President Donald Trump visited troops in Japan and, true to form, brought along a familiar companion, a long list of false claims.
Speaking aboard a US aircraft carrier, Trump praised the troops, saluted the flag, and then launched into a speech packed with numbers, victories, and stories that did not survive a fact check. He claimed success on everything from wars to grocery prices.
First, the president repeated his favorite line about the 2020 election. “You know, we won the second election by a lot,” he told the troops. “It was too big to rig.” In reality, Trump lost that election fair and square to Joe Biden. The only thing “too big” was the lie.
Then came the claim about grocery prices. “Grocery prices are way down,” Trump said proudly. But the numbers tell a different story. Prices have actually gone up by about 2.7% since last year. The cost of eggs, bread, and milk is still climbing. So unless Trump shops in another universe, this one is false, too.
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He did not stop there. Trump told the crowd that “inflation has been defeated.” That might sound great, except it is not true. Government data shows inflation is still around 3% and slowly rising. Even the White House’s own numbers show no sign of total victory.
Trump also told the troops that under Biden, the United States had “the worst inflation in history.” That is another stretch. The record belongs to 1920 when inflation hit more than 20%. Biden’s highest point was 9% in 2022.
Then came one of his more dramatic boasts, where Trump claimed that he ended eight wars in eight months. He listed countries that were never even at war, mentioning places like Egypt, Ethiopia, Kosovo, Serbia, Congo, and Rwanda. Most of those nations were not in active conflict, and some are still facing unrest today.
Next, Trump claimed that no president before him had ever ended a war. History disagrees. Woodrow Wilson helped end World War I. Franklin Roosevelt led the end of World War Two. George H. W. Bush ended the Gulf War. Trump might want to check a history book before making that one again.
He also bragged about “seventeen trillion dollars pouring into the United States.” The real figure, according to his own administration, is about nine trillion, and most of it is not even real money but vague promises of future investments.
Trump also claimed that the military had attacked drug boats that “kill twenty five thousand people every year.” Experts quickly called that absurd. Total overdose deaths in 2024 were about 82,000 from all drugs combined. Trump’s math would mean each boat kills more people than an entire year of overdose deaths.
Not to be outdone, he repeated that “25 million people” came into the country under Biden “totally unvetted.” The real number is less than half that, even when counting every border encounter and deportation.
Finally, Trump mocked Biden for claiming to be a pilot, saying, “He wasn’t a pilot.” The strange part is that there is no record of Biden ever saying that. Trump made it up while accusing Biden of making things up.
Featured image via Political Tribune Gallery
