Facebook Twitter Tumblr Close Skip to main content
A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center

Locations: National

Trump Again Overstates Number of Drug Overdose Deaths in U.S.

Trump Again Overstates Number of Drug Overdose Deaths in U.S.
September 12, 2025

Reviving an unfounded claim he has made for several years, President Donald Trump on Sept. 5 overstated the number of Americans who died in 2024 of drug overdoses, saying that he believed 300,000 or “350,000 people died last year from drugs.” A spokesperson for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told us the provisional number of drug overdose deaths in 2024 was 79,383, and an expert in addiction medicine told us Trump’s number was “a gross exaggeration.”

COVID Vaccines Are Harder to Get, Despite Claims from HHS, RFK Jr.

COVID Vaccines Are Harder to Get, Despite Claims from HHS, RFK Jr.
September 10, 2025

Heated exchanges between some senators and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. during a Sept. 4 hearing amplified confusion about the availability of COVID-19 vaccinations for the fall, with Kennedy misleadingly claiming that “anybody” can still get a vaccine. HHS policies have created roadblocks to vaccine access.

Trump on EU and Japan Investments in the U.S.

Trump on EU and Japan Investments in the U.S.
August 26, 2025

In early August, President Donald Trump claimed that a trade deal he negotiated with the European Union in July came with hundreds of billions of dollars that the U.S. can use for “anything we want.” But that’s not how the terms were described in a joint statement with the EU on Aug. 21.

Are Prices Up or Down? Parsing Misleading Claims by Trump and Democrats

Are Prices Up or Down? Parsing Misleading Claims by Trump and Democrats
July 31, 2025

About six months into the second term of President Donald Trump, Republicans and Democrats are making conflicting and often misleading assessments of the Trump administration’s impact on inflation and prices. Both sides cherry-pick examples of consumer products to support their claims, while sometimes wrongly taking credit for lower prices or falsely casting blame for rising costs.

Trump’s Hollow Surplus Claim

Trump’s Hollow Surplus Claim
July 18, 2025

In recent speeches and media scrums, President Donald Trump has lauded the federal budget surplus for the month of June, claiming the surplus had not happened in “many, many years” or “decades.” To be clear, the U.S. had not recorded a surplus in June since 2016 – but the country has had several surpluses in other months since that time.

Border Czar Makes Misleading Claim About Immigrants With Criminal Records

Border Czar Makes Misleading Claim About Immigrants With Criminal Records
July 17, 2025

Border Czar Tom Homan has been repeating the misleading claim that there are “over 600,000 illegal aliens with criminal records walking the streets of this nation.” That number includes legal immigrants, not just those who entered the country illegally; about a third of them have only been charged, not convicted; and it’s unclear how many of them have been, or currently are, incarcerated.

The CBO Breakdown on Medicaid Losses, Increase in Uninsured

The CBO Breakdown on Medicaid Losses, Increase in Uninsured
July 11, 2025

The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the House version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act would reduce Medicaid enrollment and cause millions of people to become uninsured by 2034. It didn’t say that “5 million” of the people who are “going to lose insurance” would have “other insurance” so “they’re still insured,” as National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett misleadingly claimed.

Unraveling the Big Beautiful Bill Spin

Unraveling the Big Beautiful Bill Spin
July 2, 2025

As the Republican budget bill, called the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, nears the July 4 deadline set by the White House, lawmakers have been ramping up the rhetoric. We referee the claims from both sides.