In recent weeks, President Donald Trump has made a series of claims about the economy, a topic that should feature prominently in his State of the Union address to Congress on Feb. 24.
A Pre-SOTU Guide to Trump’s Economic Claims
Person: Donald Trump
Trump Misleads on Drug Pricing Deals
President Donald Trump has said that Americans are now paying or will pay “the lowest price anywhere in the world for drugs,” thanks to the administration’s negotiations with pharmaceutical companies. The administration has announced discounted cash prices for a small number of brand-name drugs. There isn’t evidence Trump’s deals so far have led to broad decreases in drug prices, nor is it certain they will in the future.
Trump and Musk Amplify Long-Ago Debunked Mail-In Vote Fraud Claim
A social media post cited by Elon Musk to bolster his argument that mail-in voting should be curtailed, and which was subsequently amplified by President Donald Trump, makes the false and long-ago debunked claim that in the 2020 election, “Pennsylvania sent out 1,823,148 mail-in ballots but received back around 2.5 MILLION mail-in ballots.”
Trump Oversells Recent U.S. Economic Growth
In the second and third quarters of 2025, the U.S. economy grew at its fastest pace in two years. Those growth rates were not “numbers unheard of,” or figures the U.S. “never had” before, as President Donald Trump has claimed.
Manufacturing Construction Spending Declines Under Trump
Spending to build, expand and rehabilitate manufacturing sites in the U.S. has declined since President Donald Trump took office, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. Yet, Trump has repeatedly boasted that “factory construction” is up 41%.
Trump’s Immediate Speculation on Shootings Bucks Presidential Norms
President Donald Trump wasted no time in responding to the deaths of two U.S. citizens last month during protests against an immigration crackdown in Minneapolis. Trump and other top administration officials made inaccurate or unsupported statements within hours of the incidents, a departure from how previous presidents responded in similar situations, experts told us.
Trump’s Selective Comparison Overstates Trade Deficit Decline
Through President Donald Trump’s first full 10 months in office, the cumulative U.S. trade deficit in goods and services was down 3.9% from the same period in 2024. His claim that he has “slashed our trade deficit by 77%” appears to compare the monthly trade deficit in January 2025 to the deficit nine months later in October.
Trump’s Aspirin Use and Doctors’ Recommendations
President Donald Trump has said on multiple occasions in recent months that he takes a “large” dose of aspirin to prevent cardiovascular disease. His comments could perpetuate a common misperception, so we wanted to clarify the current science and what the recommendations are.
As ICE Arrests Increased, a Higher Portion Had No U.S. Criminal Record
While the Trump administration insists that it is targeting the “worst of the worst” in its immigration enforcement, it has not provided information to substantiate that, and the data that is available suggests the claim has become less accurate over time.
Video Analyses at Odds with DHS Statements on Minneapolis Shooting
The Department of Homeland Security hasn’t provided evidence for some statements administration officials made within hours of the Jan. 24 fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis, and some of those statements appear to be contradicted by bystander video shared publicly so far.