Category: Not Factual

Trump Brands Democrats America’s Greatest Enemy

President Donald Trump declared on Truth Social that Iran has effectively ceased to exist as a threat, then immediately branded the Democratic Party as America’s “greatest enemy.” Trump’s proclamation that “the death of Iran” has already occurred stands in stark contradiction to his administration’s simultaneous request for $200 billion in additional funding from Congress to continue military operations against Iran.

Hours before declaring Iran defeated, Trump issued an ultimatum threatening to “hit and obliterate” Iran’s power plants if the country does not fully open the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours. This threat reveals the disinformation embedded in Trump’s claim of Iran’s demise, as an already-destroyed adversary would require no such coercive demands. Trump’s escalating Iran war has alienated NATO allies and contradicts his stated position on military drawdowns in the Middle East.

Trump’s characterization of the Democratic Party as a greater threat than a foreign adversary reflects his abuse of power in weaponizing the presidency against political opponents. Trump previously claimed the Iran war was nearing success while spreading disinformation about its purpose and progress, establishing a pattern of deliberately misleading the public about military objectives and outcomes.

The president’s weekend social media posts also included celebration of former FBI Director Robert Mueller’s death, stating “Good, I’m glad he’s dead. He can no longer hurt innocent people.” This statement demonstrates Trump’s use of the presidency to attack officials who conducted legitimate investigations into his conduct, further illustrating his contempt for institutional independence and the rule of law.

Trump’s contradictory claims about Iran’s status, coupled with his simultaneous demands for expanded war funding and threats of escalated military strikes, exemplify his reliance on disinformation to consolidate power. His equation of domestic political opposition with foreign military threats weaponizes national security rhetoric to justify suppression of dissent and consolidation of authoritarian control.

(Source: https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/trump-declares-the-death-of-iran-then-brands-democratic-party-americas-greatest-enemy-in-stunning-post/)

Trump Threatens Iran 48-Hour Ultimatum on Strait

President Donald Trump issued a 48-hour ultimatum to Iran via Truth Social on Saturday evening, demanding the country “FULLY OPEN” the Strait of Hormuz without threat or face U.S. military destruction of its power plants. Trump stated the United States would “hit and obliterate” Iran’s power infrastructure, beginning with the largest facility, if the demand was not met within the specified timeframe. The threat followed joint U.S. and Israeli strikes that killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei three weeks prior, part of an operation dubbed “Operation Epic Fury.”

The war with Iran has severely disrupted maritime commerce through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping corridor through which roughly one-fifth of global oil trades. According to the BBC, maritime traffic through the passage plunged 95 percent in March, dropping from approximately 138 daily ship transits to about 100 since military operations commenced. Trump previously denounced NATO allies as cowards for refusing to deploy troops to reopen the strait, revealing his unilateral approach to the conflict has alienated potential partners.

Oil prices have surged dramatically as a direct consequence of the reduced shipping volume and ongoing military operations. A barrel of crude oil cost $98.09 at the close of Friday trading, representing a 47 percent increase since military strikes against Iran began. This economic disruption stems from Trump’s decision to initiate military action alongside Israel without prior diplomatic coordination with international allies.

Trump previously claimed Iran has “effectively ceased to exist as a threat” while simultaneously requesting $200 billion in additional congressional funding for continued military operations, demonstrating contradictory messaging about the conflict’s status and objectives. When challenged by New York Times reporter David Sanger over unmet war objectives, Trump posted on Truth Social that “The United States has blown Iran off of the map” and claimed success ahead of schedule, dismissing the reporter’s analysis as that of a “lightweight analyst.”

Operation Epic Fury has eliminated dozens of Iranian regime leaders beyond Supreme Leader Khamenei since the initial strikes three weeks ago. Trump stated he is considering winding down military operations in the Middle East while the war continues, claiming U.S. forces are approaching stated objectives, though the pattern of contradictory statements about war progress and outcomes demonstrates systematic disinformation surrounding the conflict’s purpose and accomplishments.

(Source: https://www.mediaite.com/politics/trump-threatens-iran-you-have-48-hours-to-fully-open-strait-of-hormuz-or-else/)

Trump Assails NATO as Cowards While Deepening Iran War

President Trump denounced NATO allies as “cowards” on Friday for refusing to deploy troops to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping corridor through which one-fifth of global oil trades. Trump’s hostility toward allies coincides with his unilateral Iran war that has backfired diplomatically, as he initiated military strikes alongside Israel without coordinating with partners, then demanded their support managing the consequences. The Pentagon is deploying approximately 2,200 additional Marines and three warships to the Middle East, marking the second Marine expeditionary unit sent since the conflict began on February 28.

The war has devastated global energy markets and inflicted heavy casualties on U.S. forces. Brent crude oil surged to $112 per barrel, up from roughly $70 before the conflict, with gasoline prices approaching $4 per gallon. The Pentagon reported 232 American service members injured since the war started, with 10 in serious condition. The Treasury Department temporarily lifted sanctions on Iranian oil at sea in an attempt to ease prices, marking a break from Trump’s stated “maximum pressure” strategy against Iran. Pentagon officials have prepared detailed plans for potential ground troop deployment into Iran, though Trump claims the U.S. is considering “winding down” operations while simultaneously retaining options to strike Iran’s Kharg Island oil terminal.

Trump contradicted his own position by claiming the U.S. does not need the Strait of Hormuz while simultaneously pressuring allies to defend it. He stated Iran’s leadership has been decimated, with “nobody to talk to” remaining, yet Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and military officials continue asserting they are producing ballistic missiles and threatening to target recreational and tourist sites worldwide. The International Atomic Energy Agency told CBS News that securing Iran’s enriched uranium will be “very challenging” even after fighting ends, undercutting Trump and Netanyahu’s stated nuclear prevention objectives.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer authorized U.S. use of U.K. bases to strike Iranian missile sites, prompting Iran’s foreign minister to accuse Starmer of “putting British lives in danger.” NATO relocated its advisory mission from Iraq to Italy after Iranian attacks on allied bases. The humanitarian toll extends beyond military casualties; soaring oil prices are driving up costs across U.S. supply chains, affecting retail prices for consumers nationwide. Former Iran detainee Siamak Namazi warned that Americans held in Iranian prisons face heightened danger amid the escalating conflict.

Trump made a debunked claim about predicting the September 11 attacks while discussing the Strait of Hormuz, part of a pattern of disinformation throughout the conflict. The White House stated Trump “retains all options” militarily but claimed he has “no plans to send troops anywhere,” a contradiction given Pentagon preparations for ground deployment. As the war enters its fourth week with no diplomatic resolution, Trump’s contradictory statements and hostile treatment of allies underscore the absence of a coherent strategic plan.

(Source: https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/live-updates/iran-war-us-israel-gas-and-oil-prices-trump-netanyahu-strait-hormuz/)

Trump Defies Fallen Airmen’s Families’ Privacy Request at Transfer

President Trump attended the dignified transfer of six U.S. Air Force airmen killed in a refueling aircraft crash during military operations in Iran, despite families of the deceased explicitly requesting privacy and barring cameras from the ceremony. Fox News correspondent John Roberts reported that the troops’ relatives demanded the transfer remain private, a direct contradiction to Trump’s public participation in the event.

Trump’s decision to attend despite the families’ wishes demonstrates his abuse of power and disregard for the bereaved, using a solemn military ceremony honoring the dead for public appearances. This mirrors prior instances of Trump exploiting fallen soldiers’ images for political gain, including his PAC’s use of a dignified transfer photograph in fundraising materials.

The Republican president’s pattern of defying families’ explicit wishes regarding their fallen loved ones contradicts stated respect for military sacrifice. Previous occasions saw Trump skip dignified transfers entirely to attend personal events, while his administration continues to weaponize military ceremonies for political messaging.

By ignoring the grieving families’ direct request for privacy, Trump prioritized his media visibility over the dignity and autonomy of those mourning their relatives. The airmen’s families sought a respectful, private ceremony to honor their dead, yet Trump’s attendance converted their loss into a public spectacle under his control.

(Source: https://www.yahoo.com/news/videos/slain-troops-families-issue-ban-224742434.html)

Trump Demands Treason Charges Against Media Over Iran War

President Trump demanded that media outlets face treason charges for reporting on military incidents during the Iran war, specifically criticizing coverage of alleged strikes on U.S. naval vessels and air bases. In a Truth Social post on March 15, Trump accused Iran of spreading disinformation through artificial intelligence and claimed that American news organizations knowingly amplified false information about the USS Abraham Lincoln and Air Force refueling planes struck at Prince Sultan air base in Saudi Arabia.

Trump alleged that reports showing the USS Abraham Lincoln on fire were fabricated and generated by AI, stating the carrier was neither burning nor targeted. He wrote that media outlets distributing these false reports “should be brought up on Charges for TREASON for the dissemination of false information,” directly calling for criminal prosecution of journalists and news organizations.

CNN’s Daniel Dale documented that when the White House provided examples of outlets spreading the Lincoln story, none were American—one was Israeli, one Saudi, one Turkish. Trump had strongly suggested he was addressing U.S. media when calling for treason charges, contradicting the White House’s own evidence and demonstrating the false basis for his accusations.

Trump praised FCC Chair Brendan Carr for threatening to revoke broadcast licenses, describing news organizations as “Corrupt and Highly Unpatriotic” and claiming they abuse free airwaves. The attack on media freedom follows recent threats from Carr to strip licenses from broadcasters over war coverage and reflects a pattern of abuse of power against journalists who report on Trump’s military operations.

Trump’s assault on press freedom extends beyond coverage of the Iran conflict. He recently attacked New York Times correspondent Maggie Haberman as a “SLEAZEBAG,” threatened to sue her and “associates,” and previously insulted CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, the Washington Post’s Natalie Allison, CBS’s Nancy Cordes, and others, weaponizing his office to silence critical reporting and establish authoritarian control over information.

(Source: https://people.com/donald-trump-wants-some-media-outlets-face-charges-treason-latest-rant-journalists-11926939)

Trump Repeats Debunked Lie About Predicting 9/11

President Trump repeated a discredited lie on Monday that he predicted the September 11 attacks, claiming he warned about Osama bin Laden in his 2000 book “The America We Deserve” and that he told people to “get him” a year before the attacks. Trump made the statement while discussing U.S. security commitments and Iran’s control of the Strait of Hormuz at a Kennedy Center board meeting, asserting he had “predicted a lot of things” including the terrorist attack that killed thousands.

Fact-checkers, including CNN’s Daniel Dale, have repeatedly debunked Trump’s claim. Trump’s 2000 book mentioned bin Laden only once in passing while discussing broader U.S. foreign policy failures, not as a specific prediction of the 9/11 attacks. The single reference described bin Laden as a shadowy figure in a list of rotating U.S. adversaries, contradicting Trump’s assertion that he specifically warned about an imminent attack on the World Trade Center.

The book did contain a general warning about potential terrorist attacks on the United States, but Trump framed this as a widely recognized risk among analysts rather than a unique prediction. Trump did not identify bin Laden as the likely perpetrator of such attacks, and fact-checkers have shown his book contained only a brief, vague reference to bin Laden. Despite being corrected multiple times, Trump continues repeating the lie, most recently in October when addressing sailors during U.S. Navy celebrations.

Trump used the false 9/11 claim to support his broader argument that allies have failed to adequately support U.S. security interests. He also blamed former President Bill Clinton for allegedly missing an opportunity to capture bin Laden, though Trump provided no evidence for this assertion. The lie serves Trump’s pattern of manufacturing false credentials to justify demands that other nations increase military commitments in regions like the Persian Gulf.

(Source: https://www.mediaite.com/media/tv/i-wrote-it-in-a-book-trump-repeats-false-claim-he-predicted-9-11-attacks/)

Trump Attacks Reporter for Citing Bill Barr’s Election Fraud Findings

President Donald Trump attacked PBS reporter Liz Landers as “rotten” on Wednesday after she confronted him with facts contradicting his false claims about the 2020 election. When Landers noted that his former attorney general Bill Barr found no widespread fraud in the 2020 election despite FBI seizures of Arizona and Georgia election records, Trump responded defensively and refused to acknowledge Barr’s documented conclusion.

Landers directly stated that Barr, Trump’s own attorney general in 2020, determined there was no measurable voter fraud capable of changing the election outcome. Trump rejected this fact, insisting the election was rigged while offering no evidence when pressed by the reporter. Rather than provide documentation or reasoning, Trump labeled Landers “rotten” for disagreeing with his false narrative.

Trump and Barr have a documented history of conflict over election fraud claims. Barr told NBC News in 2022 that he confronted Trump directly, calling his fraud allegations “bulls**t” and stating Trump’s team was wrong to promote them. Trump reacted with rage to this confrontation, according to Barr’s account.

When Barr endorsed Trump for president in 2024, Trump responded by mocking him publicly and attacking his record as attorney general. Trump posted on Truth Social that Barr “let a lot of great people down by not investigating Voter Fraud,” despite having previously called Barr weak and gutless. Trump’s attack on a reporter for citing his own attorney general’s findings demonstrates his pattern of weaponizing language against those who contradict his false claims, whether journalists or former officials.

(Source: https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/trump-blasts-rotten-reporter-after-she-reminds-him-his-own-ag-contradicted-his-election-claim/)

Trump White House Blocks Iran Terror Threat Warning to Police

Trump’s White House blocked a joint intelligence bulletin from the FBI, Department of Homeland Security, and National Counterterrorism Center warning law enforcement nationwide of elevated terrorist threats linked to his military operation against Iran. The five-page report detailed specific threats from Iranian government targets, proxies, and radicalized individuals motivated by the conflict, along with guidance for local law enforcement response. Trump ordered the bulletin placed on hold hours before release, violating standard protocol that keeps intelligence communications neutral and fact-based rather than subject to White House political control.

A senior DHS official stated the White House imposed new restrictions requiring all unclassified Iran-related information to be reviewed by Trump before distribution to law enforcement. The official characterized this as having a chilling effect on threat communication, saying Trump does not want information released showing his Iran war is raising domestic terrorism risk. DHS broke protocol by alerting the White House before release, actions taken against FBI leadership’s wishes, according to the official.

Trump launched Operation Epic Fury one week prior in a joint US-Israeli military campaign that killed Iranian senior leadership including Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The conflict has since expanded across the Middle East, with Iran retaliating against US military bases and allied Gulf nations, killing six American troops and injuring more than a dozen others.

Iran operates proxy militant networks including Hezbollah and the Houthis for attacks on Western targets. Days after Trump’s war began, a gunman killed three people and wounded 15 others at an Austin bar before police killed him; investigators found he had expressed online support for the Iranian regime. Trump was warned by military advisers that Iran could respond with proxy terror attacks on US soil.

White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson denied blocking the bulletin, claiming the White House coordinates with agencies to ensure information is accurate and properly vetted. FBI counterterrorism teams were placed on elevated alert nationwide following Trump’s military operation, though the duration of the alert remains unstated.

(Source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15622933/White-House-blocks-warning-rising-threat-linked-Iran-war.html)

Trump Lies About Father’s German Birth Despite Bronx Records

President Donald Trump stated during a White House bilateral meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on March 3 that he feels warmly toward Germany because his father was born there. Trump told Merz, “My father was born there. There are places that you sort of automatically very, very feel warmly about.” This statement is factually incorrect, as Fred Trump was born in the Bronx, New York City.

Trump’s paternal grandparents, Frederich Trump and Elizabeth Christ Trump, were the family members who immigrated to the United States from Germany. Trump has repeatedly made this same lie about his father’s birthplace. In 2018, he told CBS News his father was born in Germany, and in 2019 he stated during a press briefing, “My father is German, was German, born in a very wonderful place in Germany, so I have a very great feeling for Germany.”

During the same briefing, Trump criticized Spain and the United Kingdom over their foreign policy decisions, threatening to cut off all trade with Spain. He also misidentified his mother’s birthplace, saying she was born in the U.K., when Mary Anne Macleod Trump was actually born in Scotland and immigrated to the United States as a teenager.

Trump’s confusion about his family’s origins contradicts basic biographical fact. The repeated nature of this lie, spanning multiple years and public statements, demonstrates either a fundamental inability to recall or communicate accurate information about his own family history, or a deliberate pattern of disinformation.

(Source: https://people.com/trump-feels-warmly-about-germany-since-my-father-was-born-there-but-his-dad-is-from-the-bronx-11918875?utm_campaign=peoplemagazine&utm_content=photo&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_term=69a7aa49f1887f000151c75d&fbclid=IwdGRleAQVH4RleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEeNXjbu5kMKwuDgIY07bqtufK_QUKfHdjcAtDBcOpUDLThD_dQ-ldvzxnnmlA_aem_bIGcsH9LHMq0q5kmQOGydw)

Trump Confuses Civil War, Reconstruction as Same Historical Event

During a rally in Corpus Christi, Texas, Trump conflated the Civil War with Reconstruction, claiming the latter was simply “a fancy way of saying the Civil War.” Trump stated that Texas Governor Greg Abbott used the term “Reconstruction” in a phone call, and Trump then demanded clarification, asserting the two historical periods were identical.

Reconstruction was the distinct period following the Civil War in which former Confederate states were readmitted to the Union and forced to comply with the Constitution and federal law, including the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments that abolished slavery, granted citizenship to all persons born in the U.S., and prohibited racial discrimination in voting. The period involved federal troop deployments to enforce these requirements until 1877, when the disputed presidential election of 1876 was resolved through a political deal that ended Reconstruction.

Trump’s mischaracterization of basic American history reflects his documented pattern of factual inaccuracy on major historical events. The disinformation he spread at the rally contradicts established historical consensus and educational standards regarding these critical periods of American civil rights development.

The rally also featured other remarks demonstrating Trump’s pattern of incoherence. Trump congratulated Republican Representative Tony Gonzales without explanation, despite Gonzales facing resignation calls after a former staffer’s suicide, reportedly linked to an affair with the lawmaker. Trump also recounted an implausible anecdote about a police officer crediting improved sex life to economic conditions.

Trump used the event to promote his energy policies ahead of Texas primary elections. His comments on a hypothetical Supreme Court nomination of Senator Ted Cruz reflected crude characterizations rather than substantive judicial analysis, describing Cruz as “a pain in the ass” to other senators.

(Source: https://www.mediaite.com/media/tv/confused-trump-says-the-civil-war-and-reconstruction-were-the-same-thing-a-fancy-way-of-saying-the-civil-war/)

1 2 3 … 183