FactCheck.org Author: D'Angelo Gore

Trump Uses Questionable Figure for U.S. ‘Plants and Factories’ Lost Since NAFTA

April 15, 2025

When President Donald Trump has talked about the need for higher tariffs on imports of foreign goods because of a decline in American manufacturing, he has often made the claim that “90,000 plants and factories” in the U.S. closed after the North American Free Trade Agreement took effect in 1994. But that figure is questionable, and experts say other factors, such as automation, had more to do with the large decline in U.S. manufacturing jobs than trade.

Independent Analyses Contradict Navarro’s $6 Trillion-Plus Tariff Revenue Estimate

April 10, 2025

Before President Donald Trump paused some new tariffs that he unveiled on April 2, several economic groups estimated that tariffs he has announced this year could raise between roughly $2 trillion and more than $4 trillion in federal revenue over a 10-year period. But that’s well short of the $6 trillion or $7 trillion that White House trade adviser Peter Navarro claimed the tariffs would raise to help pay for tax cuts, including an extension of the 2017 tax law.

Trump’s Misleading Tariff Chart

April 3, 2025

In his Rose Garden announcement of sweeping new “reciprocal tariffs,” President Donald Trump held aloft a misleading chart that claimed to give a breakdown of the tariffs other countries charge the U.S. and the corresponding tariff that the U.S. will now impose against those countries.

Q&A on Egg Prices

March 25, 2025

President Donald Trump campaigned in 2024 on lowering egg prices, which increased significantly toward the end of the term of his predecessor, former President Joe Biden. Where do prices stand now? What caused them to spike last year? We answer those questions and more.

Trump Misleads on Jobs

March 18, 2025

Following the release of the latest jobs report on March 7, President Donald Trump suggested that his administration — which has been in office since Jan. 20 — is responsible for significant job growth. The growth in February was steady, but to support his claims, Trump made several misleading statements about the economy he inherited.

Full-Time Employment Increased Under Biden, Contrary to Rick Scott’s Claim

March 13, 2025

As we reported in January, President Donald Trump inherited a resilient economy experiencing continued growth in jobs, including an increase in full-time workers. But Republican Sen. Rick Scott recently painted a much different picture, calling the pre-Trump economy “crappy” and falsely claiming that full-time employment was “dropping almost the entire Biden administration.”

Trump’s Flawed Claim that Tariffs Made the U.S. Its ‘Richest’

March 11, 2025

In arguing for more tariffs on goods imported to the United States, President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that the U.S. was its “richest” or “wealthiest” during the late 1800s and early 1900s because of tariffs. In multiple ways, his claim is wrong or misleading.

FactChecking Trump’s Address to Congress

March 5, 2025

In his first address to a joint session of Congress in his second term, President Donald Trump distorted the facts on fraud, immigration, aid to Ukraine, the economy, autism and more.

Trump Executive Order Targets COVID-19 Vaccines No Longer Required for Most U.S. Students

February 20, 2025

President Donald Trump this month issued an executive order prohibiting discretionary federal funds from going to schools and colleges or universities that require students to get a COVID-19 vaccine. But there currently are no states that require the vaccines for students, and only a few colleges or universities continue to have such a mandate.

Musk Misleads on FEMA’s Migrant-Related Payments to New York City

February 13, 2025

This week, New York City officials said the city had received two payments from the federal government as reimbursement for expenses the city incurred while providing services to migrants who arrived in New York, including $19 million for hotel expenses. But Elon Musk, head of the Department of Government Efficiency, claimed, without evidence, that $59 million “meant for American disaster relief” was sent to “luxury hotels.”