[ { "id": "fix-infrastructure-only-me-2015", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "the country's infrastructure", "title": "Only he could fix America's roads, airports and bridges", "quote": "The only one to fix the infrastructure of our country is me - roads, airports, bridges. I know how to build, pols only know how to talk!", "date": "2015-05-12", "venue": "Post on Twitter (@realDonaldTrump)", "era": "pre-politics", "category": "infrastructure", "what_happened": "He repeated the claim at his June 16, 2015 announcement (\"Rebuild the country's infrastructure. Nobody can do that like me.\") and in his June 22, 2016 New York speech, where he said crumbling roads, bridges and airports \"can all be fixed, but not by Hillary Clinton, only by me.\" No infrastructure bill passed during his term; PolitiFact's Trump-O-Meter rated his pledge to invest $550 billion in infrastructure and create an infrastructure fund \"Promise Broken,\" with \"no action evident\" as of July 2020. Infrastructure legislation was later enacted under the Biden administration.", "sources": [ { "title": "Tweet: 'The only one to fix the infrastructure of our country is me'", "outlet": "Twitter (@realDonaldTrump)", "url": "https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/598324947140902912", "date": "2015-05-12" }, { "title": "Donald J. Trump Addresses the Stakes of the Election (transcript)", "outlet": "P2016 / Democracy in Action", "url": "https://p2016.org/trump/trump062216sp.html", "date": "2016-06-22" }, { "title": "Trump-O-Meter: Invest $550 billion in infrastructure and create an infrastructure fund", "outlet": "PolitiFact", "url": "https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/trumpometer/promise/386170/", "date": "2020-07-15" }, { "title": "Presidential Candidacy Announcement, New York, NY (as spoken)", "outlet": "Trump Campaign Corpus (GitHub)", "url": "https://github.com/unendin/Trump_Campaign_Corpus/blob/master/text/2015-06-16%2011.00.00%20%28Complete%2C%20As%20spoken%29%20Speech%2C%20Presidential%20Candidacy%20Announcement%2C%20New%20York%2C%20NY.txt", "date": "2015-06-16" } ] }, { "id": "fix-social-security-nobody-else-2015", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "Social Security", "title": "Only he knew how to save Social Security without cuts", "quote": "I am going to save Social Security without any cuts. I know where to get the money from. Nobody else does.", "date": "2015-05-21", "venue": "Post on Twitter quoting his speech to Sarasota (SRQ) Republicans", "era": "pre-politics", "category": "economy", "what_happened": "He repeated it throughout the primary: on Hannity, July 15, 2015 (\"I want to save Social Security without the cuts. I'm the only one that can do it\"); at the Feb. 13, 2016 CBS debate (\"I'm the only one who is going to save Social Security, believe me\"); on Fox & Friends, March 11, 2016; and at a June 2, 2016 San Jose rally. In office he enacted no Social Security legislation; his 2017 and 2018 budgets proposed cuts to disability programs that Congress rejected, and PolitiFact rated the no-cuts pledge 'Promise Kept' in July 2020 on that basis. The program's long-term funding shortfall was left unaddressed.", "sources": [ { "title": "Tweet: 'I am going to save Social Security without any cuts... Nobody else does.'", "outlet": "Twitter (@realDonaldTrump)", "url": "https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/601544572498509824", "date": "2015-05-21" }, { "title": "Republican Candidates Debate in Greenville, South Carolina", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/republican-candidates-debate-greenville-south-carolina", "date": "2016-02-13" }, { "title": "Interview with Sean Hannity, 'The Sean Hannity Show', Fox (transcript)", "outlet": "Trump Campaign Corpus (GitHub)", "url": "https://github.com/unendin/Trump_Campaign_Corpus/blob/master/text/2015-07-15%2022.00.00%20%28Complete%2C%20As%20spoken%29%20Interview%20with%20Sean%20Hannity%2C%20%27The%20Sean%20Hannity%20Show%27%2C%20Fox.txt", "date": "2015-07-15" }, { "title": "Trump-O-Meter: Make no cuts to Social Security", "outlet": "PolitiFact", "url": "https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/trumpometer/promise/1349/make-no-cuts-social-security", "date": "2020-07-15" }, { "title": "Remember When Donald Trump Promised to Save Social Security?", "outlet": "The Nation", "url": "https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/remember-when-donald-trump-promised-to-save-social-security/", "date": "2017-04-18" } ] }, { "id": "fix-economy-gdp-only-i-2015", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "the economy", "title": "'Only I can fix' a shrinking economy", "quote": "Wow, the economy is really bad! GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT down 0.7% in 1st. quarter - and getting worse. I TOLD YOU SO! Only I can fix.", "date": "2015-05-29", "venue": "Post on Twitter (@realDonaldTrump)", "era": "pre-politics", "category": "economy", "what_happened": "He made the same exclusivity claim about the economy repeatedly, including at a May 27, 2016 San Diego rally (\"what I'll do for the economy, nobody else can do\") and on Nov. 8, 2019 (\"we've created the greatest economy in the history of our country... nobody else could have done it\"). He promised 4-6% annual growth; according to FactCheck.org's compilation of his final numbers, annual real GDP growth never exceeded 3% during his term and the economy contracted in 2020. The U.S. ended his term with a net loss of 2.7 million jobs and federal debt up 50%, from $14.4 trillion to $21.6 trillion.", "sources": [ { "title": "Tweet: 'GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT down 0.7%... Only I can fix.'", "outlet": "Twitter (@realDonaldTrump)", "url": "https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/604411222906265600", "date": "2015-05-29" }, { "title": "Remarks and an Exchange With Reporters Prior to Departure for Atlanta, Georgia", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-and-exchange-with-reporters-prior-departure-for-atlanta-georgia", "date": "2019-11-08" }, { "title": "Trump's Final Numbers", "outlet": "FactCheck.org", "url": "https://www.factcheck.org/2021/10/trumps-final-numbers/", "date": "2021-10-08" } ] }, { "id": "fix-southern-border-2015", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "the southern border", "title": "Only he could fix the unsecured southern border", "quote": "Our Southern border is unsecure. I am the only one that can fix it, nobody else has the guts to even talk about it.", "date": "2015-07-03", "venue": "Post on Twitter (@realDonaldTrump)", "era": "campaign-2016", "category": "immigration", "what_happened": "He repeated the claim in other forms, e.g. at a Feb. 26, 2016 Fort Worth rally (\"there's going to be a real wall... I'm the only one that knows how to build it\"). By January 2021 the administration reported about 450 miles of barrier, but only 47-52 miles of it was new primary wall where none existed before; the rest replaced existing fencing, and U.S. taxpayers, not Mexico, paid the roughly $15 billion cost. Southwest border apprehensions hit 851,508 in fiscal 2019, more than double fiscal 2018, and were 14.7% higher in his final year than in 2016.", "sources": [ { "title": "Tweets of July 3, 2015", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/tweets-july-3-2015", "date": "2015-07-03" }, { "title": "Tweet: 'Our Southern border is unsecure. I am the only one that can fix it'", "outlet": "Twitter (@realDonaldTrump)", "url": "https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/617093560123437056", "date": "2015-07-03" }, { "title": "Fact check: Mexico never paid for it. But what about Trump's other border wall promises?", "outlet": "NBC News", "url": "https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/fact-check-mexico-never-paid-it-what-about-trump-s-n1253983", "date": "2021-01-12" }, { "title": "Southwest Border Migration FY 2019", "outlet": "U.S. Customs and Border Protection", "url": "https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/sw-border-migration/fy-2019", "date": "2019-11-14" }, { "title": "Trump's Final Numbers", "outlet": "FactCheck.org", "url": "https://www.factcheck.org/2021/10/trumps-final-numbers/", "date": "2021-10-08" }, { "title": "Speech with Robert Jeffress, Rally, Fort Worth, TX (transcript)", "outlet": "Trump Campaign Corpus (GitHub)", "url": "https://github.com/unendin/Trump_Campaign_Corpus/blob/master/text/2016-02-26%2014.00.00%20%28Partial%2C%20As%20spoken%29%20Speech%20with%20Robert%20Jeffress%2C%20Rally%2C%20Fort%20Worth%2C%20TX.txt", "date": "2016-02-26" } ] }, { "id": "fix-beat-hillary-2015", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "beating Hillary Clinton", "title": "Only he could beat Hillary Clinton", "quote": "I'm the only one that's going to beat her…nobody else is going to beat her", "date": "2015-07-15", "venue": "Interview with Sean Hannity, Fox News", "era": "campaign-2016", "category": "elections", "what_happened": "He repeated the claim on Twitter on Feb. 13, 2016 (\"I am the only one who can!\") and March 3, 2016 (\"I am the only one who can beat Hillary Clinton. I am not a Mitt Romney, who doesn't know how to win\"). This is one claim he delivered on: on Nov. 8, 2016 he won the Electoral College 306-232 while losing the popular vote, 62,955,340 (46.2%) to Clinton's 65,788,564 (48.2%).", "sources": [ { "title": "Trump: 'I'm the Only One' That's Going to Beat Hillary", "outlet": "Breitbart", "url": "https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2015/07/15/trump-im-the-only-one-thats-going-to-beat-hillary/", "date": "2015-07-15" }, { "title": "Tweet: 'I am the only one who can beat Hillary Clinton'", "outlet": "Twitter (@realDonaldTrump)", "url": "https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/705358901349388289", "date": "2016-03-03" }, { "title": "2016 Presidential Election statistics", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/statistics/elections/2016", "date": "2016-11-08" } ] }, { "id": "fix-mexico-pay-wall-2016", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "making Mexico pay for the wall", "title": "Nobody but him could get Mexico to pay for the wall", "quote": "Nobody -- as an example, on the wall, nobody is getting Mexico to pay for the wall, the cost of the wall, but me. They don't even know about that.", "date": "2016-01-03", "venue": "Interview with John Dickerson, CBS 'Face the Nation'", "era": "campaign-2016", "category": "immigration", "what_happened": "Mexico never paid. Congress and diverted Pentagon funds supplied roughly $15 billion for barrier construction, all from U.S. taxpayers; his original estimate was $8-12 billion. About 450 miles of barrier were built, but only around 47-52 miles were new primary wall where none had existed. PolitiFact rated 'Build a wall, and make Mexico pay for it' Promise Broken.", "sources": [ { "title": "Interview with John Dickerson, 'Face the Nation', CBS (transcript)", "outlet": "Trump Campaign Corpus (GitHub)", "url": "https://github.com/unendin/Trump_Campaign_Corpus/blob/master/text/2016-01-03%2010.30.00%20%28Complete%2C%20As%20spoken%29%20Interview%20with%20John%20Dickerson%2C%20%27Face%20the%20Nation%27%2C%20CBS.txt", "date": "2016-01-03" }, { "title": "Fact check: Mexico never paid for it. But what about Trump's other border wall promises?", "outlet": "NBC News", "url": "https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/fact-check-mexico-never-paid-it-what-about-trump-s-n1253983", "date": "2021-01-12" }, { "title": "Trump-O-Meter: Build a wall, and make Mexico pay for it", "outlet": "PolitiFact", "url": "https://politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/trumpometer/promise/386428/build-wall-and-make-mexico-pay-it/", "date": "2020-07-15" } ] }, { "id": "fix-trade-nobody-else-2016", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "trade", "title": "Only he could do anything about trade", "quote": "I'm going to do things that nobody else can do because I'm really good at trade.", "date": "2016-02-04", "venue": "CNN town hall with Anderson Cooper, Manchester, N.H.", "era": "campaign-2016", "category": "trade", "what_happened": "He repeated it on CNN's New Day on May 9, 2016: \"I'm the only one that can do anything about trade.\" In office he withdrew from the TPP, renegotiated NAFTA as the USMCA and imposed tariffs on China, but the U.S. trade deficit in goods and services rose 36.3% from 2016 to 2020, to nearly $654 billion, per FactCheck.org's compilation of Census Bureau data. China bought only 58% of the additional U.S. goods and services it committed to under the January 2020 Phase One deal.", "sources": [ { "title": "Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees: Republican Town Hall (transcript)", "outlet": "CNN", "url": "http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1602/04/acd.01.html", "date": "2016-02-04" }, { "title": "Interview with Chris Cuomo, 'New Day', CNN (transcript)", "outlet": "Trump Campaign Corpus (GitHub)", "url": "https://github.com/unendin/Trump_Campaign_Corpus/blob/master/text/2016-05-09%2007.00.00%20%28Complete%2C%20As%20spoken%29%20Interview%20with%20Chris%20Cuomo%2C%20%27New%20Day%27%2C%20CNN.txt", "date": "2016-05-09" }, { "title": "Trump's Final Numbers", "outlet": "FactCheck.org", "url": "https://www.factcheck.org/2021/10/trumps-final-numbers/", "date": "2021-10-08" }, { "title": "US-China phase one tracker: China's purchases of US goods", "outlet": "Peterson Institute for International Economics", "url": "https://www.piie.com/research/piie-charts/us-china-phase-one-tracker-chinas-purchases-us-goods", "date": "2022-07-19" } ] }, { "id": "fix-obamacare-nobody-like-me-2016", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "Obamacare", "title": "Nobody could repeal and replace Obamacare like him", "quote": "We will immediately repeal and replace ObamaCare - and nobody can do that like me. We will save $'s and have much better healthcare!", "date": "2016-02-09", "venue": "Post on Twitter (@realDonaldTrump)", "era": "campaign-2016", "category": "healthcare", "what_happened": "With Republican majorities in both chambers, the House pulled its first repeal bill on March 24, 2017 (Speaker Paul Ryan: 'Obamacare remains the law of the land'), and a Senate repeal bill also failed later in 2017. The 2017 tax law zeroed out the individual-mandate penalty, but the Affordable Care Act was never repealed or replaced; PolitiFact rated the promise 'Promise Broken' ('No repeal, no replace'). The number of uninsured Americans rose by about 3 million over his term.", "sources": [ { "title": "Tweet: 'We will immediately repeal and replace ObamaCare - and nobody can do that like me.'", "outlet": "Twitter (@realDonaldTrump)", "url": "https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/697182075045179392", "date": "2016-02-09" }, { "title": "Trump-O-Meter: Repeal Obamacare", "outlet": "PolitiFact", "url": "https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/trumpometer/promise/386376/", "date": "2020-07-15" }, { "title": "The 70 times Trump has tweeted about repealing and replacing Obamacare", "outlet": "CBS News", "url": "https://www.cbsnews.com/news/70-times-trump-has-tweeted-about-repealing-and-replacing-obamacare", "date": "2017-03-24" }, { "title": "Trump's Final Numbers", "outlet": "FactCheck.org", "url": "https://www.factcheck.org/2021/10/trumps-final-numbers/", "date": "2021-10-08" } ] }, { "id": "fix-carrier-layoffs-2016", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "Carrier's Indianapolis layoffs", "title": "Only he could fix Carrier moving 1,400 jobs to Mexico", "quote": "I am the only one who can fix this. Very sad. Will not happen under my watch! #MakeAmericaGreatAgain", "date": "2016-02-13", "venue": "Post on Twitter, linking a New York Post video of Carrier announcing 1,400 Indianapolis layoffs", "era": "campaign-2016", "category": "economy", "what_happened": "In November 2016 Carrier agreed, after talks with Trump and Mike Pence, to keep roughly 1,100 jobs in Indianapolis in exchange for about $7 million in tax incentives, while still shifting hundreds of positions to Mexico. On July 19, 2017 the plant laid off 338 workers, with another 290 layoffs scheduled for Dec. 22, 2017; Carrier said much of its promised $16 million investment would go to automation and result in net job loss.", "sources": [ { "title": "Tweet: 'I am the only one who can fix this. Very sad. Will not happen under my watch!'", "outlet": "Twitter (@realDonaldTrump)", "url": "https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/698522430847983616", "date": "2016-02-13" }, { "title": "Tweets of February 13, 2016", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/tweets-february-13-2016", "date": "2016-02-13" }, { "title": "Carrier Cuts 300 At Factory Where Trump Boasted Of Saving Jobs", "outlet": "NBC News", "url": "https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/carrier-cuts-300-factory-where-trump-boasted-saving-jobs-n784536", "date": "2017-07-19" } ] }, { "id": "fix-jobs-companies-leaving-2016", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "bringing jobs back", "title": "Only he could bring jobs back and stop companies leaving", "quote": "I will bring our jobs back to the U.S., and keep our companies from leaving. Nobody else can do it. Our economy will 'sing' again.", "date": "2016-03-15", "venue": "Post on Twitter (@realDonaldTrump)", "era": "campaign-2016", "category": "economy", "what_happened": "This was among his most repeated exclusivity claims: on The O'Reilly Factor, Aug. 18, 2015 (\"I will be bringing jobs back, Bill. Nobody else can do it like me\"); on Fox's MediaBuzz, Oct. 11, 2015 (\"we're going to take our jobs back from Japan, and I'm the only one that can do this\"); at a Rochester, N.Y. rally, April 10, 2016 (\"I'm the only one who knows how to stop it\"); and at Warren, Mich., Oct. 31, 2016 (\"I'm the only one that's going to bring their business back\"). Over his four years the U.S. lost a net 2.7 million jobs, including 178,000 manufacturing jobs, according to FactCheck.org's compilation of Bureau of Labor Statistics data. PolitiFact rated his promise to 'bring back manufacturing' Promise Broken, finding 'no overall improvement for manufacturing sector under Trump.'", "sources": [ { "title": "Tweet: 'I will bring our jobs back to the U.S.... Nobody else can do it.'", "outlet": "Twitter (@realDonaldTrump)", "url": "https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/709775232152817664", "date": "2016-03-15" }, { "title": "Interview with Bill O'Reilly, 'The O'Reilly Factor', Fox (transcript)", "outlet": "Trump Campaign Corpus (GitHub)", "url": "https://github.com/unendin/Trump_Campaign_Corpus/blob/master/text/2015-08-18%2020.15.00%20%28Complete%2C%20As%20spoken%29%20Interview%20with%20Bill%20O%27Reilly%2C%20New%20York%2C%20NY%2C%20%27The%20O%27Reilly%20Factory%27%2C%20Fox.txt", "date": "2015-08-18" }, { "title": "Speech, Rally, Rochester, NY (transcript)", "outlet": "Trump Campaign Corpus (GitHub)", "url": "https://github.com/unendin/Trump_Campaign_Corpus/blob/master/text/2016-04-10%2015.00.00%20%28Complete%2C%20As%20spoken%29%20Speech%2C%20Rally%2C%20Rochester%2C%20NY.txt", "date": "2016-04-10" }, { "title": "Speech with Bob Knight, Rally, Warren, MI (transcript)", "outlet": "Trump Campaign Corpus (GitHub)", "url": "https://github.com/unendin/Trump_Campaign_Corpus/blob/master/text/2016-10-31%2015.00.00%20%28Complete%2C%20As%20spoken%29%20Speech%20with%20Bob%20Knight%2C%20Rally%2C%20Warren%2C%20MI.txt", "date": "2016-10-31" }, { "title": "Trump's Final Numbers", "outlet": "FactCheck.org", "url": "https://www.factcheck.org/2021/10/trumps-final-numbers/", "date": "2021-10-08" }, { "title": "Trump-O-Meter: Bring back manufacturing", "outlet": "PolitiFact", "url": "https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/trumpometer/promise/386647/", "date": "2020-07-15" } ] }, { "id": "fix-isis-i-alone-2016", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "ISIS", "title": "'I alone can fix' the ISIS problem", "quote": "Just announced that as many as 5000 ISIS fighters have infiltrated Europe. Also, many in U.S. I TOLD YOU SO! I alone can fix this problem!", "date": "2016-03-24", "venue": "Post on Twitter (@realDonaldTrump)", "era": "campaign-2016", "category": "foreign-policy", "what_happened": "Three days later, after an attack in Pakistan, he tweeted \"I alone can solve\"; asked by Anderson Cooper on March 29, 2016 what he meant, he said \"I think I alone because I know my competition.\" As president he said on Jan. 2, 2019, \"I'm the only person in the history of our country that could really decimate ISIS.\" The ISIS territorial caliphate was eliminated during his term by the campaign launched under Obama; by one academic accounting, roughly half its territory was retaken under each administration. ISIS continued as an insurgency in Iraq and Syria and through affiliates abroad after losing its territory.", "sources": [ { "title": "Tweets of March 24, 2016", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/tweets-march-24-2016", "date": "2016-03-24" }, { "title": "Tweets of March 27, 2016", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/tweets-march-27-2016", "date": "2016-03-27" }, { "title": "Remarks in a Cabinet Meeting and an Exchange With Reporters", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-cabinet-meeting-and-exchange-with-reporters-8", "date": "2019-01-02" }, { "title": "Who really defeated the Islamic State – Obama or Trump?", "outlet": "The Conversation", "url": "https://theconversation.com/who-really-defeated-the-islamic-state-obama-or-trump-148066", "date": "2020-10-15" } ] }, { "id": "fix-heroin-border-2016", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "heroin pouring across the border", "title": "Only he would stop heroin pouring in through the border", "quote": "It's pouring in through the border. I'm the only one that's going to stop it. The politicians all talk no action", "date": "2016-03-29", "venue": "Press conference, Janesville, Wisconsin", "era": "campaign-2016", "category": "other", "what_happened": "The CDC reported an estimated 93,331 U.S. overdose deaths in 2020, up 29.4% from 72,151 in 2019. Southwest border apprehensions also rose to 851,508 in fiscal 2019, more than double the prior year.", "sources": [ { "title": "Press Conference, Janesville, WI (transcript)", "outlet": "Trump Campaign Corpus (GitHub)", "url": "https://github.com/unendin/Trump_Campaign_Corpus/blob/master/text/2016-03-29%2016.30.00%20%28Partial%2C%20As%20spoken%29%20Press%20Conference%2C%20Janesville%2C%20WI.txt", "date": "2016-03-29" }, { "title": "Drug Overdose Deaths in the U.S. Top 100,000 Annually / Provisional 2020 data", "outlet": "CDC National Center for Health Statistics", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20250906050951/https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/nchs_press_releases/2021/20210714.htm", "date": "2021-07-14" }, { "title": "Southwest Border Migration FY 2019", "outlet": "U.S. Customs and Border Protection", "url": "https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/sw-border-migration/fy-2019", "date": "2019-11-14" } ] }, { "id": "fix-overextended-military-2016", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "America's overextended resources", "title": "Only he knew how to fix debt, trade deficits and a weakened military", "quote": "I am the only person running for the presidency who understands this and this is a serious problem. I'm the only one — believe me, I know them all, I'm the only one that knows how to fix it.", "date": "2016-04-27", "venue": "Foreign policy speech at the Mayflower Hotel, Washington, D.C. (Center for the National Interest)", "era": "campaign-2016", "category": "foreign-policy", "what_happened": "The passage referred to 'massive debt, low growth, a huge trade deficit' and the need to 'rebuild our military.' The federal debt grew about 50%, from $14.4 trillion to $21.6 trillion, and the trade deficit rose 36.3% to nearly $654 billion in 2020. PolitiFact rated his pledge to eliminate the federal debt in eight years Promise Broken.", "sources": [ { "title": "Remarks on Foreign Policy", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-foreign-policy", "date": "2016-04-27" }, { "title": "Trump's Final Numbers", "outlet": "FactCheck.org", "url": "https://www.factcheck.org/2021/10/trumps-final-numbers/", "date": "2021-10-08" }, { "title": "Trump-O-Meter: Eliminate the federal debt in 8 years", "outlet": "PolitiFact", "url": "https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/trumpometer/promise/386567/", "date": "2020-01-02" } ] }, { "id": "fix-second-amendment-2016", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "the Second Amendment", "title": "Only a vote for him could save the Second Amendment", "quote": "The only way to save our Second Amendment is to vote for a person that you all know named Donald Trump OK?", "date": "2016-05-20", "venue": "NRA Leadership Forum, Louisville, Kentucky", "era": "campaign-2016", "category": "guns", "what_happened": "He revived the framing in his Aug. 27, 2020 acceptance speech: \"if we don't win, your Second Amendment doesn't have a chance.\" The one major federal gun restriction of his term was his own: after the 2017 Las Vegas shooting his administration issued a December 2018 ATF rule (83 Fed. Reg. 66514) reclassifying bump stocks as machine guns and banning them. The Supreme Court struck that rule down on June 14, 2024 in Garland v. Cargill, holding ATF had exceeded its statutory authority.", "sources": [ { "title": "'I Will Never Let You Down,' Trump Tells National Rifle Association", "outlet": "NPR", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2016/05/20/478864228/i-will-never-let-you-down-trump-tells-national-rifle-%20association", "date": "2016-05-20" }, { "title": "Speech, NRA National Convention, Louisville, KY (transcript)", "outlet": "Trump Campaign Corpus (GitHub)", "url": "https://github.com/unendin/Trump_Campaign_Corpus/blob/master/text/2016-05-20%2014.40.00%20%28Complete%2C%20As%20spoken%29%20Speech%2C%20NRA%20National%20Convention%2C%20Louisville%2C%20KY.txt", "date": "2016-05-20" }, { "title": "Address Accepting the Republican Presidential Nomination", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/address-accepting-the-republican-presidential-nomination-2", "date": "2020-08-27" }, { "title": "Garland v. Cargill, 602 U.S. ___ (2024)", "outlet": "Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School", "url": "https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/22-976", "date": "2024-06-14" } ] }, { "id": "fix-rigged-system-i-alone-2016", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "the rigged system", "title": "'I alone can fix' the rigged political system", "quote": "Nobody knows the system better than me, which is why I alone can fix it.", "date": "2016-07-21", "venue": "RNC acceptance speech, Cleveland", "era": "campaign-2016", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "He said the same thing in other words at rallies in Lakeland, Fla. on Oct. 12, 2016 (\"I know the inside and I know the outside. And that's why I'm the only one that can fix this mess\") and West Palm Beach on Oct. 13, 2016 (\"Because I used to be part of the club, I'm the only one who can fix it\"). His signature ethics measure, a Jan. 28, 2017 executive order imposing a lifetime ban on White House officials lobbying for foreign governments, was revoked by his own order on Jan. 19-20, 2021, days before he left office. PolitiFact's final Trump-O-Meter tally of 102 campaign promises rated 24 kept, 23 compromises and 55 broken.", "sources": [ { "title": "Address Accepting the Presidential Nomination at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/address-accepting-the-presidential-nomination-the-republican-national-convention-cleveland", "date": "2016-07-21" }, { "title": "Hillary Clinton says Donald Trump said 'I alone can fix it'", "outlet": "PolitiFact", "url": "https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2016/jul/29/hillary-clinton/hillary-clinton-says-donald-trump-said-i-alone-can", "date": "2016-07-29" }, { "title": "Remarks at the South Florida Fair Expo Center in West Palm Beach, Florida", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-the-south-florida-fair-expo-center-west-palm-beach-florida", "date": "2016-10-13" }, { "title": "Trump-O-Meter: Place lifetime ban on White House officials lobbying for foreign government", "outlet": "PolitiFact", "url": "https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/trumpometer/promise/386202/", "date": "2021-01-26" }, { "title": "Trump-O-Meter: Tracking Trump's campaign promises", "outlet": "PolitiFact", "url": "https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/trumpometer/", "date": "2021-01-26" } ] }, { "id": "fix-tax-laws-only-one-2016", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "the tax code", "title": "Only he could fix the complex tax laws", "quote": "I know our complex tax laws better than anyone who has ever run for president and am the only one who can fix them. #failing@nytimes", "date": "2016-10-02", "venue": "Post on Twitter, responding to the New York Times report on his $916 million 1995 loss", "era": "campaign-2016", "category": "taxes", "what_happened": "The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act he signed on Dec. 22, 2017 cut rates but left in place the carried-interest break he had promised repeatedly to eliminate; PolitiFact rated that pledge Promise Broken (\"it remains on the books\").", "sources": [ { "title": "Tweets of October 2, 2016", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/tweets-october-2-2016", "date": "2016-10-02" }, { "title": "Tweet: 'I know our complex tax laws better than anyone... and am the only one who can fix them.'", "outlet": "Twitter (@realDonaldTrump)", "url": "https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/782541307168391168", "date": "2016-10-02" }, { "title": "Trump-O-Meter: Eliminate the carried interest loophole", "outlet": "PolitiFact", "url": "https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/trumpometer/promise/386619/", "date": "2017-12-20" } ] }, { "id": "fix-state-department-only-one-matters-2017", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "State Department vacancies", "title": "'I'm the only one that matters' on unfilled State Department posts", "quote": "Let me tell you, the one that matters is me. I'm the only one that matters, because when it comes to it, that's what the policy is going to be.", "date": "2017-11-02", "venue": "Interview with Laura Ingraham, Fox News (aired Nov. 2-3, 2017)", "era": "term-1", "category": "foreign-policy", "what_happened": "Asked whether he worried that the State Department lacked enough of his nominees to carry out his agenda, he said the vacancies did not matter because he set policy. At the time his administration had filled roughly one-quarter of about 600 Senate-confirmed positions, multiple assistant-secretary posts were empty and no ambassador to South Korea had been nominated.", "sources": [ { "title": "'I'm The Only One That Matters,' Trump Says Of State Dept. Job Vacancies", "outlet": "NPR (via KERA)", "url": "https://www.keranews.org/2017-11-03/im-the-only-one-that-matters-trump-says-of-state-dept-job-vacancies", "date": "2017-11-03" }, { "title": "Trump on Core State Department Vacancies: 'I'm the Only One That Matters'", "outlet": "Slate", "url": "https://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2017/11/03/trump_on_state_department_vacancies_i_m_the_only_one_that_matters.html", "date": "2017-11-03" }, { "title": "Trump: 'I'm the only one that matters'", "outlet": "CNN", "url": "https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2017/11/03/trump-im-only-one-that-matters-fox-sot.cnn", "date": "2017-11-03" } ] }, { "id": "fix-syria-troops-only-one-2019", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "bringing troops home from Syria", "title": "Only he could bring the troops home from Syria", "quote": "But I'm going to bring them home from Syria. So I'm the only one that can do that and get bad publicity.", "date": "2019-01-02", "venue": "Cabinet meeting, Cabinet Room of the White House", "era": "term-1", "category": "foreign-policy", "what_happened": "In the same meeting he said, \"I'm the only person in the history of our country that could really decimate ISIS, say we're bringing the troops back home over a period of time.\" PolitiFact reported that after his December 2018 withdrawal order with a 30-day timeline, he reversed course and allowed the military a few months, and that his October 2019 withdrawal announcement drew bipartisan resistance. As of September 2024, the Defense Department reported about 900 U.S. service members still in Syria.", "sources": [ { "title": "Remarks in a Cabinet Meeting and an Exchange With Reporters", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project (UCSB)", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-cabinet-meeting-and-exchange-with-reporters-8", "date": "2019-01-02" }, { "title": "Fact-checking Donald Trump's claims about Syria and US troop withdrawal", "outlet": "PolitiFact", "url": "https://politifact.com/article/2019/oct/08/fact-checking-donald-trumps-claims-about-syria-and/", "date": "2019-10-08" }, { "title": "Why Harris' debate remarks about U.S. military in combat zones are Mostly False", "outlet": "PolitiFact", "url": "https://politifact.com/factchecks/2024/sep/11/kamala-harris/why-harris-debate-remarks-about-us-military-in-com/", "date": "2024-09-11" } ] }, { "id": "fix-market-crash-anyone-but-me-2019", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "the stock market", "title": "A market crash 'if anyone but me takes over'", "quote": "The Trump Economy is setting records, and has a long way up to go....However, if anyone but me takes over in 2020 (I know the competition very well), there will be a Market Crash the likes of which has not been seen before! KEEP AMERICA GREAT", "date": "2019-06-15", "venue": "Post on Twitter (@realDonaldTrump)", "era": "term-1", "category": "economy", "what_happened": "He repeated the warning to business leaders in India on March 2, 2020 (\"if I don't win you're going to see a crash like you've never seen before\"). He lost the 2020 election, 306 electoral votes to 232. No such crash followed the transfer of power; U.S. stock indexes went on to set record highs under his successor in January 2024, and Trump then claimed credit for them.", "sources": [ { "title": "Tweet: 'if anyone but me takes over in 2020... there will be a Market Crash'", "outlet": "Twitter (@realDonaldTrump)", "url": "https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1139891393252474880", "date": "2019-06-15" }, { "title": "Trump Warns of Epic Stock Market Crash If He's Not Re-Elected", "outlet": "Bloomberg", "url": "https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-06-15/trump-warns-of-epic-stock-market-crash-if-he-s-not-re-elected", "date": "2019-06-15" }, { "title": "Trump says stock markets will crash if he loses election", "outlet": "The Wealth Advisor (Reuters)", "url": "https://www.thewealthadvisor.com/article/trump-says-stock-markets-will-crash-if-he-loses-election", "date": "2020-03-02" }, { "title": "2020 Presidential Election statistics", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/statistics/elections/2020", "date": "2020-11-03" }, { "title": "Trump claims credit for record-high stock market under Biden", "outlet": "The Hill", "url": "https://thehill.com/homenews/4435862-trump-claims-credit-record-stock-market-biden/", "date": "2024-01-29" } ] }, { "id": "fix-poland-visa-waiver-nobody-else-2019", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "Poland's entry into the Visa Waiver Program", "title": "Nobody else could get Poland into the Visa Waiver Program", "quote": "President Trump got it done, and nobody else could for a long time, as you know.", "date": "2019-09-23", "venue": "Signing ceremony with President Andrzej Duda of Poland, InterContinental New York Barclay, New York City", "era": "term-1", "category": "foreign-policy", "what_happened": "Delivered. Poland was admitted to the Visa Waiver Program in November 2019; on November 25, 2019, a reporter noted to Trump, \"You recently signed Poland into the Visa Waiver Program,\" and a June 24, 2020 White House fact sheet stated, \"Last year, Poland entered the Visa Waiver Program.\"", "sources": [ { "title": "Remarks on Signing a Joint Declaration on Advancing Defense Cooperation With President Andrzej Duda of Poland in New York City", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project (UCSB)", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-signing-joint-declaration-advancing-defense-cooperation-with-president-andrzej", "date": "2019-09-23" }, { "title": "Remarks on Welcoming Prime Minister Boyko Borisov of Bulgaria to the White House and an Exchange With Reporters", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project (UCSB)", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-welcoming-prime-minister-boyko-borisov-bulgaria-the-white-house-and-exchange-with", "date": "2019-11-25" }, { "title": "Fact Sheet - President Donald J. Trump Is Strengthening Our Nation's Enduring Partnership With Poland", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project (UCSB)", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-strengthening-our-nations-enduring-partnership-with", "date": "2020-06-24" } ] }, { "id": "fix-endless-wars-only-person-2019", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "the endless wars", "title": "Only he could bring the troops home from the endless wars", "quote": "I am the only person who can fight for the safety of our troops & bring them home from the ridiculous & costly Endless Wars, and be scorned. Democrats always liked that position, until I took it. Democrats always liked Walls, until I built them. Do you see what's happening here?", "date": "2019-10-16", "venue": "Post on Twitter (@realDonaldTrump)", "era": "term-1", "category": "foreign-policy", "what_happened": "He had said at a Jan. 2, 2019 Cabinet meeting, of withdrawing from Syria, \"I'm the only one that can do that and get bad publicity.\" His administration signed the Feb. 29, 2020 Doha agreement with the Taliban, and on Nov. 17, 2020 acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller announced the Afghanistan force would be halved to 2,500 by mid-January 2021. The war did not end on his watch: about 2,500 U.S. troops remained in Afghanistan when he left office, and the withdrawal was completed under Biden on Aug. 30, 2021.", "sources": [ { "title": "Tweet: 'I am the only person who can fight for the safety of our troops & bring them home'", "outlet": "Twitter (@realDonaldTrump)", "url": "https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1184690356027297793", "date": "2019-10-16" }, { "title": "Remarks in a Cabinet Meeting and an Exchange With Reporters", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-cabinet-meeting-and-exchange-with-reporters-8", "date": "2019-01-02" }, { "title": "The U.S. War in Afghanistan (timeline)", "outlet": "Council on Foreign Relations", "url": "https://www.cfr.org/timeline/us-war-afghanistan", "date": "2021-08-30" } ] }, { "id": "fix-swamp-caught-nobody-else-2019", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "catching the swamp", "title": "Nobody else could have caught the swamp", "quote": "I caught the swamp. I caught them all. Let's see what happens. Nobody else could have done that but me. I caught all of this corruption that was going on, and nobody else could have done it.", "date": "2019-11-08", "venue": "Remarks to reporters on the South Lawn before departing for Atlanta", "era": "term-1", "category": "justice", "what_happened": "The Justice Department review he pointed to, led by special counsel John Durham from 2019, lasted four years and produced one guilty plea (a former FBI lawyer who altered an email used in a surveillance application) and two acquittals. Durham's May 2023 report said the FBI \"acted on unanalyzed, unconfirmed intelligence to move too quickly to open a full investigation,\" but also that the FBI \"had an affirmative obligation to closely examine\" the Australian tip that triggered it. No senior official was charged.", "sources": [ { "title": "Remarks and an Exchange With Reporters Prior to Departure for Atlanta, Georgia", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project (UCSB)", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-and-exchange-with-reporters-prior-departure-for-atlanta-georgia", "date": "2019-11-08" }, { "title": "Durham report criticized elements of FBI's investigation into Trump's 2016 campaign", "outlet": "PolitiFact", "url": "https://politifact.com/article/2023/may/17/durham-report-criticized-elements-of-fbis-investig/", "date": "2023-05-17" } ] }, { "id": "fix-north-korea-only-one-2019", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "North Korea", "title": "Only he could get Kim Jong Un 'where you have to be'", "quote": "Mr. Chairman, Joe Biden may be Sleepy and Very Slow, but he is not a \"rabid dog.\" He is actually somewhat better than that, but I am the only one who can get you where you have to be. You should act quickly, get the deal done. See you soon!", "date": "2019-11-17", "venue": "Post on Twitter addressed to Kim Jong Un", "era": "term-1", "category": "foreign-policy", "what_happened": "He had made similar claims after the June 2018 Singapore summit (Nov. 7, 2018: \"nobody else could have done what I've done\") and on Feb. 15, 2019 (\"Nobody else would have done that. The Obama administration couldn't have done it\"). The February 2019 Hanoi summit produced little progress on denuclearization, and no deal was reached before he left office. North Korea carried out no denuclearization, resumed missile testing in 2019 and expanded its arsenal, according to the Arms Control Association's chronology.", "sources": [ { "title": "Tweets of November 17, 2019", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/tweets-november-17-2019", "date": "2019-11-17" }, { "title": "Tweet: 'I am the only one who can get you where you have to be'", "outlet": "Twitter (@realDonaldTrump)", "url": "https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1196080086686011398", "date": "2019-11-17" }, { "title": "The President's News Conference in Washington, D.C.", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-washington-dc", "date": "2018-11-07" }, { "title": "Remarks by President Trump on the National Security and Humanitarian Crisis on our Southern Border", "outlet": "White House (archived)", "url": "https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-national-security-humanitarian-crisis-southern-border/", "date": "2019-02-15" }, { "title": "Chronology of U.S.-North Korean Nuclear and Missile Diplomacy", "outlet": "Arms Control Association", "url": "https://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/dprkchron", "date": "2022-01-01" } ] }, { "id": "fix-qualcomm-merger-nobody-else-2020", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "Qualcomm's NXP merger approval", "title": "Nobody else could have gotten China to approve Qualcomm's merger", "quote": "I called up President Xi, and I—they rejected it. Remember? And then, they accepted it. By that time, you were off to another deal. You didn't even want it. But nobody else could have done that, right?", "date": "2020-01-15", "venue": "Signing of the U.S.-China Phase One trade agreement, East Room of the White House", "era": "term-1", "category": "trade", "what_happened": "Qualcomm announced its $44 billion bid for NXP Semiconductors on October 27, 2016. The deal required approval from China's Ministry of Commerce, which never came, and Qualcomm cancelled the acquisition on July 26, 2018. There is no public record of a later Chinese approval; Trump was addressing Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf in the audience when he made the claim.", "sources": [ { "title": "Remarks With Vice Premier Liu He of China on Signing the United States-China Phase One Trade Agreement", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project (UCSB)", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-with-vice-premier-liu-he-china-signing-the-united-states-china-phase-one-trade", "date": "2020-01-15" }, { "title": "NXP Semiconductors", "outlet": "Wikipedia", "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NXP_Semiconductors", "date": "2026-09" } ] }, { "id": "fix-border-wall-nobody-else-2020", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "building the border wall", "title": "Nobody else could have built the border wall", "quote": "Honestly I don't wanna brag, nobody else could have done it. Nobody else could have done it.", "date": "2020-01-30", "venue": "\"Keep America Great\" rally at the Knapp Center, Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa", "era": "term-1", "category": "immigration", "what_happened": "PolitiFact's August 2023 review of U.S. Customs and Border Protection data found the Trump administration built 458 miles of primary and secondary barrier, of which 52 miles were new primary barrier where none existed before; 351 miles of primary and 22 miles of secondary barrier replaced smaller, dilapidated barriers. PolitiFact rated his \"nearly 500 miles\" claim Half True, noting the amount of new wall was about ten times smaller than his count.", "sources": [ { "title": "Remarks at a \"Keep America Great\" Rally in Des Moines, Iowa", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project (UCSB)", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-keep-america-great-rally-des-moines-iowa", "date": "2020-01-30" }, { "title": "How many miles of border wall did Donald Trump build?", "outlet": "PolitiFact", "url": "https://politifact.com/factchecks/2023/aug/09/donald-trump/how-many-miles-of-border-wall-did-donald-trump-bui/", "date": "2023-08-09" } ] }, { "id": "fix-trade-deals-nobody-else-2020", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "trade deals", "title": "'Nobody else could have pulled this off' on trade deals", "quote": "Republicans in Iowa, go out and Caucus today. Your great Trade Deals with China, Mexico, Canada, Japan, South Korea and more, are DONE. Great times are coming, after waiting for decades, for our Farmers, Ranchers, Manufacturers and ALL. Nobody else could have pulled this off!", "date": "2020-02-03", "venue": "Post on Twitter (@realDonaldTrump)", "era": "term-1", "category": "trade", "what_happened": "At the Jan. 15, 2020 signing of the U.S.-China Phase One agreement he said of the deal, \"Nobody else could have done that, right?\" Under Phase One, China committed to buy an additional $200 billion of U.S. goods and services over 2020-2021; it purchased only 58% of what it committed to, according to the Peterson Institute for International Economics. The overall U.S. trade deficit rose 36.3% between 2016 and 2020, to nearly $654 billion.", "sources": [ { "title": "Tweet: 'Your great Trade Deals... are DONE... Nobody else could have pulled this off!'", "outlet": "Twitter (@realDonaldTrump)", "url": "https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1224374908710420480", "date": "2020-02-03" }, { "title": "Remarks With Vice Premier Liu He of China on Signing the United States-China Phase One Trade Agreement", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-with-vice-premier-liu-he-china-signing-the-united-states-china-phase-one-trade", "date": "2020-01-15" }, { "title": "US-China phase one tracker: China's purchases of US goods", "outlet": "Peterson Institute for International Economics", "url": "https://www.piie.com/research/piie-charts/us-china-phase-one-tracker-chinas-purchases-us-goods", "date": "2022-07-19" }, { "title": "Trump's Final Numbers", "outlet": "FactCheck.org", "url": "https://www.factcheck.org/2021/10/trumps-final-numbers/", "date": "2021-10-08" } ] }, { "id": "fix-covid-response-nobody-else-2020", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "the coronavirus response", "title": "Nobody else could have done what his administration did on COVID", "quote": "And the rest of the world is watching, and they respect what we've done, because I don't think anybody else—I know nobody else could have done what we've done. And we started with garbage.", "date": "2020-04-18", "venue": "White House Coronavirus Task Force press briefing, James S. Brady Press Briefing Room", "era": "term-1", "category": "covid", "what_happened": "He repeated the claim on August 12, 2020: \"making ventilators that nobody else could have done. We are the ventilator king of the world.\" PolitiFact named \"coronavirus downplay and denial\" its 2020 Lie of the Year. By the time he left office on January 20, 2021, the U.S. was averaging just under 3,100 COVID-19 deaths a day, with 4,383 deaths recorded on inauguration day.", "sources": [ { "title": "Remarks at a White House Coronavirus Task Force Press Briefing", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project (UCSB)", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-white-house-coronavirus-task-force-press-briefing-31", "date": "2020-04-18" }, { "title": "The President's News Conference", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project (UCSB)", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-1251", "date": "2020-08-12" }, { "title": "Lie of the Year: Coronavirus downplay and denial", "outlet": "PolitiFact", "url": "https://politifact.com/article/2020/dec/16/lie-year-coronavirus-downplay-and-denial/", "date": "2020-12-16" }, { "title": "ISIS, drug prices and COVID-19 deaths: How viral posts mislead on Biden's first days", "outlet": "PolitiFact", "url": "https://politifact.com/article/2021/jan/26/isis-drug-prices-and-covid-19-deaths-how-viral-pos/", "date": "2021-01-26" } ] }, { "id": "fix-price-transparency-nobody-else-2020", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "health care price transparency", "title": "Nobody else would have gotten health care price transparency", "quote": "But nobody else would have gotten it but this administration: price transparency.", "date": "2020-05-26", "venue": "Rose Garden remarks on reducing insulin costs for Medicare beneficiaries", "era": "term-1", "category": "healthcare", "what_happened": "He made the same claim in Des Moines on January 30, 2020 (\"Nobody else would have gotten it done, that I can tell you\"). In August 2022 PolitiFact rated Half True a claim that \"Nobody's enforcing\" the hospital price transparency law. On February 25, 2025, he signed a new executive order on price transparency; the White House fact sheet said \"the prior Administration failed to prioritize further implementation and enforcement of these requirements\" and that the Biden administration \"was sued in 2023 for not enforcing the prescription drug transparency requirements.\"", "sources": [ { "title": "Remarks on Efforts To Reduce Insulin Costs for Medicare Beneficiaries and an Exchange With Reporters", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project (UCSB)", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-efforts-reduce-insulin-costs-for-medicare-beneficiaries-and-exchange-with", "date": "2020-05-26" }, { "title": "Remarks at a \"Keep America Great\" Rally in Des Moines, Iowa", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project (UCSB)", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-keep-america-great-rally-des-moines-iowa", "date": "2020-01-30" }, { "title": "Rapper Fat Joe says no one is making sure hospitals post prices. Is that right?", "outlet": "PolitiFact", "url": "https://politifact.com/factchecks/2022/aug/09/power-patients/rapper-fat-joe-says-no-one-making-sure-hospitals-p/", "date": "2022-08-09" }, { "title": "White House Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Announces Actions to Make Healthcare Prices Transparent", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project (UCSB)", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/white-house-fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-announces-actions-make-healthcare-prices", "date": "2025-02-25" } ] }, { "id": "fix-appliance-rules-nobody-else-2020", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "showerhead and dishwasher water rules", "title": "Nobody else would have fixed the showerheads and dishwashers", "quote": "Not so easy to do. I don't think anybody else coulda done it. Nobody else would have thought to do things like that, but nobody else would have done it.", "date": "2020-08-20", "venue": "\"Make America Great Again\" rally at Mariotti Building Products, Old Forge, Pennsylvania", "era": "term-1", "category": "other", "what_happened": "His 2020 changes did not last. An April 9, 2025 White House fact sheet said that \"twice in the last 12 years\" administrations had put out \"massive regulations\" on showerheads, called the Biden-era definition \"a staggering 13,000 words,\" and announced a new order directing the Energy Secretary to rescind the rule and return to the 1992 statute's meaning of \"showerhead.\" On May 9, 2025, he issued a memorandum titled \"Rescission of Useless Water Pressure Standards.\"", "sources": [ { "title": "Remarks at a \"Make America Great Again\" Rally in Old Forge, Pennsylvania", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project (UCSB)", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-make-america-great-again-rally-old-forge-pennsylvania", "date": "2020-08-20" }, { "title": "White House Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Makes America's Showers Great Again", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project (UCSB)", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/white-house-fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-makes-americas-showers-great-again", "date": "2025-04-09" }, { "title": "Memorandum on Rescission of Useless Water Pressure Standards", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project (UCSB)", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/memorandum-rescission-useless-water-pressure-standards", "date": "2025-05-09" } ] }, { "id": "fix-anarchy-only-thing-standing-2020", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "anarchy and chaos", "title": "'The only thing standing between the American Dream and total anarchy'", "quote": "I'm the only thing standing between the American Dream and total anarchy, madness, and chaos. And that's what it is. I'm representing you.", "date": "2020-08-21", "venue": "Remarks to the Council for National Policy, Arlington, Virginia", "era": "term-1", "category": "justice", "what_happened": "He lost the Nov. 3, 2020 election to Joe Biden, 306 electoral votes to 232 (81,268,773 to 74,216,728 in the popular vote). The rise in violent crime he warned of occurred on his own watch: according to FBI data compiled by FactCheck.org, murders in 2020 rose to their highest level since 1997, 4,157 more homicides than in 2016.", "sources": [ { "title": "Remarks by President Trump at the 2020 Council for National Policy Meeting", "outlet": "White House (archived)", "url": "https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-2020-council-national-policy-meeting/", "date": "2020-08-21" }, { "title": "Trump: 'I'm the only thing standing between the American dream and total anarchy'", "outlet": "The Washington Post", "url": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/politics/trump-im-the-only-thing-standing-between-the-american-dream-and-total-anarchy/2020/08/21/d6764f66-a959-4278-a361-9c30a8f2582a_video.html", "date": "2020-08-21" }, { "title": "2020 Presidential Election statistics", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/statistics/elections/2020", "date": "2020-11-03" }, { "title": "Trump's Final Numbers", "outlet": "FactCheck.org", "url": "https://www.factcheck.org/2021/10/trumps-final-numbers/", "date": "2021-10-08" } ] }, { "id": "fix-drug-prices-no-other-president-2020", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "prescription drug prices", "title": "'No other President would do this' on drug prices", "quote": "A \"Favored Nations Clause\" against Big Pharma, which I signed last week, means that the USA gets a price on Prescription Drugs that matches the price of the Country that pays the lowest price anywhere in the World. 50%, 60%, maybe 70% reduction. No other President would do this!", "date": "2020-08-23", "venue": "Post on Twitter (@realDonaldTrump)", "era": "term-1", "category": "healthcare", "what_happened": "He repeated the framing on July 28, 2020 (\"What I have done will lead to a 50% REDUCTION in prices, at least... No other President would....\") and at the RNC in Charlotte on Aug. 24, 2020 (\"your numbers are gonna come down 60, 70%... nobody but me would ever do it\"). The Most Favored Nation rule was not published until Nov. 27, 2020, as an interim final rule; a federal court issued a nationwide preliminary injunction on Dec. 28, 2020, before its Jan. 1, 2021 start date, and the model never took effect. CMS formally rescinded it on Dec. 27, 2021.", "sources": [ { "title": "Tweet: 'A \"Favored Nations Clause\" against Big Pharma... No other President would do this!'", "outlet": "Twitter (@realDonaldTrump)", "url": "https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1297329827859632130", "date": "2020-08-23" }, { "title": "Tweet: 'Big Pharma is taking television ads... No other President would....'", "outlet": "Twitter (@realDonaldTrump)", "url": "https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1288109090061705222", "date": "2020-07-28" }, { "title": "Remarks to the Republican National Committee in Charlotte, North Carolina", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-the-republican-national-committee-charlotte-north-carolina", "date": "2020-08-24" }, { "title": "Most Favored Nation Model", "outlet": "Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services", "url": "https://www.cms.gov/priorities/innovation/innovation-models/most-favored-nation-model", "date": "2021-12-27" } ] }, { "id": "fix-suburbs-if-i-dont-win-2020", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "the suburbs", "title": "If he didn't win, the suburbs would be 'overrun'", "quote": "The Democrats never even mentioned the words LAW & ORDER at their National Convention. That's where they are coming from. If I don't win, America's Suburbs will be OVERRUN with Low Income Projects, Anarchists, Agitators, Looters and, of course, \"Friendly Protesters\".", "date": "2020-09-10", "venue": "Post on Twitter (@realDonaldTrump)", "era": "term-1", "category": "other", "what_happened": "The claim referred to his administration's replacement of the Obama-era Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rule with a narrower 'Preserving Neighborhood and Community Choice' policy. He lost the election, 306-232. On June 10, 2021 HUD restored the AFFH requirement through an interim final rule effective July 31, 2021, requiring grantees to certify they are addressing segregation and unequal housing access; the rule regulates local fair-housing planning, not the construction of housing projects in particular neighborhoods.", "sources": [ { "title": "Tweet: 'If I don't win, America's Suburbs will be OVERRUN...'", "outlet": "Twitter (@realDonaldTrump)", "url": "https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1304060630656311296", "date": "2020-09-10" }, { "title": "2020 Presidential Election statistics", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/statistics/elections/2020", "date": "2020-11-03" }, { "title": "HUD Restores Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Requirement", "outlet": "U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development", "url": "https://archives.hud.gov/news/2021/pr21-098.cfm", "date": "2021-06-10" } ] }, { "id": "fix-medicare-benefits-standing-between-2020", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "Medicare and Social Security benefits", "title": "Only he stood between voters and losing their health benefits", "quote": "I'm the only one standing between their open borders and extremism and the health care benefits that you've earned and paid for—all your life you paid for.", "date": "2020-10-16", "venue": "Rally at the Caloosa Sound Convention Center, Fort Myers, Florida", "era": "term-1", "category": "healthcare", "what_happened": "In the same speech he pledged that \"as long as I'm President, no one will lay a hand on your Medicare or your Social Security\" and warned Democrats would \"destroy your Social Security.\" He lost the election; Medicare and Social Security benefits were not cut under President Biden. On January 5, 2025, Biden signed the Social Security Fairness Act, which he said extends benefits to millions of teachers, nurses and other public employees, with about 2.5 million people receiving lump-sum payments and an average monthly increase of $360.", "sources": [ { "title": "Remarks in Fort Myers, Florida", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project (UCSB)", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-fort-myers-florida-0", "date": "2020-10-16" }, { "title": "Remarks on Signing the Social Security Fairness Act of 2023", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project (UCSB)", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-signing-the-social-security-fairness-act-2023-0", "date": "2025-01-05" } ] }, { "id": "fix-covid-vaccine-nobody-else-2021", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "the COVID-19 vaccines", "title": "Nobody else would have delivered the COVID vaccines", "quote": "We're rounding the turn because of, the turn because of what we did with the vaccines. And nobody else would have done it, it would have taken so long.", "date": "2021-01-04", "venue": "Campaign rally before the Georgia Senate runoffs, Dalton Municipal Airport, Dalton, Georgia", "era": "term-1", "category": "covid", "what_happened": "In the same speech he said of the vaccine, \"Nobody else would have done that.\" PolitiFact reported that Pfizer did not take federal research money through Operation Warp Speed (\"The U.S. government did not fund the companies' research and development\"); the government signed a purchase agreement, and Pfizer's CEO said he wanted \"to liberate our scientists from any bureaucracy.\" Moderna did receive up to $955 million in federal development funding. On January 20, 2021, the day he left office, 4,383 COVID-19 deaths were recorded in the U.S., with the country averaging just under 3,100 deaths a day.", "sources": [ { "title": "Remarks at a Campaign Rally Prior to the Georgia State Senate Election Runoff in Dalton, Georgia", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project (UCSB)", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-campaign-rally-prior-the-georgia-state-senate-election-runoff-dalton-georgia", "date": "2021-01-04" }, { "title": "Pfizer, Moderna COVID-19 vaccines and Operation Warp Speed: what's the connection?", "outlet": "PolitiFact", "url": "https://politifact.com/article/2020/nov/19/pfizer-moderna-covid-19-vaccines-and-operation-war/", "date": "2020-11-19" }, { "title": "ISIS, drug prices and COVID-19 deaths: How viral posts mislead on Biden's first days", "outlet": "PolitiFact", "url": "https://politifact.com/article/2021/jan/26/isis-drug-prices-and-covid-19-deaths-how-viral-pos/", "date": "2021-01-26" } ] }, { "id": "fix-wwiii-only-candidate-2023", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "World War III", "title": "Only candidate who could prevent World War III", "quote": "Standing before you today, I am the only candidate who can make this promise: I will prevent World War III", "date": "2023-03-13", "venue": "Campaign event in Davenport, Iowa", "era": "campaign-2024", "category": "foreign-policy", "what_happened": "He repeated the pledge through the campaign, including at a Hannity town hall in Harrisburg, Pa. on September 4, 2024 (\"We won't have World War III when I'm elected\") and in Georgia on September 25, 2024. On February 28, 2026 the United States and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran, opening a war that saw a Pakistan-mediated ceasefire on April 8, 2026, an Islamabad Memorandum on June 17, and a collapse of the ceasefire on July 8, 2026. Addressing the UN on September 22, 2026, in the war's seventh month, Trump said he could \"annihilate the Islamic Republic\" or make a deal after the midterms. The Russia-Ukraine war also continued into its fifth year as of September 2026.", "sources": [ { "title": "Trump Vows to Prevent World War III, Says He's the Only One Who Can", "outlet": "Newsweek", "url": "https://www.newsweek.com/trump-vows-prevent-world-war-iii-says-hes-only-one-who-can-1787490", "date": "2023-03-13" }, { "title": "Risk of World War III still looms, only I can prevent it: Trump", "outlet": "The Tribune (India)", "url": "https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/world/risk-of-world-war-iii-still-looms-only-i-can-prevent-it-trump", "date": "2024-09-05" }, { "title": "'I will prevent World War 3', Trump says", "outlet": "Al Jazeera", "url": "https://www.aljazeera.com/video/newsfeed/2024/9/25/i-will-prevent-world-war-3-trump-says", "date": "2024-09-25" }, { "title": "2026 Iran war ceasefire", "outlet": "Wikipedia", "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Iran_war_ceasefire", "date": "2026-09-25" }, { "title": "Trump tells U.N. he could 'annihilate' Iran but expects a deal after the midterm elections", "outlet": "NBC News", "url": "https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/trump-address-united-nations-general-assembly-iran-war-rcna599085", "date": "2026-09-22" }, { "title": "US envoys arrive in Kyiv for Ukraine war talks after meeting Putin", "outlet": "Al Jazeera", "url": "https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/9/5/russias-putin-meets-us-envoys-to-discuss-trump-proposal-to-end-ukraine-war", "date": "2026-09-05" } ] }, { "id": "fix-corrupt-system-only-candidate-2023", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "the corrupt system and the swamp", "title": "Only candidate with what it takes to smash the corrupt system", "quote": "I stand before you today as the only candidate who has what it takes to smash this corrupt system and to truly drain the swamp. And I'm the only one that they don't want to do it.", "date": "2023-06-10", "venue": "North Carolina Republican Convention, Koury Convention Center, Greensboro", "era": "campaign-2024", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "In the same speech he said \"we are the only ones who can stop them\" about the \"deep state.\" On January 20, 2025, he signed Executive Order 14171, which reinstated his 2020 Schedule F order \"with full force and effect,\" placing policy-influencing career employees in a category where failure to implement administration policies \"is grounds for dismissal.\" This entry is a later restatement of the 2016 \"I alone can fix it\" claim about the rigged system.", "sources": [ { "title": "Remarks at the North Carolina Republican Convention in Greensboro", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project (UCSB)", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-the-north-carolina-republican-convention-greensboro", "date": "2023-06-10" }, { "title": "Executive Order 14171—Restoring Accountability to Policy-Influencing Positions Within the Federal Workforce", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project (UCSB)", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/executive-order-14171-restoring-accountability-policy-influencing-positions-within-the", "date": "2025-01-20" } ] }, { "id": "fix-only-one-candidate-save-america-2023", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "saving America", "title": "Only one candidate could save America in 2024", "quote": "The 2024 election is our last shot to save America, and there's only one candidate", "date": "2023-07-28", "venue": "Iowa GOP Lincoln Dinner, Des Moines", "era": "campaign-2024", "category": "other", "what_happened": "Trump won the November 5, 2024 election, 312 electoral votes to 226 and 49.8% to 48.3% in the popular vote. A year into the term, annual inflation stood at 2.7% (January 2026) and a Senate analysis attributed $2,120 in added 2025 household costs to tariffs, while the White House cited 4.4% GDP growth in Q3 2025. By September 2026 the Federal Reserve had raised rates for the first time since 2023, government-bond yields were at roughly 20-year highs, and the deficit was adding over $2 trillion to the debt in a single year.", "sources": [ { "title": "Donald Trump casts himself as best bet against Joe Biden at Iowa dinner", "outlet": "Gulf News", "url": "https://gulfnews.com/world/americas/donald-trump-casts-himself-as-best-bet-against-joe-biden-at-iowa-dinner-1.1690619369101", "date": "2023-07-29" }, { "title": "2024 United States presidential election", "outlet": "Wikipedia", "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_United_States_presidential_election", "date": "2026-09-25" }, { "title": "Trump promised to end inflation; a Warren report says prices are up", "outlet": "Fortune", "url": "https://fortune.com/2026/01/30/trump-promise-end-inflation-warren-report-prices", "date": "2026-01-30" }, { "title": "Trump's Debt Crisis Will Be Easy to Fix", "outlet": "The American Prospect", "url": "https://prospect.org/2026/09/18/trump-debt-crisis-fix-taxes-tariffs-inflation-deficit/", "date": "2026-09-18" } ] }, { "id": "fix-depression-if-i-dont-win", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "a 1929-style depression", "title": "A 1929-style depression if he did not win", "quote": "I think if I don't win, we're going to have a depression like 1929.", "date": "2023-12-30", "venue": "Interview at Mar-a-Lago, Palm Beach", "era": "campaign-2024", "category": "economy", "what_happened": "He repeated the warning through 2024, posting on Truth Social about \"a 1929-style depression\" and \"THE KAMALA CRASH & GREAT DEPRESSION OF 2024,\" and attributing the 1929 prediction to Scott Bessent at a Wilkes-Barre rally. He won. As of January 2026 annual inflation was 2.7%, the White House cited 4.4% Q3 2025 GDP growth, and a Senate analysis put tariff-driven 2025 household costs at $2,120. By September 2026 the Fed had raised rates for the first time since 2023 and the debt was growing by more than $2 trillion in the year, with interest costs of about $1.2 trillion.", "sources": [ { "title": "Exclusive — Donald Trump: 'Depression Like 1929' Looms if 'I Don't Win'", "outlet": "Breitbart", "url": "https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/12/30/exclusive-donald-trump-depression-like-1929-looms-if-i-dont-win/", "date": "2023-12-30" }, { "title": "Apocalypse delayed: Trump keeps promising doom that never comes", "outlet": "NBC News", "url": "https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/apocalypse-delayed-trump-promising-doom-never-comes-rcna170151", "date": "2024-09-20" }, { "title": "Trump promised to end inflation; a Warren report says prices are up", "outlet": "Fortune", "url": "https://fortune.com/2026/01/30/trump-promise-end-inflation-warren-report-prices", "date": "2026-01-30" }, { "title": "Trump's Debt Crisis Will Be Easy to Fix", "outlet": "The American Prospect", "url": "https://prospect.org/2026/09/18/trump-debt-crisis-fix-taxes-tariffs-inflation-deficit/", "date": "2026-09-18" } ] }, { "id": "fix-bloodbath-auto-industry", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "the auto industry", "title": "A 'bloodbath' for the auto industry if he lost", "quote": "If I don't get elected, it's gonna be a bloodbath for the whole, that's going to be the least of it.", "date": "2024-03-16", "venue": "Rally in Vandalia, Ohio", "era": "campaign-2024", "category": "economy", "what_happened": "The remark came while he pledged tariffs on imported cars. He won and imposed auto tariffs. A July 2026 fact-check of his claim that the auto industry is \"back\" found Michigan lost about 4,000 auto-parts manufacturing jobs (3.5%) in the year to June 2026, added only about 500 vehicle-manufacturing jobs, and shed roughly 7,000 manufacturing jobs overall (1.2%), citing Bureau of Labor Statistics data. GM said in June 2025 it expected $4 to $5 billion in tariff costs.", "sources": [ { "title": "In context: What Trump said about a 'bloodbath' and Biden's actions on the car industry", "outlet": "PolitiFact", "url": "https://www.politifact.com/article/2024/mar/18/in-context-what-trump-said-about-a-bloodbath-and-b/", "date": "2024-03-18" }, { "title": "Trump says there will be a 'bloodbath' if he loses the election", "outlet": "NBC News", "url": "https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-bloodbath-loses-election-2024-rcna143746", "date": "2024-03-16" }, { "title": "Fact check: President Donald Trump says Michigan 'thriving,' auto industry 'back'", "outlet": "Bridge Michigan", "url": "https://bridgemi.com/michigan-government/fact-check-president-trump-says-michigan-thriving-auto-industry-back/", "date": "2026-07-27" } ] }, { "id": "fix-wwiii-if-not-president-2024", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "World War III", "title": "Nobody else would prevent World War III; war if he lost", "quote": "I will prevent World War III, nobody else is going to say that, we are closer today to World War III than we've been since the Second World War.", "date": "2024-07-26", "venue": "Turning Point Action Believers' Summit, West Palm Beach, Florida", "era": "campaign-2024", "category": "foreign-policy", "what_happened": "The same day, meeting Benjamin Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago, he warned of a \"third world war\" if he did not win in November. He won. On February 28, 2026 the U.S. and Israel began striking Iran; ceasefires were declared April 8 and extended April 21 and June 12, and the Islamabad Memorandum was signed June 17, but the ceasefire collapsed on July 8, 2026. Axios reported in March 2026 that no modern president had ordered strikes on as many countries, seven, and that he authorized more individual airstrikes in 2025 than Biden did in four years.", "sources": [ { "title": "Donald Trump Issues World War III Warning if He Isn't President", "outlet": "Newsweek", "url": "https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-issues-world-war-iii-warning-isnt-president-1931064", "date": "2024-07-27" }, { "title": "Trump says only he will 'prevent World War III,' but his record suggests the opposite", "outlet": "The Philadelphia Inquirer", "url": "https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/trump-world-war-3-foreign-policy-putin-xi-china-russia-north-korea-20241027.html", "date": "2024-10-27" }, { "title": "2026 Iran war ceasefire", "outlet": "Wikipedia", "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Iran_war_ceasefire", "date": "2026-09-25" }, { "title": "Trump's lethal presidency", "outlet": "Axios", "url": "https://axios.com/2026/03/02/trump-iran-war-military-strikes-maga", "date": "2026-03-02" } ] }, { "id": "fix-ukraine-settled-before-office-2024", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "settling the Russia-Ukraine war", "title": "Only he could promise to settle the Ukraine war before taking office", "quote": "Before I even arrive at the Oval Office, shortly after we win the presidency, and it's we win the presidency, I mean that, I will have the horrible war between Russia and Ukraine settled. [...] And I am the only one that can say that. I know all the players, and they respect us, they respect me.", "date": "2024-07-31", "venue": "Campaign rally at the New Holland Arena, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania", "era": "campaign-2024", "category": "ukraine", "what_happened": "The war was not settled before his January 20, 2025 inauguration. PolitiFact wrote on February 28, 2025 that \"Trump broke his campaign promise to end the war within 24 hours.\" On August 18, 2025, three days after meeting Putin in Alaska, he hosted Zelenskyy and European leaders to discuss possible peace terms, saying \"there needs to be concessions on both sides\"; the war continued.", "sources": [ { "title": "Remarks at a Campaign Rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project (UCSB)", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-campaign-rally-harrisburg-pennsylvania", "date": "2024-07-31" }, { "title": "Fact-checking Trump, Vance and Zelenskyy's tense Oval Office meeting", "outlet": "PolitiFact", "url": "https://politifact.com/article/2025/feb/28/trump-vance-and-zelenskyys-tense-oval-office-meeti/", "date": "2025-02-28" }, { "title": "Fact-checking Trump and Zelenskyy on a Ukraine-Russia deal", "outlet": "PolitiFact", "url": "https://politifact.com/article/2025/aug/18/trump-zelenskyy-fact-check-ukraine-russia-deal/", "date": "2025-08-18" } ] }, { "id": "fix-israel-cease-to-exist-if-not-president", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "Israel's survival", "title": "Israel would cease to exist if he lost", "quote": "You are not going to have an Israel … if she becomes president. Israel will no longer exist.", "date": "2024-09-05", "venue": "Republican Jewish Coalition summit, Las Vegas (remote address)", "era": "campaign-2024", "category": "foreign-policy", "what_happened": "On September 19, 2024 he told the Israeli-American Council that if he lost, \"Israel, in my opinion, will cease to exist within two years.\" He won, so the prediction was never tested. A Gaza ceasefire took effect October 10, 2025 and Hamas released 20 living hostages on October 13; phase-two talks opened January 14, 2026 but were deadlocked as of May 2026, and on July 6, 2026 Hamas announced the resignation of its civil administration. Israel and the U.S. began a war with Iran on February 28, 2026, whose ceasefire collapsed July 8, 2026.", "sources": [ { "title": "Israel will cease to exist if Harris becomes president, Trump claims", "outlet": "Al Jazeera", "url": "https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/9/6/israel-will-cease-to-exist-if-harris-becomes-president-trump-claims", "date": "2024-09-06" }, { "title": "Trump suggests if he loses election, Jewish Americans would 'have a lot to do with that'", "outlet": "ABC News", "url": "https://abcnews.com/Politics/trump-israel-eradicated-win/story?id=113853150", "date": "2024-09-20" }, { "title": "October 2025 Gaza war ceasefire", "outlet": "Wikipedia", "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_2025_Gaza_war_ceasefire", "date": "2026-09-25" }, { "title": "2026 Iran war ceasefire", "outlet": "Wikipedia", "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Iran_war_ceasefire", "date": "2026-09-25" } ] }, { "id": "fix-gaza-ceasefire-only-my-victory", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "the Gaza ceasefire", "title": "Gaza ceasefire 'could have only happened' because he won", "quote": "This EPIC ceasefire agreement could have only happened as a result of our Historic Victory in November, as it signaled to the entire World that my Administration would seek Peace", "date": "2025-01-15", "venue": "Post on Truth Social", "era": "campaign-2024", "category": "foreign-policy", "what_happened": "The ceasefire took effect January 19, 2025 with three 42-day phases; Hamas released 33 hostages in phase one. Israel halted aid on March 2 after the phase-one extension dispute and on March 18, 2025 launched surprise airstrikes, with Netanyahu saying Israel had \"resumed combat in full force.\" A new ceasefire took effect October 10, 2025, but phase-two talks were deadlocked as of May 2026, more than 1,060 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks after the truce began, and Hamas dissolved its civil administration on July 6, 2026.", "sources": [ { "title": "Truth Social Posts of January 15, 2025", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/truth-social-posts-january-15-2025", "date": "2025-01-15" }, { "title": "January 2025 Gaza war ceasefire", "outlet": "Wikipedia", "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_2025_Gaza_war_ceasefire", "date": "2026-09-25" }, { "title": "October 2025 Gaza war ceasefire", "outlet": "Wikipedia", "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_2025_Gaza_war_ceasefire", "date": "2026-09-25" } ] }, { "id": "fix-anwr-nobody-could-do-it", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "ANWR oil drilling", "title": "Got ANWR drilling approved when 'nobody could do it'", "quote": "I got ANWR approved—nobody could do it, including Ronald Reagan—in Alaska. It's the largest site—potentially the largest site in the world—larger than Saudi Arabia. And I got it done. Ronald Reagan couldn't get it; nobody could get it done. They tried, but they couldn't get it done. I got it done.", "date": "2025-01-27", "venue": "House Republican Conference dinner, Trump National Doral, Miami", "era": "term-2", "category": "environment", "what_happened": "The 2017 tax law he signed did open the refuge to leasing. But the January 6, 2021 sale drew bids on only 11 of 22 tracts, none from oil companies, and raised about $14.4 million against a CBO estimate of $1.8 billion; the two small winning firms gave back their leases in 2022 and the Biden administration cancelled the rest on September 6, 2023. A second auction in December 2024 and January 2025 again drew no bids from oil companies. He signed an executive order on January 20, 2025 declaring the refuge open for exploration.", "sources": [ { "title": "Remarks at a House Republican Conference Dinner in Miami, Florida", "outlet": "Government Publishing Office (Daily Compilation of Presidential Documents)", "url": "https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/DCPD-202500185/pdf/DCPD-202500185.pdf", "date": "2025-01-27" }, { "title": "Arctic Refuge drilling controversy", "outlet": "Wikipedia", "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctic_Refuge_drilling_controversy", "date": "2026-09-25" } ] }, { "id": "fix-tariffs-no-other-president", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "tariff negotiations", "title": "'No other president's going to do this' on tariffs", "quote": "No other president's going to do this, what I'm doing.", "date": "2025-04-07", "venue": "Remarks to reporters, White House", "era": "term-2", "category": "trade", "what_happened": "The tariffs at issue were imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. On February 20, 2026 the Supreme Court held 6-3 in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump, in an opinion by Chief Justice Roberts, that IEEPA does not authorize the president to impose tariffs, striking down both the fentanyl tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China and the worldwide \"reciprocal\" tariffs. Industry estimates put potential refunds at up to $175 billion.", "sources": [ { "title": "What Trump has said about tariffs as stock market reacts", "outlet": "CBS News", "url": "https://www.cbsnews.com/news/what-trump-has-said-tariffs-stock-market/", "date": "2025-04-09" }, { "title": "Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump, No. 24-1287 (opinion)", "outlet": "Supreme Court of the United States", "url": "https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/24-1287_4gcj.pdf", "date": "2026-02-20" }, { "title": "Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump", "outlet": "Wikipedia", "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning_Resources,_Inc._v._Trump", "date": "2026-09-25" } ] }, { "id": "fix-india-pakistan-nobody-else-2025", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "the India-Pakistan conflict", "title": "Nobody else could have stopped the India-Pakistan fighting", "quote": "Now, am I going to get credit? I'll never get credit for anything. They don't give me credit for anything. But nobody else could have done it. I stopped it. I was very proud of that.", "date": "2025-06-05", "venue": "Oval Office remarks before a meeting with Chancellor Friedrich Merz of Germany", "era": "term-2", "category": "foreign-policy", "what_happened": "India disputed his role. PolitiFact reported that on July 30, 2025, India's external affairs minister S. Jaishankar rejected third-party mediation and said no foreign leader asked India to stop its operations, while Pakistan thanked Trump. PolitiFact rated his July 28, 2025 claim to have \"stopped six wars\" Mostly False and his September 2025 U.N. claim to have \"ended seven unendable wars\" Mostly False.", "sources": [ { "title": "Remarks Prior to a Meeting With Chancellor Friedrich Merz of Germany and an Exchange With Reporters", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project (UCSB)", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-prior-meeting-with-chancellor-friedrich-merz-germany-and-exchange-with-reporters", "date": "2025-06-05" }, { "title": "Trump says he's 'stopped six wars.' The ceasefires are shakier than he says", "outlet": "PolitiFact", "url": "https://politifact.com/factchecks/2025/aug/05/donald-trump/stopped-six-wars-ceasefires-iran-israel/", "date": "2025-08-05" }, { "title": "Trump's claim that he 'ended seven unendable wars' at the U.N. General Assembly", "outlet": "PolitiFact", "url": "https://politifact.com/factchecks/2025/sep/23/donald-trump/trump-ended-seven-wars-un-general-assembly/", "date": "2025-09-23" } ] }, { "id": "fix-congo-rwanda-no-other-president-2025", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "peace between Congo and Rwanda", "title": "No other president could have made peace between Congo and Rwanda", "quote": "No other—but you're right, no other President could do it. They tried, and they—well, they didn't even try, I don't think.", "date": "2025-06-27", "venue": "Oval Office meeting with the foreign ministers of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda", "era": "term-2", "category": "foreign-policy", "what_happened": "He was agreeing with a reporter who said the administration had \"secured peace in Africa\" and \"no other President could do it\"; he added, \"Other Presidents should have done what I'm doing right now. They never did it.\" PolitiFact reported in August 2025 that the Congo-Rwanda deal was \"temporary and shaky,\" following a long string of broken agreements between the two countries, with earlier ceasefire attempts collapsing in 2024.", "sources": [ { "title": "Remarks During a Meeting With Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Minister of Foreign Affairs Olivier Nduhungirehe of Rwanda and an Exchange With Reporters", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project (UCSB)", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-during-meeting-with-minister-state-foreign-affairs-international-cooperation-and", "date": "2025-06-27" }, { "title": "Trump says he's 'stopped six wars.' The ceasefires are shakier than he says", "outlet": "PolitiFact", "url": "https://politifact.com/factchecks/2025/aug/05/donald-trump/stopped-six-wars-ceasefires-iran-israel/", "date": "2025-08-05" } ] }, { "id": "fix-memphis-only-i-can-save-them", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "crime in Memphis", "title": "'ONLY I CAN SAVE THEM' on crime in Memphis and other cities", "quote": "The only reason crime is somewhat down in Memphis is because the FBI, and others in the Federal Government, at my direction, have been working there for 5 months", "date": "2025-09-13", "venue": "Post on Truth Social", "era": "term-2", "category": "justice", "what_happened": "The post ended \"ONLY I CAN SAVE THEM!!!\" and came a day after he announced a National Guard deployment to Memphis, which Mayor Paul Young said he had not been consulted on. Memphis's violent crime had already fallen 11% in 2024 versus 2023 and 2022, before the federal effort. The Memphis Safe Task Force began operations on September 29, 2025. One year on, Memphis police reported overall crime fell from more than 38,000 incidents in 2024 to 29,664 in 2025 and about 18,900 through mid-September 2026, with murders down 36%; an assistant police chief said the data showed a steady decrease \"starting a year before the MSTF operations began.\"", "sources": [ { "title": "Donald Trump Makes Wild Assertion About Crime in U.S. Cities: 'ONLY I CAN SAVE THEM!!!'", "outlet": "The Daily Beast", "url": "https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump-makes-wild-assertion-about-crime-in-us-cities-only-i-can-save-them/", "date": "2025-09-14" }, { "title": "Trump Claims Falling Memphis Crime Rate Is Due to His Orders", "outlet": "Newsweek", "url": "https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-memphis-crime-rates-national-guard-deployment-2129527", "date": "2025-09-14" }, { "title": "FOX13 Investigates: Crime numbers in the one year since Memphis Safe Task Force operations", "outlet": "FOX13 Memphis", "url": "https://www.fox13memphis.com/news/fox13-investigates-crime-numbers-in-the-one-year-since-memphis-safe-task-force-operations/article_540cd765-165a-421a-9ad6-09cc076b1bee.html", "date": "2026-09-15" } ] }, { "id": "fix-ukraine-war-never-if-president", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "the Ukraine war", "title": "Ukraine war 'would've never happened' if he were president", "quote": "A war that would've never happened if I were president, a shame.", "date": "2025-10-13", "venue": "Address to the Knesset, Jerusalem", "era": "term-2", "category": "ukraine", "what_happened": "During the campaign he said at least 53 times that he would end the war within 24 hours or before taking office; in April 2025 he told Time the day-one pledge was \"said in jest.\" As of September 2026 the war, begun with Russia's February 2022 invasion, was in its fifth year. U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Putin in Moscow on September 5, 2026 and Zelenskyy in Kyiv on September 6 with a three-day strike moratorium, after talks had stalled for six months during the Iran war; territory remained the main sticking point.", "sources": [ { "title": "Full text of Trump's Knesset speech: You've won. You can't beat the world. It's time for peace", "outlet": "The Times of Israel", "url": "https://www.timesofisrael.com/full-text-of-trumps-knesset-speech-youve-won-you-cant-beat-the-world-its-time-for-peace/", "date": "2025-10-13" }, { "title": "Fact check: It wasn't 'in jest.' Here are 53 times Trump said he'd end Ukraine war within 24 hours or before taking office", "outlet": "CNN", "url": "https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/25/politics/fact-check-trump-ukraine-war", "date": "2025-04-25" }, { "title": "US envoys arrive in Kyiv for Ukraine war talks after meeting Putin", "outlet": "Al Jazeera", "url": "https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/9/5/russias-putin-meets-us-envoys-to-discuss-trump-proposal-to-end-ukraine-war", "date": "2026-09-05" } ] }, { "id": "fix-erdogan-nobody-else-could", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "Turkey-Israel tensions", "title": "Things with Erdogan 'that nobody else could have done'", "quote": "And you've seen me do things with President Erdoğan and Turkey that nobody else could have done. We're not going to have a problem.", "date": "2025-12-29", "venue": "Joint news conference with Benjamin Netanyahu, Mar-a-Lago", "era": "term-2", "category": "foreign-policy", "what_happened": "The question noted Erdogan had called Netanyahu Hitler and compared Israel to the Nazis. Six weeks earlier Turkey was preparing a brigade of at least 2,000 soldiers for the Gaza stabilization force, and Netanyahu's government flatly rejected it, with an Israeli spokesperson saying \"There will be no Turkish boots on the ground\"; Secretary Rubio met Turkey's foreign minister with no U.S. decision announced. Phase two of the Gaza plan the force was meant to support was deadlocked as of May 2026, and Hamas dissolved its civil administration on July 6, 2026.", "sources": [ { "title": "The President's News Conference With Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel in Palm Beach, Florida", "outlet": "Government Publishing Office (Daily Compilation of Presidential Documents)", "url": "https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/DCPD-202501226/pdf/DCPD-202501226.pdf", "date": "2025-12-29" }, { "title": "Transcript: President Trump holds a joint press event with Benjamin Netanyahu, 12.29.25", "outlet": "Senate Democratic Caucus", "url": "https://www.democrats.senate.gov/newsroom/trump-transcripts/transcript-president-trump-holds-a-joint-press-event-with-benjamin-netanyahu-122925", "date": "2025-12-29" }, { "title": "Trump faces Middle East test as Netanyahu balks at Erdogan's Gaza troop hopes", "outlet": "Fox News", "url": "https://www.foxnews.com/world/trump-faces-middle-east-test-netanyahu-balks-erdogans-gaza-troop-hopes.print", "date": "2025-11-13" }, { "title": "October 2025 Gaza war ceasefire", "outlet": "Wikipedia", "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_2025_Gaza_war_ceasefire", "date": "2026-09-25" } ] }, { "id": "fix-israel-would-not-exist-without-me", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "Israel's existence", "title": "Without him 'you would not have an existing Israel right now'", "quote": "And you know, I was a big help. I'll be honest with you. A big, big help. Somebody said in the room, if you don't have Trump—you needed a proper combination of everything. And if you didn't have that combination, which they had, you would not have an existing Israel right now.", "date": "2025-12-29", "venue": "Joint news conference with Benjamin Netanyahu, Mar-a-Lago", "era": "term-2", "category": "foreign-policy", "what_happened": "At the same event he said that \"if we didn't do what we did to Iran ... you wouldn't have peace in the Middle East.\" Two months later, on February 28, 2026, the U.S. and Israel launched a new war on Iran; a Pakistan-mediated ceasefire on April 8 was extended April 21, renewed June 12, formalized in the June 17 Islamabad Memorandum, and collapsed on July 8, 2026. In Gaza, phase two of the October 2025 plan was deadlocked as of May 2026, with more than 1,060 Palestinians killed after the truce began.", "sources": [ { "title": "The President's News Conference With Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel in Palm Beach, Florida", "outlet": "Government Publishing Office (Daily Compilation of Presidential Documents)", "url": "https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/DCPD-202501226/pdf/DCPD-202501226.pdf", "date": "2025-12-29" }, { "title": "2026 Iran war ceasefire", "outlet": "Wikipedia", "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Iran_war_ceasefire", "date": "2026-09-25" }, { "title": "October 2025 Gaza war ceasefire", "outlet": "Wikipedia", "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_2025_Gaza_war_ceasefire", "date": "2026-09-25" } ] }, { "id": "fix-middle-east-peace-only-via-iran-strikes", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "peace in the Middle East", "title": "No Middle East peace deal 'if we didn't do what we did to Iran'", "quote": "Remember this: If we didn't do what we did to Iran—just to make this subject just slightly different—you wouldn't have peace in the Middle East. You wouldn't have a deal signed in the Middle East.", "date": "2025-12-29", "venue": "Joint news conference with Benjamin Netanyahu, Mar-a-Lago", "era": "term-2", "category": "iran", "what_happened": "He also said \"We have peace in the Middle East, and we're going to try and keep it that way.\" On February 28, 2026 the U.S. and Israel began airstrikes on Iran; the resulting war saw ceasefires on April 8 and June 12, an Islamabad Memorandum on June 17, and a collapse of the ceasefire on July 8, 2026, with fighting continuing into its seventh month by his September 22, 2026 UN address. In Gaza, phase-two negotiations begun January 14, 2026 were deadlocked as of May, and Hamas dissolved its civil administration on July 6, 2026.", "sources": [ { "title": "The President's News Conference With Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel in Palm Beach, Florida", "outlet": "Government Publishing Office (Daily Compilation of Presidential Documents)", "url": "https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/DCPD-202501226/pdf/DCPD-202501226.pdf", "date": "2025-12-29" }, { "title": "2026 Iran war ceasefire", "outlet": "Wikipedia", "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Iran_war_ceasefire", "date": "2026-09-25" }, { "title": "Trump tells U.N. he could 'annihilate' Iran but expects a deal after the midterm elections", "outlet": "NBC News", "url": "https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/trump-address-united-nations-general-assembly-iran-war-rcna599085", "date": "2026-09-22" }, { "title": "October 2025 Gaza war ceasefire", "outlet": "Wikipedia", "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_2025_Gaza_war_ceasefire", "date": "2026-09-25" } ] }, { "id": "fix-drug-prices-nobody-had-guts-but-i-do", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "prescription drug prices", "title": "Nobody had the guts to do most-favored-nation drug pricing 'but I do'", "quote": "Most favored is I want to pay what the lowest nation in the world is paying. Everybody knew about it, but nobody had the guts or the stamina to do it or the respect from other nations, but I do.", "date": "2026-01-06", "venue": "House Republican Members Retreat", "era": "term-2", "category": "healthcare", "what_happened": "A day later he told the New York Times that \"for every other president, if they even tried to do it, they could never do it.\" By August 31, 2026 the administration had voluntary most-favored-nation deals with 26 drugmakers covering 89% of the branded market. Analysts told STAT the deals chiefly apply to Medicaid, which already pays the lowest prices by law, while exempting companies from mandatory Medicare price cuts, and characterized the August announcements as \"headline-grabbing midterm messaging\"; a September 2026 analysis found the deals' secrecy may undermine the policy.", "sources": [ { "title": "Remarks at the House Republican Members Retreat", "outlet": "Government Publishing Office (Daily Compilation of Presidential Documents)", "url": "https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/DCPD-202600006/pdf/DCPD-202600006.pdf", "date": "2026-01-06" }, { "title": "Transcript: President Trump speaks with reporters from the New York Times, 1.07.26", "outlet": "Senate Democratic Caucus", "url": "https://www.democrats.senate.gov/newsroom/trump-transcripts/transcript-president-trump-speaks-with-reporters-from-the-new-york-times-10726", "date": "2026-01-07" }, { "title": "Trump strikes new drug pricing deals with nine midsized drugmakers", "outlet": "CNBC", "url": "https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/31/trump-drug-pricing-deals.html", "date": "2026-08-31" }, { "title": "Analysts call Trump drug price moves headline-grabbing midterm messaging", "outlet": "STAT", "url": "https://www.statnews.com/2026/09/02/trump-most-favored-nation-drug-pricing-industry-analysts-skeptical/", "date": "2026-09-02" }, { "title": "Trump's secretive pharma deals may undermine 'most-favored nation' pricing, an analysis suggests", "outlet": "STAT", "url": "https://www.statnews.com/pharmalot/2026/09/13/trump-secretive-pharma-deals-undermine-most-favored-nation-pricing/", "date": "2026-09-13" } ] }, { "id": "fix-venezuela-on-steroids-if-i-dont-win", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "the U.S. economy", "title": "'If I don't win, we're going to have Venezuela'", "quote": "Tell what, if I had lost this election, if you had Kamala—it's the same thing: Joe and Kamala. I call them equals. If you had Kamala come in, I believe that our country would have been Venezuela on steroids. I used to say that during the campaign, \"If I don't win, we're going to have Venezuela.\"", "date": "2026-01-06", "venue": "House Republican Members Retreat", "era": "term-2", "category": "economy", "what_happened": "He won, so the counterfactual was never tested. Three days before the remark, on January 3, 2026, U.S. forces captured Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro in a Caracas operation in which roughly 80 people died; Vice President Delcy Rodríguez was sworn in as acting president on January 5 and the U.S. took de facto control of the country's finances, foreign policy and oil sales. At home, by September 2026 the Fed had raised rates for the first time since 2023, bond yields were near 20-year highs, and the debt was growing by more than $2 trillion in the year.", "sources": [ { "title": "Remarks at the House Republican Members Retreat", "outlet": "Government Publishing Office (Daily Compilation of Presidential Documents)", "url": "https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/DCPD-202600006/pdf/DCPD-202600006.pdf", "date": "2026-01-06" }, { "title": "2026 United States intervention in Venezuela", "outlet": "Wikipedia", "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_United_States_intervention_in_Venezuela", "date": "2026-09-25" }, { "title": "Trump's Debt Crisis Will Be Easy to Fix", "outlet": "The American Prospect", "url": "https://prospect.org/2026/09/18/trump-debt-crisis-fix-taxes-tariffs-inflation-deficit/", "date": "2026-09-18" } ] }, { "id": "fix-nato-five-percent-nobody-but-me", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "NATO defense spending", "title": "NATO's 5% pledge: 'nobody else could have done that but me'", "quote": "David, you were shocked when I got 5 percent instead of 2 percent because nobody else could have done that but me.", "date": "2026-01-07", "venue": "Interview with The New York Times, Oval Office", "era": "term-2", "category": "foreign-policy", "what_happened": "At the June 24-25, 2025 Hague summit, NATO members committed to 5% of GDP on defense by 2035, split into 3.5% for core military spending and 1.5% for related areas such as infrastructure and cyber, with a review scheduled for 2029. Spain opposed the target and received an exemption, committing only to raise its spending gradually to about 2.1%. Contributions to Ukraine's defense count toward the total. The 2035 deadline means no member's compliance can yet be assessed.", "sources": [ { "title": "Transcript: President Trump speaks with reporters from the New York Times, 1.07.26", "outlet": "Senate Democratic Caucus", "url": "https://www.democrats.senate.gov/newsroom/trump-transcripts/transcript-president-trump-speaks-with-reporters-from-the-new-york-times-10726", "date": "2026-01-07" }, { "title": "2025 The Hague summit", "outlet": "Wikipedia", "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_The_Hague_summit", "date": "2026-09-25" } ] }, { "id": "fix-zelensky-only-has-trump", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "Ukraine's survival", "title": "Zelensky has 'only got one thing ... Donald Trump'", "quote": "He's only got one thing...Donald Trump. If he doesn't have Donald Trump, that thing would have been a total disaster.", "date": "2026-01-07", "venue": "Interview with The New York Times, Oval Office", "era": "term-2", "category": "ukraine", "what_happened": "As of September 2026 the war was in its fifth year, with Russia holding much of eastern Ukraine and escalating strikes in recent months. U.S.-led talks scheduled for the UAE were postponed in early 2026 during the Iran war; after a six-month hiatus, envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Putin in Moscow on September 5, 2026 and Zelenskyy in Kyiv on September 6, securing only a three-day mutual strike moratorium, with territory the main sticking point and the Kremlin rejecting a Putin-Zelenskyy meeting.", "sources": [ { "title": "Transcript: President Trump speaks with reporters from the New York Times, 1.07.26", "outlet": "Senate Democratic Caucus", "url": "https://www.democrats.senate.gov/newsroom/trump-transcripts/transcript-president-trump-speaks-with-reporters-from-the-new-york-times-10726", "date": "2026-01-07" }, { "title": "US envoys arrive in Kyiv for Ukraine war talks after meeting Putin", "outlet": "Al Jazeera", "url": "https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/9/5/russias-putin-meets-us-envoys-to-discuss-trump-proposal-to-end-ukraine-war", "date": "2026-09-05" }, { "title": "Ukraine: A new push for peace", "outlet": "House of Commons Library", "url": "https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-12198/", "date": "2026-09-25" } ] }, { "id": "fix-eight-wars-nobody-else-ever", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "ending eight wars", "title": "Ended eight wars, 'nobody else has ever done that'", "quote": "I've ended eight wars. Nobody else has ever done that.", "date": "2026-01-07", "venue": "Interview with The New York Times, Oval Office", "era": "term-2", "category": "foreign-policy", "what_happened": "An AP fact check of the eight listed conflicts found Egypt-Ethiopia was \"heightened tensions, not war,\" Serbia-Kosovo had no threat of war during his term, India disputed his role in the India-Pakistan ceasefire, fighting continued between Rwanda-backed M23 rebels and Congo, the Armenia-Azerbaijan treaty was unsigned and unratified, and Cambodia-Thailand fighting resumed in December 2025. He repeated the claim at the UN on September 22, 2026, where CNN's fact check again rated it false; by then the U.S. itself was seven months into a war with Iran.", "sources": [ { "title": "Transcript: President Trump speaks with reporters from the New York Times, 1.07.26", "outlet": "Senate Democratic Caucus", "url": "https://www.democrats.senate.gov/newsroom/trump-transcripts/transcript-president-trump-speaks-with-reporters-from-the-new-york-times-10726", "date": "2026-01-07" }, { "title": "FACT FOCUS: Trump says he's ended eight wars. His numbers are off", "outlet": "AP via Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette", "url": "https://www.nwaonline.com/news/2026/jan/02/fact-focus-trump-says-hes-ended-eight-wars-his/", "date": "2026-01-02" }, { "title": "Fact check: Trump's false claims to the United Nations", "outlet": "CNN", "url": "https://us.cnn.com/2026/09/22/politics/fact-check-trump-united-nations", "date": "2026-09-22" } ] }, { "id": "fix-criminal-justice-nobody-else-could", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "criminal justice reform", "title": "Criminal justice reform: 'Nobody else could do it'", "quote": "Criminal justice reform. Nobody else could do it. Obama couldn't do it. Nobody could do it. Clinton couldn't do it.", "date": "2026-02-06", "venue": "Remarks to reporters aboard Air Force One", "era": "term-2", "category": "justice", "what_happened": "The First Step Act was sponsored in the House by Republican Doug Collins with Democrat Hakeem Jeffries, passed the Senate 87-12 and the House 358-36 in December 2018 with no Democratic votes against, and was signed December 21, 2018; critics say his own Justice Department then under-applied it. In the second term the administration ended the Fresh Start program that let incarcerated students regain Pell eligibility restored by the Act, cut more than 10% of SAMHSA staff, and cancelled $16 million for the Prison Rape Elimination Act center. In September 2026 the Bureau of Prisons created a dedicated First Step Act office after years of implementation problems.", "sources": [ { "title": "Transcript: President Trump speaks to reporters on board Air Force One, 2.6.26", "outlet": "Senate Democratic Caucus", "url": "https://www.democrats.senate.gov/newsroom/trump-transcripts/transcript-president-trump-speaks-to-reporters-on-board-air-force-one-2626", "date": "2026-02-06" }, { "title": "First Step Act", "outlet": "Wikipedia", "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Step_Act", "date": "2026-09-25" }, { "title": "How the second Trump administration is making the criminal legal system harsher, less transparent, and less fair", "outlet": "Prison Policy Initiative", "url": "https://www.prisonpolicy.org/federaltracker.html", "date": "2026-09-25" }, { "title": "Bureau Of Prisons Creates Dedicated First Step Act Office", "outlet": "Forbes", "url": "https://www.forbes.com/sites/walterpavlo/2026/09/24/bureau-of-prisons-creates-dedicated-first-step-act-office/", "date": "2026-09-24" } ] }, { "id": "fix-inflation-nobody-else-could-2026", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "inflation and prices", "title": "Nobody else could have brought prices down", "quote": "Inflation is way down. That means prices are coming way down, and we're doing a great job. And remember that for the midterms, I say to that camera. Remember that. Because nobody else could do it. Prices are way down.", "date": "2026-07-14", "venue": "Oval Office remarks before a meeting with Prime Minister Ali Falih Kadhim al-Zaydi of Iraq", "era": "term-2", "category": "economy", "what_happened": "The BLS report released that day showed the CPI-U fell 0.4 percent in June 2026, the largest one-month drop since April 2020, but was still up 3.5 percent over 12 months (food up 3.0 percent, shelter up 3.3 percent). The August 2026 report (released September 11, 2026) showed prices up 0.4 percent for the month and 3.4 percent over the year. PolitiFact found that overall prices had risen about 4.3 percent since he began his second term, with groceries up 3.4 percent and gasoline up 31 percent.", "sources": [ { "title": "Remarks Prior to a Meeting With Prime Minister Ali Falih Kadhim al-Zaydi of Iraq and an Exchange With Reporters", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project (UCSB)", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-prior-meeting-with-prime-minister-ali-falih-kadhim-al-zaydi-iraq-and-exchange-with", "date": "2026-07-14" }, { "title": "Consumer Price Index Summary — June 2026", "outlet": "U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics", "url": "https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/cpi_07142026.htm", "date": "2026-07-14" }, { "title": "Consumer Price Index Summary — August 2026", "outlet": "U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics", "url": "https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm", "date": "2026-09-11" }, { "title": "Fact-check: Trump misleads on midterm candidates, prices at RNC midterm convention", "outlet": "PolitiFact", "url": "https://politifact.com/article/2026/sep/10/trump-rnc-midterm-fact-check-speech/", "date": "2026-09-10" } ] }, { "id": "fix-5000-dividend-only-i-can-promise-2026", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "a $5,000 dividend for every adult", "title": "Only he could promise a $5,000 'Trump dividend' if the GOP wins", "quote": "But what we're doing is because we've done so well, and because our country is making so much money that only I can make this promise to you, and here is my promise. If the Republicans win the House of Representatives and the United States Senate, both of them, because of our economic—tremendous economic success—in history, we've never had anything like what's happening, but because of our tremendous strength and success economically, I will issue a dividend to every adult citizen in the United States of America for $5,000.", "date": "2026-09-09", "venue": "Night one of the 2026 Republican Midterm Convention, Dallas, Texas", "era": "term-2", "category": "economy", "what_happened": "PolitiFact found no formal proposal existed and that the payout would cost about $1.2 trillion a year ($5,000 times roughly 240 million adult citizens, per the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget), would require congressional approval, and could add about 1.5 points to inflation. Two earlier promised payouts, a 2025 \"DOGE dividend\" of $5,000 and a $2,000 tariff dividend, never materialized; tariff collections totaled about $363 billion from January 2025 to April 2026, with refunds under way after a Supreme Court ruling. The midterms had not yet been held as of September 2026.", "sources": [ { "title": "Remarks on Night One of the 2026 Republican Midterm Convention in Dallas, Texas", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project (UCSB)", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-night-one-the-2026-republican-midterm-convention-dallas-texas", "date": "2026-09-09" }, { "title": "Can Trump give Americans $5,000 if Republicans win midterms?", "outlet": "PolitiFact", "url": "https://politifact.com/article/2026/sep/10/trump-5k-dividends-republicans-midterm-election/", "date": "2026-09-10" }, { "title": "Fact-check: Trump misleads on midterm candidates, prices at RNC midterm convention", "outlet": "PolitiFact", "url": "https://politifact.com/article/2026/sep/10/trump-rnc-midterm-fact-check-speech/", "date": "2026-09-10" } ] }, { "id": "fix-intel-only-one-can-help-2026", "kind": "only-i-can-fix", "subject": "rescuing Intel", "title": "He told Intel's CEO he was the only one who could help", "quote": "And he said, 'Sir, I need your help.' And he said why, whatever it was. And I said, 'Well, you came to the right place. I'm the only one that can help you.' I said, 'Here's the deal. Give the United States of America 10% of Intel.'", "date": "2026-09-09", "venue": "Night one of the 2026 Republican Midterm Convention, Dallas, Texas", "era": "term-2", "category": "economy", "what_happened": "The help came in exchange for equity. On August 22, 2025, he posted that \"The United States of America now fully owns and controls 10% of INTEL,\" saying the stake was acquired at no cost, valued at about $11 billion, and negotiated with CEO Lip-Bu Tan. A May 18, 2026 White House release said the government's position had \"surged in value to more than $50 billion\" in eight months.", "sources": [ { "title": "Remarks on Night One of the 2026 Republican Midterm Convention in Dallas, Texas", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project (UCSB)", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-night-one-the-2026-republican-midterm-convention-dallas-texas", "date": "2026-09-09" }, { "title": "Truth Social Posts of August 22, 2025", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project (UCSB)", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/truth-social-posts-august-22-2025", "date": "2025-08-22" }, { "title": "White House Press Release - President Trump's Intel Deal and Soaring Markets Prove America First Works", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project (UCSB)", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/white-house-press-release-president-trumps-intel-deal-and-soaring-markets-prove-america", "date": "2026-05-18" } ] } ]