On Inauguration Day, we provide a look at various metrics on the state of the country at the start of President Donald Trump’s second term.
What President Trump Inherits, Part 2
Person: Donald Trump
What We Know About What Led to the L.A. Wildfires
We explain what’s known about how the catastrophic L.A. wildfires started and the factors that scientists do — and don’t — think contributed.
$770 Payments Are Just One Form of Federal Aid to L.A. Fire Victims
President Joe Biden said victims of the California fires are eligible for a $770 payment for necessities like food and fuel. Social media posts misleadingly suggested the payment would be the only federal aid for those affected by the fires. Federal aid available to the fire victims includes help with home repair or replacement, medical expenses and other assistance.
Competing Claims on California Fire Budget
On social media, President-elect Donald Trump amplified a claim that California Gov. Gavin Newsom slashed the state’s fire budget by $100 million just months before the outbreak of the recent wildfires. Newsom dismissed the claim as “a ridiculous lie,” saying that under his leadership, the state has “nearly doubled” its fire protection budget. Actually, both things are true.
How Trump May Be Able to Stop Biden’s Ban on New Offshore Drilling
President-elect Donald Trump said that when he takes office he will “immediately” reverse President Joe Biden’s recent executive action making more than 625 million acres of U.S. coastal waters off limits for new offshore drilling. But Trump’s intent to quickly “unban” any future oil and gas drilling in those areas may not be as simple as he suggests.
Trump’s Blame Claims About Wildfire Response
As wildfires continued to rage in Southern California, President-elect Donald Trump took to social media with several false and misleading claims casting blame on California’s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, and President Joe Biden.
Republicans Wrongly Tie New Orleans Attack to Illegal Immigration; Suspect Was a Citizen
Federal law enforcement officials have identified an Army veteran, who was born in the United States, as the sole person responsible for the Jan. 1 terrorist attack in New Orleans that killed 14 people and injured many more. But some Republican politicians and social media posts have wrongly claimed or suggested that the attack was the result of illegal immigration.
Our Most Popular Articles in 2024
We wrote about a lot of misinformation in 2024, and, as usual, some fact-checking articles piqued our readers’ interest more than others. In this post, we present the 10 most popular stories published on our website this past year.
Trump’s Agenda: Taxes
In addition to extending the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, one of his signature achievements in his first term, President-elect Donald Trump has proposed a long list of tax cuts, from eliminating taxes on Social Security benefits to lowering the corporate tax rate. We’ll look at Trump’s tax proposals, their cost and what impact they could have on taxpayers.
Where Trump’s Picks for EPA, Interior and Energy Stand on Climate Change
We reviewed what each of President-elect Donald Trump’s presumptive nominees to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of the Interior and the Department of Energy have said about climate change and the environment.