trump-0a5ad80cb682/", "date": "2018-12-31" }, { "title": "Islamic State", "outlet": "Wikipedia", "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_State", "date": "2026-09-25" } ] }, { "id": "know-steelworkers", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "steelworkers", "title": "Knew more about steelworkers than anybody who ever ran", "quote": "I know more about steelworkers than anybody that's ever run for office.", "date": "2016", "venue": "Campaign rally in New Hampshire", "era": "campaign-2016", "category": "economy", "what_happened": "FactCheck.org found in August 2019 that steel and iron mill employment rose by 4,500 (5.6 percent) between January 2017 and June 2019 to 85,300, still 16 percent below the May 2007 level, and that his claim that no new mill had been built in 30 years was \"completely wrong\" (23 new mills since 1989). U.S. Steel restarted a blast furnace in March 2018 but announced plans to idle furnaces and an Indiana plant in fall 2019.", "sources": [ { "title": "Analysis: Trump touts his experts — often it's Trump himself (syndicated Washington Post)", "outlet": "Mercury News", "url": "https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/01/02/analysis-trump-touts-his-experts-often-its-trump-himself/", "date": "2019-01-02" }, { "title": "The foremost experts on various topics according to Trump, most of whom are Trump", "outlet": "Washington Post", "url": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/01/02/foremost-experts-various-topics-according-trump-most-whom-are-trump/", "date": "2019-01-02" }, { "title": "Trump's Steel Industry Claims", "outlet": "FactCheck.org", "url": "https://www.factcheck.org/2019/08/trumps-steel-industry-claims", "date": "2019-08-29" } ] }, { "id": "know-lawsuits", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "lawsuits", "title": "The king of lawsuits", "quote": "Who knows more about lawsuits than I do? I'm the king.", "date": "2016-01", "venue": "Campaign remarks, January 2016 (per Axios compilation)", "era": "campaign-2016", "category": "justice", "what_happened": "Former federal prosecutor James D. Zirin's 2019 book counted more than 3,500 lawsuits involving Trump over 45 years, including cases he lost such as the defamation suit against author Tim O'Brien. In November 2016 he settled the Trump University suits for $25 million after repeatedly saying he would not settle.", "sources": [ { "title": "Everything Trump says he knows \"more about than anybody\"", "outlet": "Axios", "url": "https://www.axios.com/2019/01/05/everything-trump-says-he-knows-more-about-than-anybody", "date": "2019-01-05" }, { "title": "Trump and his 3,500 suits: Prosecutor and author reveals in interview his portrait of 'Plaintiff in Chief'", "outlet": "ABA Journal", "url": "https://www.abajournal.com/web/article/attorney-and-author-on-his-portrait-of-donald-trump-through-more-than-3500-lawsuits", "date": "2020-04-20" }, { "title": "Donald Trump Settles Trump University Lawsuits for $25 Million", "outlet": "Fortune", "url": "https://fortune.com/2016/11/18/donald-trump-university-case-settlement", "date": "2016-11-18" }, { "title": "Trump University", "outlet": "Wikipedia", "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trump_University", "date": "2026-09-25" } ] }, { "id": "know-jobs", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "jobs", "title": "Nobody knows jobs like he does", "quote": "I hope all workers demand that their @Teamsters reps endorse Donald J. Trump. Nobody knows jobs like I do! Don't let them sell you out!", "date": "2016-01-08", "venue": "Post on Twitter", "era": "campaign-2016", "category": "economy", "what_happened": "FactCheck.org's accounting of his first term found 178,000 fewer manufacturing jobs in January 2021 than when he took office in January 2017. The trade deficit in goods and services in 2020 was the highest since 2008, up 36.3 percent from 2016.", "sources": [ { "title": "15 times Trump bragged about his economic genius that are especially awkward now", "outlet": "ThinkProgress", "url": "https://archive.thinkprogress.org/awkward-trump-brags-economy-1d1906d06be5/", "date": "2018-03-02" }, { "title": "19 things Donald Trump knows better than anyone else, according to Donald Trump", "outlet": "Washington Post", "url": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/10/04/17-issues-that-donald-trump-knows-better-than-anyone-else-according-to-donald-trump/", "date": "2016-10-04" }, { "title": "Trump's Final Numbers", "outlet": "FactCheck.org", "url": "https://www.factcheck.org/2021/10/trumps-final-numbers/", "date": "2021-10-08" } ] }, { "id": "know-politicians-2016", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "politicians", "title": "Nobody knew politicians better than Donald Trump", "quote": "Nobody knows politicians better than Donald Trump.", "date": "2016-02", "venue": "Campaign rally (as documented by The Washington Post's The Fix)", "era": "campaign-2016", "category": "other", "what_happened": "The Post's Philip Bump also recorded a March 2016 rally version in which Trump claimed to \"know more about politicians than anybody.\" In his first year in office, with Republican majorities in both chambers, the Senate effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act failed early on July 28, 2017, when Sen. John McCain cast the deciding \"no\" vote; NPR called it a devastating loss for the GOP and President Trump.", "sources": [ { "title": "19 things Donald Trump knows better than anyone else, according to Donald Trump", "outlet": "The Washington Post", "url": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/10/04/17-issues-that-donald-trump-knows-better-than-anyone-else-according-to-donald-trump/", "date": "2016-10-04" }, { "title": "The foremost experts on various topics according to Trump, most of whom are Trump", "outlet": "The Washington Post", "url": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/01/02/foremost-experts-various-topics-according-trump-most-whom-are-trump/", "date": "2019-01-02" }, { "title": "What Happens Next With Obamacare Repeal", "outlet": "NPR", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2017/07/28/540088244/what-happens-next-with-obamacare-repeal", "date": "2017-07-28" } ] }, { "id": "know-trade", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "trade", "title": "Nobody knows more about trade than him", "quote": "Nobody knows more about trade than me.", "date": "2016-03-03", "venue": "Campaign remarks, March 2016", "era": "campaign-2016", "category": "trade", "what_happened": "The U.S. trade deficit as a share of GDP rose from 2.7 percent in 2016 to 3.0 percent in 2018 and 2.9 percent in 2019. The goods-and-services trade deficit in 2020 was almost $654 billion, the highest since 2008 and 36.3 percent larger than in 2016.", "sources": [ { "title": "Everything Trump says he knows \"more about than anybody\"", "outlet": "Axios", "url": "https://www.axios.com/2019/01/05/everything-trump-says-he-knows-more-about-than-anybody", "date": "2019-01-05" }, { "title": "19 things Donald Trump knows better than anyone else, according to Donald Trump", "outlet": "Washington Post", "url": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/10/04/17-issues-that-donald-trump-knows-better-than-anyone-else-according-to-donald-trump/", "date": "2016-10-04" }, { "title": "15 times Trump bragged about his economic genius that are especially awkward now", "outlet": "ThinkProgress", "url": "https://archive.thinkprogress.org/awkward-trump-brags-economy-1d1906d06be5/", "date": "2018-03-02" }, { "title": "Donald Trump's breathtaking self-admiration", "outlet": "MinnPost", "url": "https://www.minnpost.com/eric-black-ink/2016/06/donald-trump-s-breathtaking-self-admiration/", "date": "2016-06-20" }, { "title": "Trump's Final Numbers", "outlet": "FactCheck.org", "url": "https://www.factcheck.org/2021/10/trumps-final-numbers/", "date": "2021-10-08" }, { "title": "Economic policy of the first Donald Trump administration", "outlet": "Wikipedia", "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_policy_of_the_first_Donald_Trump_administration", "date": "2026-09-25" } ] }, { "id": "know-visa-system", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "the visa system (H-1B, H-2B)", "title": "Nobody knows the visa system better than him", "quote": "Because nobody knows the system better than me. I know the H1B. I know the H2B. Nobody knows it better than me. I'm a businessman. These are laws. These are regulations. These are rules. We're allowed to do it.", "date": "2016-03-10", "venue": "Republican primary debate, Miami (CNN), answering Jake Tapper", "era": "campaign-2016", "category": "immigration", "what_happened": "Tapper's question was why voters should trust him when his own companies brought in foreign workers instead of hiring Americans. In July 2017, with him in office, his Mar-a-Lago club applied for visas to hire 70 foreign workers (15 housekeepers, 20 cooks and 35 servers) for October 2017 to May 2018, and Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter, Florida applied for six cooks. The H-2B cap was temporarily increased in 2017 under DHS Secretary John Kelly.", "sources": [ { "title": "Republican Candidates Debate in Miami, Florida", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project (UCSB)", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/republican-candidates-debate-miami-florida", "date": "2016-03-10" }, { "title": "Transcript of Republican debate in Miami, full text", "outlet": "CNN", "url": "https://www.cnn.com/2016/03/10/politics/republican-debate-transcript-full-text", "date": "2016-03-10" }, { "title": "Immigration policy of the first Donald Trump administration", "outlet": "Wikipedia", "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_policy_of_the_first_Donald_Trump_administration", "date": "2026-09-25" }, { "title": "H-2B visa", "outlet": "Wikipedia", "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H-2B_visa", "date": "2026-09-25" }, { "title": "19 things Donald Trump knows better than anyone else, according to Donald Trump", "outlet": "Washington Post", "url": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/10/04/17-issues-that-donald-trump-knows-better-than-anyone-else-according-to-donald-trump/", "date": "2016-10-04" } ] }, { "id": "know-renewables", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "renewable energy", "title": "Knew more about renewables than any human being on Earth", "quote": "I know more about renewables than any human being on Earth.", "date": "2016-04", "venue": "Campaign remarks, April 2016", "era": "campaign-2016", "category": "environment", "what_happened": "PolitiFact rated his March 2019 claim that \"when the wind stops blowing, that's the end of your electric\" Mostly False, noting that power comes from interconnected regional grids with backup generation and that renewables supplied about 17 percent of U.S. electricity in 2018. A December 2019 Slate fact-check found no evidence for his claim that turbine manufacturing spews unusual fumes; studies show wind has a small carbon footprint relative to other generation.", "sources": [ { "title": "Everything Trump says he knows \"more about than anybody\"", "outlet": "Axios", "url": "https://www.axios.com/2019/01/05/everything-trump-says-he-knows-more-about-than-anybody", "date": "2019-01-05" }, { "title": "19 things Donald Trump knows better than anyone else, according to Donald Trump", "outlet": "Washington Post", "url": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/10/04/17-issues-that-donald-trump-knows-better-than-anyone-else-according-to-donald-trump/", "date": "2016-10-04" }, { "title": "Fact-checking Donald Trump's take on wind energy", "outlet": "PolitiFact", "url": "https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2019/apr/03/donald-trump/fact-checking-donald-trumps-take-wind-energy/", "date": "2019-04-03" }, { "title": "Fact-checking Trump's rant against windmills, fumes, and eagle deaths", "outlet": "Slate", "url": "https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/12/trump-windmills-fumes-fact-check.html", "date": "2019-12-23" } ] }, { "id": "know-banking", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "banking and Wall Street", "title": "Nobody knows banking better than he does", "quote": "Nobody knows banking better than I do", "date": "2016-04-21", "venue": "NBC Today town hall", "era": "campaign-2016", "category": "economy", "what_happened": "At the same town hall, asked about his claim to know Wall Street bankers better than anyone, he answered, \"Better than anyone.\" After the election he filled his top economic posts with Goldman Sachs veterans (Mnuchin at Treasury, Cohn at the NEC, Bannon as senior adviser); Goldman's stock rose 33 percent after his victory. His own casino and hotel companies went through six Chapter 11 bankruptcies between 1991 and 2009, and he avoided personal bankruptcy in the 1990s with about $90 million from Hong Kong investors.", "sources": [ { "title": "15 times Trump bragged about his economic genius that are especially awkward now", "outlet": "ThinkProgress", "url": "https://archive.thinkprogress.org/awkward-trump-brags-economy-1d1906d06be5/", "date": "2018-03-02" }, { "title": "19 things Donald Trump knows better than anyone else, according to Donald Trump", "outlet": "Washington Post", "url": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/10/04/17-issues-that-donald-trump-knows-better-than-anyone-else-according-to-donald-trump/", "date": "2016-10-04" }, { "title": "Trump's Goldman Sachs economic team", "outlet": "PBS NewsHour", "url": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trump-goldman-sachs-economic-team", "date": "2016-12-10" }, { "title": "Business career of Donald Trump", "outlet": "Wikipedia", "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_career_of_Donald_Trump", "date": "2026-09-25" } ] }, { "id": "know-debt", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "debt", "title": "The king of debt knew more about debt than anybody", "quote": "I'm the king of debt. I love debt. ... I know more about debt than practically anybody. I love debt. I also love reducing debt. And I know how to do it better than anybody.", "date": "2016-05-04", "venue": "Interview with Wolf Blitzer, CNN, answering a question about Puerto Rico's debt crisis", "era": "campaign-2016", "category": "economy", "what_happened": "He told CBS's Norah O'Donnell the same year, \"Nobody knows debt better than me,\" and told the Washington Post he would eliminate the $19 trillion national debt \"over a period of eight years.\" Federal debt held by the public rose from $14.4 trillion in January 2017 to $21.6 trillion in January 2021, an increase of 50 percent. His businesses went through six Chapter 11 bankruptcies between 1991 and 2009.", "sources": [ { "title": "'I Love Debt': Trump Says He Is the 'King of Debt'", "outlet": "TheBlaze", "url": "https://www.theblaze.com/news/2016/05/04/i-love-debt-trump-says-he-is-the-king-of-debt", "date": "2016-05-04" }, { "title": "Donald Trump: 'I'm the king of debt'", "outlet": "CNN Money", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20250408195853/https://money.cnn.com/2016/05/05/investing/trump-king-of-debt-fire-janet-yellen/", "date": "2016-05-05" }, { "title": "Flashback: Trump ran on being 'king of debt' in 2016, bragged he could eliminate national debt in 8 years", "outlet": "Fox News", "url": "https://www.foxnews.com/politics/flashback-trump-ran-being-king-debt-2016-bragged-he-could-eliminate-national-debt-8-years.print", "date": "2025-06-06" }, { "title": "Trump's Final Numbers", "outlet": "FactCheck.org", "url": "https://www.factcheck.org/2021/10/trumps-final-numbers/", "date": "2021-10-08" }, { "title": "Business career of Donald Trump", "outlet": "Wikipedia", "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_career_of_Donald_Trump", "date": "2026-09-25" } ] }, { "id": "know-taxes", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "taxes", "title": "Nobody knew more about taxes, maybe in the history of the world", "quote": "I think nobody knows more about taxes than I do, maybe in the history of the world. Nobody knows more about taxes. You can learn very little from a tax return.", "date": "2016-05-13", "venue": "Phone interview on ABC's Good Morning America", "era": "campaign-2016", "category": "taxes", "what_happened": "In the same interview he refused to say what tax rate he paid, calling it \"none of your business,\" and he did not release his returns during the campaign. He repeated the claim on October 2, 2016 (\"I know our complex tax laws better than anyone\"), his campaign said he \"knows the tax code far better than anyone who has ever run for President,\" and in a December 2017 New York Times interview he said, \"I know the details of taxes better than anybody. Better than the greatest C.P.A.\" He had also told ABC on May 9, 2016 that \"nobody knows more about taxes than I do.\"", "sources": [ { "title": "Trump says his tax rate is 'none of your business'", "outlet": "PBS NewsHour", "url": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trump-says-his-tax-rate-is-none-of-your-business", "date": "2016-05-13" }, { "title": "Trump's Long History of Tweet-Shaming on Taxes", "outlet": "NBC News", "url": "https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/trump-s-long-list-tweet-shaming-taxes-n658061", "date": "2016-10-01" }, { "title": "15 times Trump bragged about his economic genius that are especially awkward now", "outlet": "ThinkProgress", "url": "https://archive.thinkprogress.org/awkward-trump-brags-economy-1d1906d06be5/", "date": "2018-03-02" }, { "title": "Analysis: Trump touts his experts — often it's Trump himself (syndicated Washington Post)", "outlet": "Mercury News", "url": "https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/01/02/analysis-trump-touts-his-experts-often-its-trump-himself/", "date": "2019-01-02" }, { "title": "The foremost experts on various topics according to Trump, most of whom are Trump", "outlet": "Washington Post", "url": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/01/02/foremost-experts-various-topics-according-trump-most-whom-are-trump/", "date": "2019-01-02" }, { "title": "Everything Trump says he knows \"more about than anybody\"", "outlet": "Axios", "url": "https://www.axios.com/2019/01/05/everything-trump-says-he-knows-more-about-than-anybody", "date": "2019-01-05" } ] }, { "id": "know-nuclear", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "nuclear weapons", "title": "Nobody understood the horror of nuclear more than him", "quote": "There is nobody who understands the horror of nuclear more than me.", "date": "2016-06-15", "venue": "Campaign speech, reported live by the Guardian's Ben Jacobs", "era": "campaign-2016", "category": "foreign-policy", "what_happened": "NBC News documented his contradictory statements: he called nuclear proliferation the world's biggest problem (March 26, 2016) and said \"I will be the last to use nuclear weapons\" (April 28, 2016), but also \"I can't take anything off the table\" (September 26, 2016), suggested Japan, South Korea and Saudi Arabia might acquire their own weapons, and tweeted on December 22, 2016 that the U.S. \"must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability.\"", "sources": [ { "title": "Ben Jacobs: Donald Trump: \"There is nobody who understands the horror of nuclear more than me\"", "outlet": "Twitter/X", "url": "https://twitter.com/Bencjacobs/status/743137599867523072", "date": "2016-06-15" }, { "title": "19 things Donald Trump knows better than anyone else, according to Donald Trump", "outlet": "Washington Post", "url": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/10/04/17-issues-that-donald-trump-knows-better-than-anyone-else-according-to-donald-trump/", "date": "2016-10-04" }, { "title": "Donald Trump Has History of Contradictory Statements on Nuclear Weapons", "outlet": "NBC News", "url": "https://www.nbcnews.com/news/all/donald-trump-has-history-contradictory-statements-nuclear-weapons-n808466", "date": "2017-10-11" }, { "title": "Here's What Donald Trump Has Said About Nuclear Weapons", "outlet": "Time", "url": "https://time.com/4437089/donald-trump-nuclear-weapons-nukes/", "date": "2016-08" } ] }, { "id": "know-money", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "money", "title": "Understood money better than anybody", "quote": "I understand money better than anybody and I understand it way better than Hillary.", "date": "2016-06-21", "venue": "Interview on NBC's Today, discussing his campaign's cash on hand", "era": "campaign-2016", "category": "economy", "what_happened": "He had said the same thing on Today on January 21, 2016. His businesses filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy six times between 1991 and 2009, including the Trump Taj Mahal, financed with $675 million in junk bonds at 14 percent interest, which entered bankruptcy in 1991. In December 2016 he named Goldman Sachs alumni Steven Mnuchin and Gary Cohn to lead Treasury and the National Economic Council.", "sources": [ { "title": "Everything Trump says he knows \"more about than anybody\"", "outlet": "Axios", "url": "https://www.axios.com/2019/01/05/everything-trump-says-he-knows-more-about-than-anybody", "date": "2019-01-05" }, { "title": "15 times Trump bragged about his economic genius that are especially awkward now", "outlet": "ThinkProgress", "url": "https://archive.thinkprogress.org/awkward-trump-brags-economy-1d1906d06be5/", "date": "2018-03-02" }, { "title": "19 things Donald Trump knows better than anyone else, according to Donald Trump", "outlet": "Washington Post", "url": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/10/04/17-issues-that-donald-trump-knows-better-than-anyone-else-according-to-donald-trump/", "date": "2016-10-04" }, { "title": "Business career of Donald Trump", "outlet": "Wikipedia", "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_career_of_Donald_Trump", "date": "2026-09-25" }, { "title": "Trump's Goldman Sachs economic team", "outlet": "PBS NewsHour", "url": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trump-goldman-sachs-economic-team", "date": "2016-12-10" } ] }, { "id": "know-infrastructure", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "infrastructure", "title": "Nobody in U.S. history knew so much about infrastructure", "quote": "look, as a builder, nobody in the history of this country has ever known so much about infrastructure as Donald Trump. I build infrastructure.", "date": "2016-07-16", "venue": "Remarks introducing Mike Pence as running mate, New York City", "era": "campaign-2016", "category": "infrastructure", "what_happened": "His February 2018 proposal of $200 billion in federal money meant to leverage $1.5 trillion stalled in Congress. An April 30, 2019 meeting with Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer on a $2 trillion package produced no agreement after he conditioned it on passing USMCA and ending investigations. No major infrastructure bill became law during his first term.", "sources": [ { "title": "Remarks Introducing Governor Mike Pence as the 2016 Republican Vice Presidential Nominee in New York City", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project (UCSB)", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-introducing-governor-mike-pence-the-2016-republican-vice-presidential-nominee-new", "date": "2016-07-16" }, { "title": "Donald Trump Introduces Indiana Gov. Mike Pence As His VP Nominee", "outlet": "NPR", "url": "https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/07/16/486291768/donald-trump-introduces-mike-pence-as-his-running-mate", "date": "2016-07-16" }, { "title": "Infrastructure policy of Donald Trump", "outlet": "Wikipedia", "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrastructure_policy_of_Donald_Trump", "date": "2026-09-25" }, { "title": "15 times Trump bragged about his economic genius that are especially awkward now", "outlet": "ThinkProgress", "url": "https://archive.thinkprogress.org/awkward-trump-brags-economy-1d1906d06be5/", "date": "2018-03-02" }, { "title": "Everything Trump says he knows \"more about than anybody\"", "outlet": "Axios", "url": "https://www.axios.com/2019/01/05/everything-trump-says-he-knows-more-about-than-anybody", "date": "2019-01-05" } ] }, { "id": "know-the-system", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "the system", "title": "Nobody knows the system better than him", "quote": "Nobody knows the system better than me, which is why I alone can fix it. I have seen firsthand how the system is rigged against our citizens, just like it was rigged against Bernie Sanders – he never had a chance.", "date": "2016-07-21", "venue": "RNC acceptance speech, Cleveland", "era": "campaign-2016", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "He had used a similar line in April 2016 (\"[N]obody knows the system better than I do\"). On January 28, 2017 he signed Executive Order 13770, an ethics pledge with a five-year ban on appointees lobbying their former agency and a lifetime ban on lobbying for foreign governments. On January 19, 2021, his last full day in office, he revoked it by Executive Order 13983 without explanation, which NPR reported allowed his appointees to begin lobbying immediately.", "sources": [ { "title": "Address Accepting the Presidential Nomination at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project (UCSB)", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/address-accepting-the-presidential-nomination-the-republican-national-convention-cleveland", "date": "2016-07-21" }, { "title": "Everything Trump says he knows \"more about than anybody\"", "outlet": "Axios", "url": "https://www.axios.com/2019/01/05/everything-trump-says-he-knows-more-about-than-anybody", "date": "2019-01-05" }, { "title": "19 things Donald Trump knows better than anyone else, according to Donald Trump", "outlet": "Washington Post", "url": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/10/04/17-issues-that-donald-trump-knows-better-than-anyone-else-according-to-donald-trump/", "date": "2016-10-04" }, { "title": "Executive Order 13770", "outlet": "Wikipedia", "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_13770", "date": "2026-09-25" }, { "title": "Executive Order on the Revocation of Executive Order 13770", "outlet": "Trump White House Archives", "url": "https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-revocation-executive-order-13770/", "date": "2021-01-19" } ] }, { "id": "know-cory-booker", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "Sen. Cory Booker", "title": "Knew more about Cory Booker than Booker knew about himself", "quote": "If Cory Booker is the future of the Democratic Party, they have no future! I know more about Cory than he knows about himself.", "date": "2016-07-26", "venue": "Post on Twitter, during the Democratic National Convention", "era": "campaign-2016", "category": "other", "what_happened": "The tweet followed Booker's DNC speech criticizing Trump. Booker told CNN, \"He wants us to be speculating. It sounds so sinister,\" and said he would respond with love and prayer. Trump did not say what he claimed to know.", "sources": [ { "title": "Trump on Booker: 'I know more about Cory than he knows about himself'", "outlet": "The Hill", "url": "https://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/289206-trump-on-booker-i-know-more-about-cory-than-he-knows/", "date": "2016-07-26" }, { "title": "Cory Booker responds to Donald Trump speech tweets", "outlet": "CNN", "url": "https://www.cnn.com/2016/07/26/politics/cory-booker-donald-trump-speech-tweets/index.html", "date": "2016-07-26" }, { "title": "After Tweet, Sen. Cory Booker Says He Prays For Donald Trump", "outlet": "CBS New York", "url": "https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/booker-trump-tweet/", "date": "2016-07-26" }, { "title": "Analysis: Trump touts his experts — often it's Trump himself (syndicated Washington Post)", "outlet": "Mercury News", "url": "https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/01/02/analysis-trump-touts-his-experts-often-its-trump-himself/", "date": "2019-01-02" }, { "title": "Everything Trump says he knows \"more about than anybody\"", "outlet": "Axios", "url": "https://www.axios.com/2019/01/05/everything-trump-says-he-knows-more-about-than-anybody", "date": "2019-01-05" } ] }, { "id": "know-democrats", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "Democrats", "title": "Knew more about the other side than almost anybody", "quote": "I think I know more about the other side than almost anybody.", "date": "2016-11", "venue": "Campaign event, November 2016", "era": "campaign-2016", "category": "elections", "what_happened": "In the November 6, 2018 midterm elections Democrats gained a net 41 House seats and won the House popular vote by 8.6 points, the largest margin of victory on record for a minority party, taking control of the chamber.", "sources": [ { "title": "Everything Trump says he knows \"more about than anybody\"", "outlet": "Axios", "url": "https://www.axios.com/2019/01/05/everything-trump-says-he-knows-more-about-than-anybody", "date": "2019-01-05" }, { "title": "Analysis: Trump touts his experts — often it's Trump himself (syndicated Washington Post)", "outlet": "Mercury News", "url": "https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/01/02/analysis-trump-touts-his-experts-often-its-trump-himself/", "date": "2019-01-02" }, { "title": "The foremost experts on various topics according to Trump, most of whom are Trump", "outlet": "Washington Post", "url": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/01/02/foremost-experts-various-topics-according-trump-most-whom-are-trump/", "date": "2019-01-02" }, { "title": "2018 United States House of Representatives elections", "outlet": "Wikipedia", "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_United_States_House_of_Representatives_elections", "date": "2026-09-25" } ] }, { "id": "know-polls-2017", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "polls", "title": "Could read the polls better than anybody", "quote": "And I can read the polls maybe better than anybody, because it seems that I understood the polls a lot better than many of the pollsters understood the polls, assuming they were honest polls, which I think probably many of them weren't.", "date": "2017-02-08", "venue": "Remarks to the Major Cities Chiefs Association winter meeting, Washington, D.C.", "era": "term-1", "category": "elections", "what_happened": "Pew Research Center's post-election analysis (November 9, 2016) found that the final round of national polls showed Clinton leading by 1 to 7 points and that, across the board, polls underestimated Trump's support; forecasters had put Clinton's chances at 70% to 99%. Pew reported \"a great deal of speculation but no clear answers as to the cause of the disconnect,\" and did not attribute the misses to dishonest polling.", "sources": [ { "title": "Remarks at the Major Cities Chiefs Association Winter Meeting", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-the-major-cities-chiefs-association-winter-meeting", "date": "2017-02-08" }, { "title": "Why 2016 election polls missed their mark", "outlet": "Pew Research Center", "url": "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2016/11/09/why-2016-election-polls-missed-their-mark/", "date": "2016-11-09" } ] }, { "id": "know-taxes-health-care-big-bills-2017", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "the big bills (taxes, health care)", "title": "Knew taxes better than the greatest C.P.A., health care better than most", "quote": "I know the details of taxes better than anybody. Better than the greatest C.P.A. I know the details of health care better than most, better than most.", "date": "2017-12-28", "venue": "Interview with The New York Times at Trump International Golf Club, West Palm Beach, Florida", "era": "term-1", "category": "healthcare", "what_happened": "In the same interview he said he knows more about \"the big bills\" debated in Congress \"than any president that's ever been in office.\" Ten months earlier, on February 27, 2017, he had told the nation's governors, \"Nobody knew that health care could be so complicated.\" The Senate's effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act failed on July 28, 2017. The Post's Fact Checker counted 24 false or misleading claims in the 30-minute Times interview.", "sources": [ { "title": "Trump Says Russia Inquiry Makes U.S. 'Look Very Bad'", "outlet": "The New York Times", "url": "https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/28/us/politics/trump-interview-mueller-russia-china-north-korea.html", "date": "2017-12-28" }, { "title": "In a 30-minute interview, President Trump made 24 false or misleading claims", "outlet": "The Washington Post", "url": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2017/12/29/in-a-30-minute-interview-president-trump-made-24-false-or-misleading-claims/", "date": "2017-12-29" }, { "title": "Remarks at the National Governors Association", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-the-national-governors-association-11", "date": "2017-02-27" }, { "title": "What Happens Next With Obamacare Repeal", "outlet": "NPR", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2017/07/28/540088244/what-happens-next-with-obamacare-repeal", "date": "2017-07-28" } ] }, { "id": "know-wedges-2018", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "wedges", "title": "Knew more about wedges than any human being that's ever lived", "quote": "I know more about wedges than any human being that's ever lived", "date": "2018-01-11", "venue": "Interview with The Wall Street Journal, the Oval Office", "era": "term-1", "category": "foreign-policy", "what_happened": "The question was whether North Korea was trying to drive a wedge between the United States and South Korea; Trump added, \"but I'll let you know.\" He met Kim Jong Un in Singapore in June 2018 and again in Hanoi on February 27–28, 2019, where the talks ended without any agreement: \"we decided not to do any of the options ... sometimes, you have to walk,\" he said.", "sources": [ { "title": "Interview with the Wall Street Journal", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/interview-with-the-wall-street-journal-0", "date": "2018-01-11" }, { "title": "The foremost experts on various topics according to Trump, most of whom are Trump", "outlet": "The Washington Post", "url": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/01/02/foremost-experts-various-topics-according-trump-most-whom-are-trump/", "date": "2019-01-02" }, { "title": "The President's News Conference in Hanoi, Vietnam", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-hanoi-vietnam", "date": "2019-02-28" } ] }, { "id": "know-construction", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "construction", "title": "Nobody knows more about construction than he does", "quote": "You will spend so much—nobody knows more about construction than I do. You will spend so much—you're going to make it so hard that you can't run a D8—you know what that is, right—through the doors.", "date": "2018-05-04", "venue": "NRA Leadership Forum, Dallas, Texas, discussing plans to harden schools", "era": "term-1", "category": "other", "what_happened": "His signature construction project was the border wall. By January 2021, 458 miles had been built, of which 373 miles replaced existing barriers and 52 miles were new primary wall where none stood before. Former CBP Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske said in 2020 the barrier cost \"multi-millions of dollars\" per mile plus maintenance and that \"the money is much better invested in technology than barriers.\"", "sources": [ { "title": "Remarks at the National Rifle Association Leadership Forum in Dallas, Texas", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project (UCSB)", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-the-national-rifle-association-leadership-forum-dallas-texas", "date": "2018-05-04" }, { "title": "Everything Trump says he knows \"more about than anybody\"", "outlet": "Axios", "url": "https://www.axios.com/2019/01/05/everything-trump-says-he-knows-more-about-than-anybody", "date": "2019-01-05" }, { "title": "Trump's Final Numbers", "outlet": "FactCheck.org", "url": "https://www.factcheck.org/2021/10/trumps-final-numbers/", "date": "2021-10-08" }, { "title": "Former border commissioner: President Trump's 'incredibly expensive' border policy didn't make sense in first place", "outlet": "Yahoo Finance", "url": "https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-border-wall-expensive-160152015.html", "date": "2020-09-19" } ] }, { "id": "know-deals-north-korea-2018", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "deals (North Korea)", "title": "Knew deals better than anybody knows deals", "quote": "I've made a lot of deals. I know deals, I think, better than anybody knows deals. You never really know.", "date": "2018-05-22", "venue": "Remarks before a meeting with President Moon Jae-in of South Korea, the Oval Office", "era": "term-1", "category": "foreign-policy", "what_happened": "He was discussing prospects for a deal with North Korea ahead of the June 12, 2018 Singapore summit. At the second summit in Hanoi on February 28, 2019, he and Secretary Pompeo decided \"it wasn't a good thing to be signing anything\" and left without an agreement; Pompeo said the teams had worked for weeks toward \"a big step\" beyond what the two leaders agreed in Singapore.", "sources": [ { "title": "Remarks Prior to a Meeting With President Moon Jae-in of South Korea and an Exchange With Reporters", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-prior-meeting-with-president-moon-jae-south-korea-and-exchange-with-reporters", "date": "2018-05-22" }, { "title": "The President's News Conference on Sentosa Island, Singapore", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-sentosa-island-singapore", "date": "2018-06-12" }, { "title": "The President's News Conference in Hanoi, Vietnam", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-hanoi-vietnam", "date": "2019-02-28" } ] }, { "id": "know-trade-offshoring-2018", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "unfair trade deals", "title": "Understood unfair trade better than anybody", "quote": "As you know, I campaigned on that issue; it's very close to my heart. I understand that issue better than anybody.", "date": "2018-07-24", "venue": "Veterans of Foreign Wars National Convention, Kansas City, Missouri", "era": "term-1", "category": "trade", "what_happened": "He was describing companies that close U.S. plants and ship products back tax-free, and said \"We're stopping it.\" Census Bureau and BEA data released March 6, 2019 showed the 2018 goods and services deficit was $621.0 billion, up $68.8 billion (12.5%) from 2017; the goods deficit rose 10.4% to $891.3 billion.", "sources": [ { "title": "Remarks at the Veterans of Foreign Wars National Convention in Kansas City, Missouri", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-the-veterans-foreign-wars-national-convention-kansas-city-missouri-0", "date": "2018-07-24" }, { "title": "U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services, December 2018", "outlet": "U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis", "url": "https://www.bea.gov/news/2019/us-international-trade-goods-and-services-december-2018", "date": "2019-03-06" } ] }, { "id": "know-economy-fed", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "the economy and interest rates", "title": "Knew about the economy better than the Federal Reserve", "quote": "But I think the Fed is far too stringent, and they're making a mistake, and it's not right. And it's—despite that, we're doing very well, but it's not necessary, in my opinion. And I think I know about it better than they do. Believe me.", "date": "2018-10-11", "venue": "Exchange with reporters at the Save Our Seas Act signing, White House", "era": "term-1", "category": "economy", "what_happened": "The remark came a day after the Dow fell 831 points on October 10, 2018, when he said the Fed had \"gone crazy.\" The Fed continued raising rates through 2018, then cut rates several times in 2019, citing a global slowdown and the effects of his trade policies. Asked the same day whether he would fire Chairman Jerome Powell, he said no.", "sources": [ { "title": "Remarks on Signing the Save Our Seas Act of 2018 and an Exchange With Reporters", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project (UCSB)", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-signing-the-save-our-seas-act-2018-and-exchange-with-reporters", "date": "2018-10-11" }, { "title": "Trump says he knows economy better than Federal Reserve chair", "outlet": "Washington Times", "url": "https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/oct/11/trump-says-he-knows-economy-better-federal-reserve/", "date": "2018-10-11" }, { "title": "Trump says Federal Reserve has 'gone crazy' after big stock drop", "outlet": "PBS NewsHour", "url": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trump-says-federal-reserve-has-gone-crazy-after-big-stock-drop", "date": "2018-10-10" }, { "title": "Economic policy of the first Donald Trump administration", "outlet": "Wikipedia", "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_policy_of_the_first_Donald_Trump_administration", "date": "2026-09-25" }, { "title": "Everything Trump says he knows \"more about than anybody\"", "outlet": "Axios", "url": "https://www.axios.com/2019/01/05/everything-trump-says-he-knows-more-about-than-anybody", "date": "2019-01-05" } ] }, { "id": "know-technology", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "technology", "title": "Knew tech better than anyone", "quote": "The Democrats are trying to belittle the concept of a Wall, calling it old fashioned. The fact is there is nothing else's that will work, and that has been true for thousands of years. It's like the wheel, there is nothing better. I know tech better than anyone, & technology.....", "date": "2018-12-21", "venue": "Post on Twitter, on the eve of the government shutdown over wall funding", "era": "term-1", "category": "immigration", "what_happened": "Earlier that month he had said, \"Technology — nobody knows more about technology than me.\" The shutdown that began December 22, 2018 ended January 25, 2019 with $1.375 billion for barriers rather than the $5.7 billion he sought. Former CBP Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske later argued the money was \"much better invested in technology than barriers.\"", "sources": [ { "title": "Trump says he knows tech better than anyone as he tries to get his border wall built", "outlet": "Fox News", "url": "https://www.foxnews.com/tech/trump-says-he-knows-tech-better-than-anyone-as-he-tries-to-get-his-border-wall-built", "date": "2018-12-21" }, { "title": "Everything Trump says he knows \"more about than anybody\"", "outlet": "Axios", "url": "https://www.axios.com/2019/01/05/everything-trump-says-he-knows-more-about-than-anybody", "date": "2019-01-05" }, { "title": "Analysis: Trump touts his experts — often it's Trump himself (syndicated Washington Post)", "outlet": "Mercury News", "url": "https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/01/02/analysis-trump-touts-his-experts-often-its-trump-himself/", "date": "2019-01-02" }, { "title": "Trump wall", "outlet": "Wikipedia", "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trump_wall", "date": "2026-09-25" }, { "title": "Former border commissioner: President Trump's 'incredibly expensive' border policy didn't make sense in first place", "outlet": "Yahoo Finance", "url": "https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-border-wall-expensive-160152015.html", "date": "2020-09-19" } ] }, { "id": "know-drones", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "drones", "title": "Knew more about drones than anybody", "quote": "I know more about drones than anybody. I know about every form of safety that you can have. And it's all good, but it's just very minor compared to the power of a wall.", "date": "2019-01-02", "venue": "Cabinet meeting, White House", "era": "term-1", "category": "immigration", "what_happened": "The Washington Post's Philip Bump catalogued the claim the same day alongside more than a dozen other subjects on which Trump had declared himself the foremost expert. Former CBP Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske said in 2020 that \"the money is much better invested in technology than barriers.\" By January 2021, 52 miles of new primary wall had been built where none existed before.", "sources": [ { "title": "Remarks by President Trump in Cabinet Meeting", "outlet": "Trump White House Archives", "url": "https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-cabinet-meeting-12/", "date": "2019-01-02" }, { "title": "Analysis: Trump touts his experts — often it's Trump himself (syndicated Washington Post)", "outlet": "Mercury News", "url": "https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/01/02/analysis-trump-touts-his-experts-often-its-trump-himself/", "date": "2019-01-02" }, { "title": "The foremost experts on various topics according to Trump, most of whom are Trump", "outlet": "Washington Post", "url": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/01/02/foremost-experts-various-topics-according-trump-most-whom-are-trump/", "date": "2019-01-02" }, { "title": "Former border commissioner: President Trump's 'incredibly expensive' border policy didn't make sense in first place", "outlet": "Yahoo Finance", "url": "https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-border-wall-expensive-160152015.html", "date": "2020-09-19" }, { "title": "Trump's Final Numbers", "outlet": "FactCheck.org", "url": "https://www.factcheck.org/2021/10/trumps-final-numbers/", "date": "2021-10-08" } ] }, { "id": "know-environment-2019", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "the environment", "title": "Knew more about the environment than most people", "quote": "And I'm an environmentalist. You—a lot of people don't understand that. I have done more environmental impact statements, probably, than anybody that's—I guess I can say definitely, because I have done many, many, many of them. More than anybody that's ever been President or Vice President or anything even close to President. And I think I know more about the environment than most people.", "date": "2019-08-26", "venue": "News conference with President Emmanuel Macron at the G-7 summit, Biarritz, France", "era": "term-1", "category": "environment", "what_happened": "A New York Times analysis updated January 20, 2021 counted 112 environmental rollbacks under the administration (98 completed, 14 in progress) covering climate, clean air, water, wildlife and toxic chemicals. On January 9, 2020 he proposed rewriting NEPA regulations to set a presumptive two-year limit on environmental impact statements, citing a Council on Environmental Quality finding that the average statement took 4½ years.", "sources": [ { "title": "The President's News Conference With President Emmanuel Macron of France in Biarritz, France", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-with-president-emmanuel-macron-france-biarritz-france", "date": "2019-08-26" }, { "title": "The Trump Administration Rolled Back More Than 100 Environmental Rules. Here's the Full List.", "outlet": "The New York Times", "url": "https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/climate/trump-environment-rollbacks-list.html", "date": "2021-01-20" }, { "title": "Remarks on Proposed National Environmental Policy Act Regulations and an Exchange With Reporters", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-proposed-national-environmental-policy-act-regulations-and-exchange-with-reporters", "date": "2020-01-09" } ] }, { "id": "know-isis-captives-2019", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "ISIS prisoners in Syria", "title": "Knew more about ISIS captives than the pundits", "quote": "So I'm the one that did the capturing. I'm the one that knows more about it than you people or the fake pundits.", "date": "2019-10-21", "venue": "Cabinet meeting, the White House", "era": "term-1", "category": "foreign-policy", "what_happened": "He was answering questions about ISIS detainees after the U.S. pullback from northern Syria and Turkey's offensive. On October 13, 2019, Reuters reported that around 100 people—women affiliated with Islamic State and their children—had escaped from the Ain Issa camp guarded by Kurdish-led forces after it was shelled, with the Syrian Observatory describing \"anarchy\" inside.", "sources": [ { "title": "Remarks During a Cabinet Meeting and an Exchange With Reporters", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-during-cabinet-meeting-and-exchange-with-reporters-0", "date": "2019-10-21" }, { "title": "Syrian Observatory: 100 people escape camp holding Islamic State relatives", "outlet": "Reuters", "url": "https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-security-turkey-camp-report/syrian-observatory-100-people-escape-camp-holding-islamic-state-relatives-idUSKBN1WS06L", "date": "2019-10-13" } ] }, { "id": "know-windmills", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "wind power", "title": "Studied windmills better than anybody he knew", "quote": "We'll have an economy based on wind. I never understood wind. You know, I know windmills very much. I've studied it better than anybody I know. It's very expensive. They're made in China and Germany mostly; very few made here, almost none. But they're manufactured tremendous—if you're into this—tremendous fumes. Gases are spewing into the atmosphere.", "date": "2019-12-21", "venue": "Turning Point USA Student Action Summit, West Palm Beach, Florida", "era": "term-1", "category": "environment", "what_happened": "Slate's fact-check found no evidence that turbine manufacturing produces more emissions than other energy sources, that wind has a particularly small carbon footprint, that fossil-fuel plants and glass buildings kill far more birds than turbines, and that the maximum sentence for killing a bald eagle in California is two years, not the ten he claimed. PolitiFact had rated his March 2019 claim that \"when the wind stops blowing, that's the end of your electric\" Mostly False.", "sources": [ { "title": "Remarks at the Turning Point U.S.A. Student Action Summit in West Palm Beach, Florida", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project (UCSB)", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-the-turning-point-usa-student-action-summit-west-palm-beach-florida", "date": "2019-12-21" }, { "title": "Fact-checking Trump's rant against windmills, fumes, and eagle deaths", "outlet": "Slate", "url": "https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/12/trump-windmills-fumes-fact-check.html", "date": "2019-12-23" }, { "title": "Fact-checking Donald Trump's take on wind energy", "outlet": "PolitiFact", "url": "https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2019/apr/03/donald-trump/fact-checking-donald-trumps-take-wind-energy/", "date": "2019-04-03" } ] }, { "id": "know-covid-natural-ability", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "the coronavirus", "title": "Doctors ask how he knows so much about the virus; 'maybe I have a natural ability'", "quote": "Every one of these doctors said, 'How do you know so much about this?' Maybe I have a natural ability.", "date": "2020-03-06", "venue": "Remarks after touring the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta", "era": "term-1", "category": "covid", "what_happened": "At the same CDC visit he said, 'I like this stuff. I really get it. People are surprised that I understand it.' Recorded interviews with Bob Woodward later showed that on February 7, 2020 he had privately called the virus 'deadly stuff' and 'more deadly than even your strenuous flu,' and on March 19, 2020 said, 'I wanted to always play it down.' By the time those tapes were published on September 9, 2020, more than 190,000 Americans had died of COVID-19.", "sources": [ { "title": "Remarks by President Trump After Tour of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention", "outlet": "White House (archived)", "url": "https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-tour-centers-disease-control-prevention-atlanta-ga/", "date": "2020-03-06" }, { "title": "'Maybe I have a natural ability': Trump plays medical expert on coronavirus by second-guessing the professionals", "outlet": "The Washington Post", "url": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/maybe-i-have-a-natural-ability-trump-plays-medical-expert-on-coronavirus-by-second-guessing-the-professionals/2020/03/06/3ee0574c-5ffb-11ea-9055-5fa12981bbbf_story.html", "date": "2020-03-06" }, { "title": "Trump told Bob Woodward he knew in February that COVID-19 was 'deadly stuff' but wanted to 'play it down'", "outlet": "NBC News", "url": "https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-told-bob-woodward-he-knew-february-covid-19-was-n1239658", "date": "2020-09-09" } ] }, { "id": "know-insurance-companies", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "insurance companies", "title": "Knows insurance companies 'better than anybody'", "quote": "I know insurance companies better than anybody. They just don't do that. But now there's a spirit like I have not seen.", "date": "2020-03-29", "venue": "White House Coronavirus Task Force press briefing", "era": "term-1", "category": "healthcare", "what_happened": "The remark answered a question about whether insurers beyond Humana and Cigna would waive co-pays for COVID-19 treatment. Trump said he would 'love to have them do it' and that insurers historically 'just don't do that,' while offering no data on how many insurers had agreed. The claim of unmatched knowledge of the industry was not accompanied by a policy commitment in the briefing.", "sources": [ { "title": "Remarks at a White House Coronavirus Task Force Press Briefing (March 29, 2020)", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-white-house-coronavirus-task-force-press-briefing-14", "date": "2020-03-29" } ] }, { "id": "know-south-korea-2020", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "South Korea", "title": "Knew South Korea better than anybody; put Seoul at 38 million", "quote": "I know South Korea better than anybody. It's a—very tight. Do you know how many people are in Seoul? Do you know how big the city of Seoul is?", "date": "2020-03-30", "venue": "White House Coronavirus Task Force briefing", "era": "term-1", "category": "covid", "what_happened": "Asked why the U.S. was testing fewer people per capita than South Korea, he answered his own question: \"Thirty-eight million people. That's bigger than anything we have.\" Seoul's population is about 10 million according to the city government, so the figure was off by roughly 28 million.", "sources": [ { "title": "Remarks at a White House Coronavirus Task Force Press Briefing", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-white-house-coronavirus-task-force-press-briefing-15", "date": "2020-03-30" }, { "title": "Trump tried to flex by asking a reporter about the population of Seoul. Then he got it wrong by 28 million.", "outlet": "Business Insider", "url": "https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-trump-got-the-population-of-seoul-wrong-by-millions-2020-3", "date": "2020-03-30" } ] }, { "id": "know-permitting-process", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "the permitting process", "title": "Knows the permitting process 'better than anybody'", "quote": "I lived with it in the private sector, so I know it better than anybody, where you'd go years and years", "date": "2020-05-19", "venue": "Cabinet meeting and exchange with reporters, White House", "era": "term-1", "category": "infrastructure", "what_happened": "Trump made the claim while promoting regulatory relief for construction permitting, citing his years as a developer. He returned to the theme on April 8, 2025 at a coal-production event, saying, 'I was the king of zoning. I got—I did well.' The claim rests on his private-sector experience rather than any comparison with permitting experts.", "sources": [ { "title": "Remarks in a Cabinet Meeting and an Exchange With Reporters (May 19, 2020)", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-cabinet-meeting-and-exchange-with-reporters-11", "date": "2020-05-19" }, { "title": "Remarks on Domestic Coal Production", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-domestic-coal-production", "date": "2025-04-08" } ] }, { "id": "know-stimulus-deal", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "the coronavirus relief deal", "title": "'Nobody knows the deal better than I do' on stalled COVID relief", "quote": "When it's right—nobody knows the deal better than I do. When it's right, I'll meet. But right now it's not right.", "date": "2020-08-15", "venue": "News conference, Trump National Golf Club, Bedminster, New Jersey", "era": "term-1", "category": "economy", "what_happened": "Trump was explaining why he would not meet Speaker Pelosi and Senator Schumer on a second relief package, saying Democrats wanted 'a trillion dollars to bail out badly run States.' No deal was reached until Congress passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 in late December 2020 with $600 payments per adult. On December 27, 2020 Trump said he would sign it while demanding $2,000 checks and promising 'Much more money is coming'; the payments stayed at $600.", "sources": [ { "title": "The President's News Conference in Bedminster, New Jersey (August 15, 2020)", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-bedminster-new-jersey-1", "date": "2020-08-15" }, { "title": "Statement on the President's Intention to Sign the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/statement-the-presidents-intention-sign-the-consolidated-appropriations-act-2021", "date": "2020-12-27" } ] }, { "id": "know-energy-everything", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "energy", "title": "'I know everything about energy'", "quote": "I know everything about energy. I know so much about energy.", "date": "2020-08-20", "venue": "Rally in Old Forge, Pennsylvania", "era": "term-1", "category": "environment", "what_happened": "In the same speech he argued that 'our new forms of alternative energy just aren't powerful enough' and blamed California blackouts on renewables. Industry data cited by Euronews in July 2025 showed global wind power was 53 percent cheaper than the lowest-cost fossil-fuel alternative, with onshore wind costs down 56 percent since 2010, and wind supplied 28 percent of Germany's electricity in 2024. CBS News reported in October 2020 that building new wind or solar was cheaper than keeping an existing coal plant running.", "sources": [ { "title": "Remarks at a 'Make America Great Again' Rally in Old Forge, Pennsylvania", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-make-america-great-again-rally-old-forge-pennsylvania", "date": "2020-08-20" }, { "title": "Trump calls wind energy a 'con job': Here's what the data actually says about his tirade on turbines", "outlet": "Euronews", "url": "https://www.euronews.com/2025/07/30/trump-calls-wind-energy-a-con-job-heres-what-the-data-actually-says-about-his-tirade-on-tu", "date": "2025-07-30" }, { "title": "Trump claims wind energy 'kills all the birds.' Cats and windows are actually much more to blame.", "outlet": "CBS News", "url": "https://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trump-wind-energy-kills-birds-presidential-debate-joe-biden/", "date": "2020-10-23" } ] }, { "id": "know-black-americans", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "Black Americans", "title": "Biden 'doesn't know Black Americans like I do'", "quote": "He doesn't know Black Americans like I do.", "date": "2020-09-25", "venue": "'Black Voices for Trump' rally, Atlanta", "era": "term-1", "category": "other", "what_happened": "Six weeks later, Pew Research Center's validated-voter study of the 2020 election found Black voters backed Biden 92 percent to 8 percent for Trump. Trump repeated a version of the claim on April 17, 2026, telling a Turning Point USA audience in Phoenix, 'I did great with the Black vote, the African American vote, and they understand this better than anybody.'", "sources": [ { "title": "Remarks at a 'Black Voices for Trump' Rally in Atlanta, Georgia", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-black-voices-for-trump-rally-atlanta-georgia", "date": "2020-09-25" }, { "title": "Behind Biden's 2020 Victory", "outlet": "Pew Research Center", "url": "https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2021/06/30/behind-bidens-2020-victory/", "date": "2021-06-30" }, { "title": "Remarks at a Turning Point, U.S.A., Event in Phoenix, Arizona", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-turning-point-usa-event-phoenix-arizona", "date": "2026-04-17" } ] }, { "id": "know-wind-2020-debate", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "wind power", "title": "'I know more about wind than you do' in the final 2020 debate", "quote": "I know more about wind than you do. It's extremely expensive, kills all the birds, it's very intermittent, got a lot of problems.", "date": "2020-10-22", "venue": "Presidential debate with Joe Biden, Belmont University, Nashville", "era": "term-1", "category": "environment", "what_happened": "CBS News' fact check put wind-turbine bird deaths at roughly 234,000 a year versus about 2.4 billion killed by cats and 599 million by building-glass collisions; the Energy Department said turbine kills were less than 0.02 percent of songbird populations. Trump kept the theme up in his second term: in Scotland in July 2025 he called wind 'the worst form of energy, the most expensive form of energy' and 'a con job'; at an August 26, 2025 Cabinet meeting he said, 'I'm trying to have people learn about wind real fast and I think I've done a good job'; and at the July 24, 2026 White House Correspondents' dinner he said, 'I really do know that subject well.' IRENA data cited by Euronews showed wind 53 percent cheaper than the cheapest fossil alternative.", "sources": [ { "title": "Fact check: Trump says wind power 'kills all the birds'", "outlet": "NBC News", "url": "https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/live-blog/2020-10-22-trump-biden-election-n1244210/ncrd1244464", "date": "2020-10-22" }, { "title": "Trump claims wind energy 'kills all the birds.' Cats and windows are actually much more to blame.", "outlet": "CBS News", "url": "https://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trump-wind-energy-kills-birds-presidential-debate-joe-biden/", "date": "2020-10-23" }, { "title": "Presidential Debate at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/presidential-debate-belmont-university-nashville-tennessee-0", "date": "2020-10-22" }, { "title": "Trump calls wind energy a 'con job': Here's what the data actually says about his tirade on turbines", "outlet": "Euronews", "url": "https://www.euronews.com/2025/07/30/trump-calls-wind-energy-a-con-job-heres-what-the-data-actually-says-about-his-tirade-on-tu", "date": "2025-07-30" }, { "title": "Remarks During a Cabinet Meeting and an Exchange With Reporters (August 26, 2025)", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-during-cabinet-meeting-and-exchange-with-reporters-3", "date": "2025-08-26" }, { "title": "Remarks at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-the-white-house-correspondents-association-dinner-21", "date": "2026-07-24" } ] }, { "id": "know-putin-2022", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "Vladimir Putin", "title": "'Nobody probably knows him better' than Trump, days before the invasion", "quote": "I think nobody probably knows him better in terms of the discussions that we have or that we're having this morning. So, I knew him very well. I got to know him.", "date": "2022-02-22", "venue": "Interview on the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton radio show", "era": "between-terms", "category": "ukraine", "what_happened": "In the same interview Trump called Putin's recognition of breakaway Ukrainian regions 'pretty savvy'; Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, 2022. In his second term Trump said on March 30, 2025, 'I've known him for a long time. We've always gotten along well,' then on May 25, 2025 wrote that Putin 'has gone absolutely CRAZY!' and on July 8, 2025 said 'We get a lot of bull--t thrown at us by Putin.' The August 15, 2025 Alaska summit ended with Trump saying 'There's no deal until there's a deal,' and on September 23, 2025 he called Russia 'a paper tiger.'", "sources": [ { "title": "Interview: Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Interview Donald Trump on Syndicated Radio - February 22, 2022", "outlet": "Roll Call Factba.se", "url": "https://rollcall.com/factbase/trump/transcript/donald-trump-interview-clay-travis-buck-sexton-show-radio-february-22-2022/", "date": "2022-02-22" }, { "title": "How Trump's rhetoric about Zelenskyy and Putin has evolved, in his own words", "outlet": "PBS News", "url": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/how-trumps-rhetoric-about-zelenskyy-and-putin-has-evolved-in-his-own-words", "date": "2025-09-23" }, { "title": "Press Conference: Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin Hold a Joint Press Event - August 15, 2025", "outlet": "Roll Call Factba.se", "url": "https://rollcall.com/factbase/trump/transcript/donald-trump-press-conference-vladimir-putin-russia-alaska-august-15-2025/", "date": "2025-08-15" } ] }, { "id": "know-drug-problem", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "the drug problem", "title": "'Perhaps nobody is more aware of the drug problem' than he is", "quote": "Perhaps nobody is more aware of the drug problem in our country than I am. I worked very hard on it for four years plus.", "date": "2022-07-08", "venue": "America First Policy Institute event, Las Vegas", "era": "between-terms", "category": "healthcare", "what_happened": "In the same speech Trump claimed 'We got drug use down 18% in the White House.' CDC provisional data show U.S. drug-overdose deaths peaked at roughly 111,000 in a 12-month period spanning 2022-2023, after rising through his first term; the CDC updates the provisional counts monthly. The speech offered no source for the 18 percent figure.", "sources": [ { "title": "Remarks at the America First Institute in Las Vegas, Nevada", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-the-america-first-institute-las-vegas-nevada", "date": "2022-07-08" }, { "title": "Provisional Drug Overdose Death Counts", "outlet": "CDC National Center for Health Statistics", "url": "https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/drug-overdose-data.htm", "date": "2026-09-06" } ] }, { "id": "know-banking-industry", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "the banking industry", "title": "'Nobody knows the banking industry better than me'", "quote": "Nobody knows the banking industry better than me, and I'm not going to let them take advantage of you any longer.", "date": "2023-12-16", "venue": "Rally in Durham, New Hampshire", "era": "campaign-2024", "category": "economy", "what_happened": "Trump was accusing banks of discriminating against conservatives and religious groups. At Davos on January 23, 2025 he accused Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan and JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon of refusing to bank conservatives; both banks denied the claims to Fortune. At a March 7, 2025 White House digital-assets summit he told crypto executives who described regulators pressuring banks, 'I know that feeling also. Maybe better than you do.'", "sources": [ { "title": "Speech: Donald Trump Holds a Political Rally in Durham, New Hampshire - December 16, 2023", "outlet": "Roll Call Factba.se", "url": "https://rollcall.com/factbase/trump/transcript/donald-trump-speech-political-rally-durham-new-hampshire-december-16-2023/", "date": "2023-12-16" }, { "title": "Trump at Davos: oil, Russia, debanking", "outlet": "Fortune", "url": "https://fortune.com/2025/01/24/davos-trump-oil-russia-debanking", "date": "2025-01-24" }, { "title": "Remarks at the White House Digital Assets Summit", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-the-white-house-digital-assets-summit", "date": "2025-03-07" } ] }, { "id": "know-china-better-than-navarro", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "China", "title": "Navarro 'understood China better than anybody but me'", "quote": "He understood China better than anybody but me. I understood him better now. We both understood.", "date": "2024-07-27", "venue": "Turning Point USA summit, West Palm Beach, Florida", "era": "campaign-2024", "category": "trade", "what_happened": "The tariff program Trump and Peter Navarro designed began March 4, 2025 with duties on Canada, Mexico and China; the Tax Foundation put the 2025 average effective tariff rate at 7.7 percent, the highest since 1947, with an estimated cost of about $1,000 per household. On February 20, 2026 the Supreme Court ruled in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump that the president could not impose tariffs under IEEPA, requiring refunds with interest. On June 3, 2026 Trump revised the ranking: Navarro 'Knows more about China than any human being on Earth except for—I would say President Xi knows a lot more.'", "sources": [ { "title": "Speech: Donald Trump Addresses a Turning Point Summit in West Palm Beach, Florida - July 27, 2024", "outlet": "Roll Call Factba.se", "url": "https://rollcall.com/factbase/trump/transcript/donald-trump-speech-turning-point-summit-west-palm-beach-florida-july-27-2024/", "date": "2024-07-27" }, { "title": "Trump Tariffs Tracker: Rates, Revenue, and Impact", "outlet": "Tax Foundation", "url": "https://taxfoundation.org/research/all/federal/trump-tariffs-trade-war/", "date": "2026-09-01" }, { "title": "Remarks at an Executive Order Signing Ceremony and an Exchange With Reporters (June 3, 2026)", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-executive-order-signing-ceremony-and-exchange-with-reporters-2", "date": "2026-06-03" } ] }, { "id": "know-military-weapons", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "military weapons", "title": "Knows the weapons 'better than anybody because I'm the one that bought them'", "quote": "I know the weapons better than anybody because I'm the one that bought them", "date": "2024-09-04", "venue": "Fox News town hall with Sean Hannity, New Holland Arena, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania", "era": "campaign-2024", "category": "foreign-policy", "what_happened": "The claim introduced his statement that he understands the nuclear program 'maybe better than anybody' because his uncle taught at MIT. As president he told the UN General Assembly on September 23, 2025, 'I know, and I get to view it all the time: \"Sir, would you like to see?\" And I look at weapons that are so powerful that we just can't ever use them.'", "sources": [ { "title": "Trump says US heading into 'World War III territory' under Biden-Harris administration: 'Clowns'", "outlet": "Fox News", "url": "https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-warns-us-approaching-world-war-iii-territory-under-biden-harris-admin-clowns", "date": "2024-09-04" }, { "title": "Remarks to the United Nations General Assembly in New York City", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-the-united-nations-general-assembly-new-york-city-20", "date": "2025-09-23" } ] }, { "id": "know-nuclear-uncle-mit", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "nuclear weapons", "title": "Understands nuclear 'maybe better than anybody' because his uncle taught at MIT", "quote": "the one program I hated to upgrade, hated it, was the nuclear program. And I understand it maybe better than anybody. My uncle was at MIT, a professor, the longest serving professor in the history of MIT.", "date": "2024-09-04", "venue": "Fox News town hall with Sean Hannity, New Holland Arena, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania", "era": "campaign-2024", "category": "foreign-policy", "what_happened": "Snopes found that John Trump was one of MIT's longest-serving professors but not the longest, and that his degrees were in electrical engineering and physics rather than 'nuclear, chemical, and math.' Trump himself later put his uncle's tenure at 41 years (July 24, 2026). He repeated the family-credential argument on June 12, 2025 ('my uncle is a big shot at MIT, the smartest guy'), on March 13, 2026 in Hebron, Kentucky ('That means I have much better blood'), and on July 24, 2026 ('My uncle was very big into nuclear for 41 years at MIT, but they've advanced somewhat since those days').", "sources": [ { "title": "Trump says US heading into 'World War III territory' under Biden-Harris administration: 'Clowns'", "outlet": "Fox News", "url": "https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-warns-us-approaching-world-war-iii-territory-under-biden-harris-admin-clowns", "date": "2024-09-04" }, { "title": "Trump's Bizarre Flex On His Smarts Has Critics Howling", "outlet": "HuffPost", "url": "https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-smart-comment-hannity_n_66d9996be4b00f05eae4ab1f", "date": "2024-09-05" }, { "title": "Was Donald Trump's Uncle a Professor at MIT?", "outlet": "Snopes", "url": "https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/trump-uncle-mit-professor/", "date": "2024-09-06" }, { "title": "Remarks on Signing Legislation Regarding Congressional Disapproval of EPA Rules Relating to Vehicle Fuel Efficiency Standards in California", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-signing-legislation-regarding-congressional-disapproval-environmental-protection", "date": "2025-06-12" }, { "title": "Donald Trump Claims 'Much Better Blood' Because His Uncle Was an MIT Professor", "outlet": "Yahoo News", "url": "https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/donald-trump-claims-much-better-084416194.html", "date": "2026-03-13" }, { "title": "Remarks on United States Nuclear Innovation and an Exchange With Reporters", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-united-states-nuclear-innovation-and-exchange-with-reporters", "date": "2026-07-24" } ] }, { "id": "know-interest-rates", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "interest rates", "title": "Knows interest rates 'much better' than the Fed and its chairman", "quote": "I think I know interest rates much better than they do, and I think I know it certainly much better than the one who's primarily in charge of making that decision.", "date": "2025-01-23", "venue": "Remarks to reporters in the Oval Office after his Davos video address", "era": "term-2", "category": "economy", "what_happened": "He had previewed the claim at an August 2024 Mar-a-Lago news conference: 'I made a lot of money. I was very successful. And I think I have a better instinct than, in many cases, people that would be on the Federal Reserve or the chairman.' On April 29, 2025 in Macomb County, Michigan he said of Chair Jerome Powell, 'I know much more than he does about interest rates, believe me,' and on September 13, 2026 at Doonbeg, Ireland, 'I know more about formulas than anybody, and we're the best credit in the world.' As of September 15, 2026, with Trump's nominee Kevin Warsh as chair, inflation was running at 3.4 percent against the Fed's 2 percent target and markets priced a better-than-90-percent chance of a rate increase rather than a cut.", "sources": [ { "title": "Trump Says He Knows Interest Rates Better Than Fed Chief Powell", "outlet": "Bloomberg via Yahoo News", "url": "https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-says-knows-interest-rates-213829328.html", "date": "2025-01-23" }, { "title": "Trump at Davos: oil, Russia, debanking", "outlet": "Fortune", "url": "https://fortune.com/2025/01/24/davos-trump-oil-russia-debanking", "date": "2025-01-24" }, { "title": "How Trump's wish for more Fed control could impact economy", "outlet": "PBS News Hour", "url": "https://www.pbs.org/video/money-power-1723586368/", "date": "2024-08-13" }, { "title": "Trump Says He Knows 'Much More' Than Fed Chair About Interest Rates in 100-Day Speech", "outlet": "Newsweek", "url": "https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-says-he-knows-much-more-fed-chair-about-interest-rates-2065922", "date": "2025-04-29" }, { "title": "Press Gaggle: Donald Trump Speaks to Reporters at the Irish Open in Doonbeg - September 13, 2026", "outlet": "Roll Call Factba.se", "url": "https://rollcall.com/factbase/trump/transcript/donald-trump-press-gaggle-irish-open-doonbeg-september-13-2026", "date": "2026-09-13" }, { "title": "Trump and the Federal Reserve are on a collision course over interest rates", "outlet": "NBC News", "url": "https://www.nbcnews.com/business/economy/trump-federal-reserve-warsh-interest-rates-rcna597896", "date": "2026-09-15" } ] }, { "id": "know-weaponization", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "weaponized prosecutions", "title": "Knows about weaponized law enforcement 'better than any human being on Earth'", "quote": "Look, I would know that better than anybody, because I was weaponized more than any human being in the history, probably, of the world, and I won the election in a landslide", "date": "2025-02-14", "venue": "Executive order signing and exchange with reporters, Oval Office", "era": "term-2", "category": "justice", "what_happened": "The answer came to a question about the resignation of the lead prosecutor in the Eric Adams case. Eight days later at CPAC he said, 'To stop the weaponization of Federal law enforcement—I know about that, I think, better than any human being on Earth.' PBS's July 2024 summary of his four criminal cases recorded a May 30, 2024 conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records in Manhattan, the July 15, 2024 dismissal of the classified-documents case, and the federal and Georgia election cases then unresolved.", "sources": [ { "title": "Remarks at an Executive Order Signing Ceremony and an Exchange With Reporters (February 14, 2025)", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-executive-order-signing-ceremony-and-exchange-with-reporters", "date": "2025-02-14" }, { "title": "Remarks at a Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Maryland", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-conservative-political-action-conference-national-harbor-maryland", "date": "2025-02-22" }, { "title": "Trump's 2024 trials: Where they stand and what to expect", "outlet": "PBS News", "url": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trumps-2024-trials-where-they-stand-and-what-to-expect", "date": "2024-07-15" } ] }, { "id": "know-russia-deal-only-i-know", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "why Russia wants a deal", "title": "Russia wants a deal for reasons 'that only I know'", "quote": "I also think that Russia wants to make a deal because in a certain a different way that only I know—they have no choice either.", "date": "2025-03-06", "venue": "Document signing and exchange with reporters, Oval Office", "era": "term-2", "category": "ukraine", "what_happened": "No deal followed. On April 24, 2025 Trump posted 'Vladimir, STOP!'; on May 25 he wrote that Putin 'has gone absolutely CRAZY!'; and the August 15, 2025 Alaska summit ended with 'There's no deal until there's a deal.' On September 23, 2025 he called Russia 'a paper tiger,' and he was still holding bilateral talks with President Zelenskyy in Ankara on July 8, 2026.", "sources": [ { "title": "Remarks at a Document Signing Ceremony and an Exchange With Reporters (March 6, 2025)", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-document-signing-ceremony-and-exchange-with-reporters-4", "date": "2025-03-06" }, { "title": "How Trump's rhetoric about Zelenskyy and Putin has evolved, in his own words", "outlet": "PBS News", "url": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/how-trumps-rhetoric-about-zelenskyy-and-putin-has-evolved-in-his-own-words", "date": "2025-09-23" }, { "title": "Press Conference: Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin Hold a Joint Press Event - August 15, 2025", "outlet": "Roll Call Factba.se", "url": "https://rollcall.com/factbase/trump/transcript/donald-trump-press-conference-vladimir-putin-russia-alaska-august-15-2025/", "date": "2025-08-15" }, { "title": "Remarks: Donald Trump Holds a Bilat with Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine - July 8, 2026", "outlet": "Roll Call Factba.se", "url": "https://rollcall.com/factbase/trump/transcript/donald-trump-remarks-bilat-volodymyr-zelenskyy-ukraine-ankara-july-8-2026", "date": "2026-07-08" } ] }, { "id": "know-the-irish", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "the Irish", "title": "'Nobody knows the Irish better than me'", "quote": "And as a lifelong New Yorker, nobody knows the Irish better than me. I know too much about the Irish.", "date": "2025-03-12", "venue": "St. Patrick's Day reception with Taoiseach Micheál Martin, White House", "era": "term-2", "category": "other", "what_happened": "The line opened a reception for Ireland's prime minister, whom Trump introduced as 'a very special man, doing incredibly well and very popular' and 'a very popular guy, which is not easy in Ireland.' The remarks focused on Irish-American heritage rather than economic or trade policy.", "sources": [ { "title": "Remarks: Donald Trump Hosts a St. Patrick's Day Reception at The White House - March 12, 2025", "outlet": "Roll Call Factba.se", "url": "https://rollcall.com/factbase/trump/transcript/donald-trump-remarks-st-patricks-day-reception-white-house-march-12-2025/", "date": "2025-03-12" }, { "title": "Remarks With Prime Minister Micheál Martin of Ireland at a St. Patrick's Day Reception", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-with-prime-minister-micheal-martin-ireland-st-patricks-day-reception", "date": "2025-03-12" } ] }, { "id": "know-deductions", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "tax deductions", "title": "Knows more about deductions 'than any human being on Earth'", "quote": "But rich people are—I think I know more about deductions than any human being on Earth. But you know, the truth is that people that are middle-income people that buy a car and actually have to borrow money...", "date": "2025-03-28", "venue": "Swearing-in of Alina Habba as acting U.S. Attorney, Oval Office", "era": "term-2", "category": "taxes", "what_happened": "The remark, which drew laughter in the room, came as Trump argued for a deduction of car-loan interest for middle-income buyers who \"actually have to borrow money.\" He offered no comparison with tax professionals or IRS data to support the claim.", "sources": [ { "title": "Remarks at a Swearing-in Ceremony for Alina Habba as Acting United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey and an Exchange with Reporters", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-swearing-ceremony-for-alina-habba-acting-united-states-attorney-for-the-district", "date": "2025-03-28" } ] }, { "id": "know-construction-better-than-anybody", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "construction", "title": "Knows construction 'better than anybody'", "quote": "Well, I love it. I know it better than anybody.", "date": "2025-06-18", "venue": "Remarks on installing new White House flagpoles and exchange with reporters", "era": "term-2", "category": "infrastructure", "what_happened": "Repeats: July 27, 2025 ('no President knew how to build a ballroom'), September 2, 2025 ('I think nobody knows more about construction than me'), March 19, 2026 ('I know more about contractors than any human being maybe that's ever lived'), June 10, 2026 on swimming pools ('Only a person that does it, like me'), and August 20, 2026 ('I was very good at real estate, like maybe the best, in a lot of ways. I did it better than anybody, I think'). Fortune reported the White House ballroom was announced in July 2025 at $200 million and rose to $400 million; East Wing demolition began in October 2025, and the White House budgeted $377 million for repairs in fiscal 2026 plus $174 million more for fiscal 2027.", "sources": [ { "title": "Remarks on the Installation of New White House Flagpoles and an Exchange With Reporters", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-the-installation-new-white-house-flagpoles-and-exchange-with-reporters", "date": "2025-06-18" }, { "title": "Remarks Following a Meeting With President Ursula von der Leyen of the European Commission in South Ayrshire, United Kingdom", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-following-meeting-with-president-ursula-von-der-leyen-the-european-commission-and", "date": "2025-07-27" }, { "title": "Remarks on the Relocation of U.S. Space Command Headquarters to Huntsville, Alabama, and an Exchange With Reporters", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-the-relocation-us-space-command-headquarters-huntsville-alabama-and-exchange-with", "date": "2025-09-02" }, { "title": "Remarks Prior to a Meeting With Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae of Japan and an Exchange With Reporters", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-prior-meeting-with-prime-minister-takaichi-sanae-japan-and-exchange-with-reporters", "date": "2026-03-19" }, { "title": "Remarks on Signing the Secure America Act and an Exchange With Reporters", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-signing-the-secure-america-act-and-exchange-with-reporters", "date": "2026-06-10" }, { "title": "Donald Trump gives update on White House helipad, ballroom construction amid legal battle", "outlet": "The Hill", "url": "https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/6040588-donald-trump-white-house-helipad-ballroom-construction/", "date": "2026-08-20" }, { "title": "A $400 million ballroom was just the beginning. Now, Trump plans to spend $174 million more on renovations", "outlet": "Fortune", "url": "https://fortune.com/2026/04/06/trump-white-house-ballroom-spending-more-renovation-2026/", "date": "2026-04-06" } ] }, { "id": "know-what-is-good-for-the-market-2025", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "what's good for the market", "title": "Knew better than anybody what's good for the market", "quote": "Nobody had to explain that to me. I know better than anybody what's good for the Market, and what's good for the U.S.A. If it weren't for me, the Market wouldn't be at Record Highs right now, it probably would have CRASHED!", "date": "2025-07-20", "venue": "Post on Truth Social", "era": "term-2", "category": "economy", "what_happened": "The post disputed a Wall Street Journal report that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had explained to him that firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell would be bad for the market. He did not fire Powell; four days later he toured the Fed's headquarters with Powell to dispute renovation costs. Powell's successor, Kevin Warsh, was sworn in as Fed chair on May 22, 2026.", "sources": [ { "title": "Truth Social Posts of July 20, 2025", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/truth-social-posts-july-20-2025", "date": "2025-07-20" }, { "title": "Remarks During a Tour of the Federal Reserve System Headquarters and an Exchange With Reporters", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-during-tour-the-federal-reserve-system-headquarters-and-exchange-with-reporters", "date": "2025-07-24" }, { "title": "Remarks on the National Economy in Suffern, New York", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-the-national-economy-suffern-new-york", "date": "2026-05-22" } ] }, { "id": "know-sanctions-2025", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "sanctions", "title": "Knew better than anybody about sanctions", "quote": "Yeah, we're going to put sanctions. I don't know that sanctions bother him. You know, they know about sanctions. I know better than anybody about sanctions and tariffs and everything else. I don't know if that has any effect, but we're going to do it.", "date": "2025-07-31", "venue": "Exchange with reporters at the White House", "era": "term-2", "category": "ukraine", "what_happened": "He had threatened new sanctions on Russia if Moscow did not agree to a peace deal by the following week, while saying he did not know whether sanctions bother Putin. On August 15, 2025 he instead met Putin in Anchorage, Alaska, and said afterward that \"there's no deal until there's a deal\" and that he would call NATO and President Zelenskyy about the meeting.", "sources": [ { "title": "Trump says Witkoff will travel to Russia, affirms plans for new sanctions", "outlet": "CNN", "url": "https://edition.cnn.com/2025/07/31/politics/russia-sanctions-trump-witkoff-ukraine", "date": "2025-07-31" }, { "title": "Pool Reports of July 31, 2025", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/pool-reports-july-31-2025", "date": "2025-07-31" }, { "title": "Remarks to Reporters With President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin of Russia in Anchorage, Alaska", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-reporters-with-president-vladimir-vladimirovich-putin-russia-anchorage-alaska", "date": "2025-08-15" } ] }, { "id": "know-court-system-2025", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "the court system", "title": "Knew the court system better than anyone", "quote": "There is no way America could recover from such a judicial tragedy, but I know our Court System better than anyone, there is no one in history that has gone through the trials, tribulations and uncertainties such as I, and absolutely terrible, but also amazingly beautiful, things can happen.", "date": "2025-08-08", "venue": "Post on Truth Social", "era": "term-2", "category": "trade", "what_happened": "The post warned that a court ruling against his tariffs would mean \"1929 all over again, a GREAT DEPRESSION!\" On February 20, 2026 the Supreme Court ruled against the tariffs in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump; he called the ruling \"deeply disappointing,\" said he was \"ashamed of certain Members of the Court,\" and thanked Justices Thomas, Alito and Kavanaugh for their dissents.", "sources": [ { "title": "Truth Social Posts of August 8, 2025", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/truth-social-posts-august-8-2025", "date": "2025-08-08" }, { "title": "Statement on the United States Supreme Court Decision in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/statement-the-united-states-supreme-court-decision-learning-resources-inc-v-trump", "date": "2026-02-20" } ] }, { "id": "know-low-income-housing", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "low-income housing", "title": "Knows more about housing 'than anybody in history'", "quote": "I know more about low-income housing than luxury housing. I know about everything real estate.", "date": "2025-08-11", "venue": "News conference announcing federal deployment in Washington, D.C.", "era": "term-2", "category": "economy", "what_happened": "Repeats: August 22, 2025 ('I know more about low-income housing than probably almost anybody'); January 29, 2026 Cabinet meeting ('I built a lot of low-income housing. I made a lot of money building low-income housing. I know more about it than anybody'), where he said he would not let a proposed low-income project in the Pacific Palisades proceed and called interest rates 'the biggest factor' for housing; and May 22, 2026 in Suffern, New York ('I know more about housing than anybody in history'). As of September 2026 inflation stood at 3.4 percent and the Fed was expected to raise rates.", "sources": [ { "title": "The President's News Conference (August 11, 2025)", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-1272", "date": "2025-08-11" }, { "title": "Remarks Announcing the 2026 FIFA World Cup Draw Location and an Exchange With Reporters", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-announcing-the-2026-federation-internationale-de-football-association-fifa-world", "date": "2025-08-22" }, { "title": "Remarks in a Cabinet Meeting (January 29, 2026)", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-cabinet-meeting-2", "date": "2026-01-29" }, { "title": "Remarks on the National Economy in Suffern, New York", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-the-national-economy-suffern-new-york", "date": "2026-05-22" }, { "title": "Trump and the Federal Reserve are on a collision course over interest rates", "outlet": "NBC News", "url": "https://www.nbcnews.com/business/economy/trump-federal-reserve-warsh-interest-rates-rcna597896", "date": "2026-09-15" } ] }, { "id": "know-grass", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "grass", "title": "Knows more about grass 'than any human being ... anywhere in the world'", "quote": "I'm very good at grass, because I have a lot of golf courses all over the place. I know more about grass than any human being, I think, anywhere in the world.", "date": "2025-08-21", "venue": "Remarks to federal law enforcement officers and National Guard personnel, Washington, D.C.", "era": "term-2", "category": "other", "what_happened": "Trump was announcing plans to regrass Washington's parks with new sprinkler systems 'just like Augusta.' He repeated the theme on September 5, 2025: 'I'm very good at grass. You know, grass has a life, just like you have a life, right?' In both cases he tied the claim to owning golf courses.", "sources": [ { "title": "Remarks to Federal Law Enforcement Officers and National Guard Personnel", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-federal-law-enforcement-officers-and-national-guard-personnel", "date": "2025-08-21" }, { "title": "Remarks on Signing the Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act and Executive Orders and Announcing the 2026 G-20 Summit in Miami", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-signing-the-homebuyers-privacy-protection-act-and-executive-orders-and-announcing", "date": "2025-09-05" } ] }, { "id": "know-deals", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "deals", "title": "'I know more about deals than anybody'", "quote": "I don't say that lightly because I know more about deals than anybody. That's what my whole life was based on.", "date": "2025-09-30", "venue": "Address to generals and admirals, Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia", "era": "term-2", "category": "foreign-policy", "what_happened": "He had told President Zelenskyy on February 28, 2025, 'My whole life is deals. I know pretty good.' The Alaska summit with Putin on August 15, 2025 ended without an agreement ('There's no deal until there's a deal'). On October 13, 2025 he attended a signing ceremony in Egypt for a Gaza ceasefire, declaring 'the end of an age of terror and death.' At Quantico he also pledged $1 trillion in 2026 defense spending, up from $895 billion.", "sources": [ { "title": "Speech: Donald Trump Addresses Military Leadership in Quantico, Virginia - September 30, 2025", "outlet": "Roll Call Factba.se", "url": "https://rollcall.com/factbase/trump/transcript/donald-trump-speech-department-of-defense-leaders-quantico-september-30-2025/", "date": "2025-09-30" }, { "title": "Remarks to the Department of Defense in Quantico, Virginia", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-the-department-defense-quantico-virginia", "date": "2025-09-30" }, { "title": "Trump, Hegseth rally troops at rare meeting, rail against 'woke' standards", "outlet": "CBS News", "url": "https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/trump-hegseth-military-leaders-meeting/", "date": "2025-09-30" }, { "title": "Remarks Prior to a Meeting With President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine and an Exchange With Reporters", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-prior-meeting-with-president-volodymyr-zelenskyy-ukraine-and-exchange-with-2", "date": "2025-02-28" }, { "title": "Press Conference: Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin Hold a Joint Press Event - August 15, 2025", "outlet": "Roll Call Factba.se", "url": "https://rollcall.com/factbase/trump/transcript/donald-trump-press-conference-vladimir-putin-russia-alaska-august-15-2025/", "date": "2025-08-15" }, { "title": "Five key takeaways from Donald Trump's Gaza remarks in Middle East", "outlet": "Al Jazeera", "url": "https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/10/13/five-key-takeaways-from-donald-trumps-gaza-remarks-in-middle-east", "date": "2025-10-13" } ] }, { "id": "know-tariffs", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "tariffs", "title": "'Nobody understood tariffs like I understood tariffs'", "quote": "Nobody understood tariffs like I understood tariffs.", "date": "2025-10-28", "venue": "Remarks to U.S. servicemembers with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, Yokosuka, Japan", "era": "term-2", "category": "trade", "what_happened": "On April 2, 2025 he said 'I've been talking about it for 40 years,' and on May 8, 2025 that tariffs 'are the most misunderstood thing, maybe in any form of business.' The Tax Foundation estimated the 2025 average effective tariff rate at 7.7 percent, the highest since 1947, costing about $1,000 per household in 2025 and $820 in 2026. On February 20, 2026 the Supreme Court ruled in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump that the president cannot impose tariffs under IEEPA and ordered refunds with interest.", "sources": [ { "title": "Remarks to United States Servicemembers With Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi of Japan in Yokosuka, Japan", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-united-states-servicemembers-with-prime-minister-sanae-takaichi-japan-yokosuko", "date": "2025-10-28" }, { "title": "Remarks Announcing Additional United States Tariff Actions on Foreign Imports", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-announcing-additional-united-states-tariff-actions-foreign-imports", "date": "2025-04-02" }, { "title": "Remarks With Prime Minister Keir Starmer Announcing a United States Trade Agreement With the United Kingdom", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-with-prime-minister-keir-starmer-the-united-kingdom-announcing-united-states-trade", "date": "2025-05-08" }, { "title": "Trump Tariffs Tracker: Rates, Revenue, and Impact", "outlet": "Tax Foundation", "url": "https://taxfoundation.org/research/all/federal/trump-tariffs-trade-war/", "date": "2026-09-01" } ] }, { "id": "know-law-enforcement", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "law enforcement", "title": "'Cognizant of law enforcement, perhaps more than anybody in history'", "quote": "I'm very cognizant of law enforcement, perhaps more than anybody in history.", "date": "2026-01-06", "venue": "House Republican members retreat", "era": "term-2", "category": "justice", "what_happened": "The claim followed his August 11, 2025 announcement of a federal law-enforcement and National Guard deployment in Washington, D.C., where he said 'if you're competent, it's easy. If you're incompetent, it's impossible. But I'm very competent,' and his August 21, 2025 address to the deployed officers and Guard members. In the same January 2026 remarks he said 'Trump was right about everything' and cited praise for 'the best political instincts of any politician in 150 years.'", "sources": [ { "title": "Remarks at the House Republican Members Retreat", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-the-house-republican-members-retreat", "date": "2026-01-06" }, { "title": "The President's News Conference (August 11, 2025)", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-1272", "date": "2025-08-11" }, { "title": "Remarks to Federal Law Enforcement Officers and National Guard Personnel", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-federal-law-enforcement-officers-and-national-guard-personnel", "date": "2025-08-21" } ] }, { "id": "know-contractors-2026", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "contractors", "title": "Knew more about contractors than any human being that's ever lived", "quote": "So it's—there is criminality. Maybe it's with the contractor, but—because I know more about contractors than any human being maybe that's ever lived.", "date": "2026-03-19", "venue": "Remarks before a meeting with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi of Japan, the White House", "era": "term-2", "category": "economy", "what_happened": "He said the Federal Reserve headquarters renovation was costing \"$3- to $4 billion\" and that he could have done it for $25 million. During his July 24, 2025 tour of the site he said the cost had risen from $2.7 billion to $3.1 billion; Chairman Powell replied he had not heard that figure and that the document Trump handed him added a third building, the Martin building, which was finished five years earlier.", "sources": [ { "title": "Remarks Prior to a Meeting With Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae of Japan and an Exchange With Reporters", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-prior-meeting-with-prime-minister-takaichi-sanae-japan-and-exchange-with-reporters", "date": "2026-03-19" }, { "title": "Remarks During a Tour of the Federal Reserve System Headquarters and an Exchange With Reporters", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-during-tour-the-federal-reserve-system-headquarters-and-exchange-with-reporters", "date": "2025-07-24" } ] }, { "id": "know-fisa-2026", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "FISA abuse", "title": "Nobody understood FISA abuse better than him", "quote": "Nobody understands this better than me, as I was a victim of the worst and most illegal abuse of FISA in our Nation's History, by Radical Left Lunatics who lied to the FISA Court to spy on my 2016 Presidential Campaign in their attempt to RIG the Election in favor of Crooked Hillary Clinton.", "date": "2026-03-25", "venue": "Post on Truth Social", "era": "term-2", "category": "justice", "what_happened": "The post called for a \"clean 18-month extension\" of FISA Section 702 while keeping reforms from the previous reauthorization. The Justice Department Inspector General's review, released December 9, 2019, examined the four FISA applications targeting Carter Page in 2016 and 2017 and whether they complied with DOJ and FBI policies and the government's obligations to the FISA court, and made nine recommendations to the FBI.", "sources": [ { "title": "Truth Social Posts of March 25, 2026", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/truth-social-posts-march-25-2026", "date": "2026-03-25" }, { "title": "Review of Four FISA Applications and Other Aspects of the FBI's Crossfire Hurricane Investigation", "outlet": "U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General", "url": "https://oig.justice.gov/reports/review-four-fisa-applications-and-other-aspects-fbis-crossfire-hurricane-investigation", "date": "2019-12-09" } ] }, { "id": "know-housing-2026", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "housing", "title": "Knew more about housing than anybody in history", "quote": "But to be honest with you, housing is all about interest rates. I know more about housing than anybody in history. No President has ever done—I built a lot of housing. And they can pass all the bills they want. It's about interest rates.", "date": "2026-05-22", "venue": "Remarks on the economy, Suffern, New York", "era": "term-2", "category": "economy", "what_happened": "On May 22, 2026 he said Congress was \"on the cusp of passing the most important piece of housing legislation in a generation\" and that he supported the House-passed bill. On June 24, 2026, asked whether he would veto the housing bill, he said \"I'm not signing the housing bill. I want to see what happens with SAVE,\" and repeated: \"I know housing better than anybody maybe anywhere. It's all about the interest rate.\"", "sources": [ { "title": "Remarks on the National Economy in Suffern, New York", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-the-national-economy-suffern-new-york", "date": "2026-05-22" }, { "title": "Remarks Prior to a Meeting With Secretary General Mark Rutte of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and an Exchange With Reporters", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-prior-meeting-with-secretary-general-mark-rutte-the-north-atlantic-treaty-3", "date": "2026-06-24" } ] }, { "id": "know-why-biden-dropped-out", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "why Biden quit the race", "title": "'Nobody else knows the answer to that, BUT I DO!!!'", "quote": "Nobody else knows the answer to that, BUT I DO!!!", "date": "2026-05-29", "venue": "Post on Truth Social", "era": "term-2", "category": "elections", "what_happened": "The post revisited the June 27, 2024 CNN debate and asked whether Trump's performance made Biden 'choke' and lose the election or whether other factors were responsible, before asserting that only Trump knows the answer. The post did not state what that answer was.", "sources": [ { "title": "Truth Social Posts of May 29, 2026", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/truth-social-posts-may-29-2026", "date": "2026-05-29" }, { "title": "2024 Election Joe Biden Donald Trump Debate Transcript", "outlet": "Rev", "url": "https://www.rev.com/transcripts/first-2024-presidential-debate-on-cnn", "date": "2024-06-27" } ] }, { "id": "know-roosevelt-museum", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "the Roosevelt library", "title": "Knows more about the museum 'than the people that built it'", "quote": "I know more about that museum than the people that built it.", "date": "2026-07-01", "venue": "Opening of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, Medora, North Dakota", "era": "term-2", "category": "other", "what_happened": "Trump made the claim after a tour of more than two hours of the newly opened library. In the same remarks he said of Roosevelt's time in North Dakota, 'I know what it takes to do that. It's tough,' and of the Panama Canal, 'I've studied it long and hard.'", "sources": [ { "title": "Remarks at the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Medora, North Dakota", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-the-theodore-roosevelt-presidential-library-medora-north-dakota", "date": "2026-07-01" } ] }, { "id": "know-what-maga-wants", "kind": "knows-better", "subject": "what MAGA wants", "title": "Knows what MAGA wants 'better than anybody else'", "quote": "I'm the one that created MAGA, and I know what MAGA wants better than anybody else.", "date": "2026-07-24", "venue": "White House Correspondents' Association dinner, Washington, D.C.", "era": "term-2", "category": "elections", "what_happened": "In the same speech he said \"I'm getting very good at running for President\" and, on wind energy, \"I really do know that subject well.\" The remark came during the 2026 midterm campaign; on September 22, 2026 Roll Call ran the headline \"Voters to Republicans: Fix the Biden economy.\"", "sources": [ { "title": "Remarks at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-the-white-house-correspondents-association-dinner-21", "date": "2026-07-24" }, { "title": "Voters to Republicans: Fix the Biden economy", "outlet": "Roll Call", "url": "https://rollcall.com/2026/09/22/voters-to-republicans-fix-the-biden-economy/", "date": "2026-09-22" } ] } ]