Fact-checking social media posts claiming instant policy victories for Donald Trump

After Americans voted to return former President Donald Trump to the Oval Office, some Trump supporters celebrated on social media by sharing lists of things that had changed virtually overnight.

Pastor Franklin Graham shared a Facebook post Nov. 9 saying, "Someone posted about some of the good things that have already happened since President Donald J. Trump won the election this week! Pray for him and for our nation." Pro-Trump commentator Liz Wheeler posted a similar list on Instagram.

(Screenshots from Instagram, Facebook)

The posts were flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook, Threads and Instagram.)

Some of the claims say that in just two to three days:

• Trump broke up a migrant caravan in Mexico.

• Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to end the war in Ukraine.

• Hamas called for an end to war in Gaza.

• The stock market hit record highs.

When we investigated some of the developments cited in the posts, we found that some were accurate (that Trump appointed the first-ever female chief of staff; that Bitcoin hit record highs) Some were wrong (that Mexico would begin stopping migrants; it already was). Most of the rest omitted context.

Here’s a rundown of what we found.

Claim: First female chief of staff appointed

Susie Wiles will be the first woman to hold the post, which serves as a close adviser and key gatekeeper for the president. 

Claim: Bitcoin hits record high

It’s true that Bitcoin, a cryptocurrency, hit record highs the day after Trump’s election victory. The trend has continued in the days since, with a new record high reached Nov. 13 and some predictions that Bitcoin could hit a record $100,000 price by Inauguration Day.

Trump sold himself as a cryptofriendly candidate in his campaign, saying he would appoint a crypto Presidential Advisory Council and fire Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler, who has cracked down on the industry. In September, Trump launched his family’s new cryptocurrency business, World Liberty Financial, a borrowing and lending service to trade cryptocurrencies.

Migrants walk along the highway in Huixtla, southern Mexico, Nov. 7, 2024, heading toward the country's northern border and ultimately the United States. (AP)

Claim: ‘Newest migrant caravan breaking up’

Reuters reported Nov. 7 that a large migrant caravan of about 3,000 people dwindled to about 1,600 people after Trump’s victory, saying that many of them felt less hopeful of being allowed to stay when Trump takes office in January.

Migration Policy Institute spokesperson Michelle Mittelstadt said there is a long history of migrant caravans breaking up in Mexico.

"Through a combination of offers of temporary status, enforcement, busing of people back to southern Mexico and other steps, the Mexican government for years has diffused prior caravans," she said. "There may, of course, also have been second-guessing by individual migrants whether it makes sense to continue with their journey to reach the U.S."

Claim: Stock market hit record highs

This is accurate, but not especially significant. The S&P 500, a broad stock index, hit a new high on Nov. 11, almost a week after Trump’s election; that put the market 3.8% higher than it had been on Election Day, Nov. 5. 

However, the stock market is volatile and gains can be short-lived. After that gain through Nov. 11, the S&P 500 fell by 2.1% through Nov. 14, with further losses through the trading day Nov. 15. This nearly erased the entire Trump postelection bump.

From Election Day 2020, when Joe Biden won, to Election Day 2024, the S&P 500 rose by 51%, hitting all-time highs frequently along the way. It’s common for presidents to see stock market gains on their watches; since President Dwight D. Eisenhower, only two presidents have seen the stock market retreat during a term, once during the combined term of Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, and twice under George W. Bush.

Claim: Taliban claims to want "new chapter" and China wants "peaceful coexistence"

It’s common for foreign countries to congratulate incoming presidents on their victories and offer courtesies, whether in direct leader-to-leader phone calls or in statements from official sources. It doesn’t mean that they are changing their national interests.

In Afghanistan’s case, foreign ministry spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi posted on X that the government hopes the incoming Trump administration "will take realistic steps toward concrete progress in relations between the two countries and both nations will be able to open a new chapter of relations."

As for China, foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said at a press briefing, "We will continue to approach and handle China-U.S. relations based on the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation," adding, "Our policy toward the United States has been consistent." 

Biden was scheduled to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Nov. 16 in Peru.

Claim: Russia is "ready" to speak with the U.S. and Putin is ready to end Ukraine war 

Putin, speaking at an event in the Russian city of Sochi, praised Trump and congratulated him on his victory, BBC News reported. He said "we’re ready" to have conversations with Trump and that Trump’s claim that he can help end the war in Ukraine "deserves attention," a Russian transcript of his comments show.

Trump repeatedly said during the campaign he could end the war in one day, but didn’t specify how. The Washington Post, citing unnamed sources, reported that Putin and Trump spoke Nov. 7, and that Trump advised Putin not to escalate the war. A Kremlin spokesperson Nov. 11 denied that the two men had spoken, The Associated Press reported.

Biden and Putin haven’t spoken since February 2022, before the war began.

Then-candidate Donald Trump and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shake hands Sept. 27, 2024, at Trump Tower in New York. (AP)

Claim: Ukraine president in talks with Trump and Elon Musk

It’s premature to frame their communication as being "in talks," but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke with Trump to congratulate him on his victory, and multiple news reports citing unnamed sources say Trump briefly put Elon Musk, a campaign booster and the the new Department of Government Efficiency’s co-head, on the phone.

It’s unclear what they discussed, but Zelenskyy in an X post said they "agreed to maintain close dialogue and advance our cooperation."

Claim: U.S. companies bring production home 

This is premature. The day after the election, The Wall Street Journal reported that Jim Clayton, the CEO of Breville, an appliance maker with about $1 billion in annual revenue, said it is considering ways to avoid Trump’s proposed tariffs by producing more goods in the U.S.

However, it takes time to move factories and Breville is not a U.S. company, it’s Australian. 

This is not a new pattern, though Trump’s proposals may be accelerating it.

A survey of top executives at $1 billion-plus multinational companies by the consulting firm Bain & Company, found that 63% had already been planning to bring their supply chains closer to home when surveyed two years ago; that number rose to 81% this year. The survey found that 2% of respondents had fully completed their plans.

Bain found that the trend began partly because several Biden initiatives favoring U.S.-based technology expansion, including the CHIPS and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, had passed. 

Claim: New York City ends migrant voucher program

The city Nov. 7 said it was ending a controversial program that provided debit cards for asylum-seeking migrant families staying in city-funded hotels to buy food. The program was a lightning rod for critics concerned about potential fraud, helping migrants before struggling Americans and a no-bid contract Mayor Eric Adams gave to run the program.

The change was announced two days after Trump’s election, but Adams did not mention Trump in interviews. Adams and Trump did speak on the phone the day before the announcement, but Adams was vague in a Nov. 7 news briefing about what they discussed.

In a Nov. 7 interview with New York’s WABC-TV, Adams again declined to say what he and Trump had discussed.

Adams said the debit card program was an emergency contract scheduled to sunset in a year.

"Now we have moved away from emergency response because we have had a constant decrease in our (migrant) population," Adams said.

PolitiFact emailed Adams’ press office for comment but received no response.

Claim: Qatar kicks out Hamas leaders

This occurred, but the reason is murky. Qatar suspended its mediation efforts in stalled talks between Israel and Gaza to end the war there and free Israeli hostages, multiple news reports said.

Whether Qatar asked Hamas leaders to exit the country is unclear. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at a Nov. 13 press briefing in Brussels that Hamas has demonstrated that it won’t engage in talks for a hostage deal and said "it’s one of the reasons Qatar has told them to leave Qatar." Several news reports cited unnamed U.S. sources saying the U.S. asked Qatar to expel Hamas and that Qatar had agreed.

Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and senior Hamas officials told The Wall Street Journal that reports Hamas was asked to leave Hamas’ political office in Doha were inaccurate. The ministry released a statement Nov. 9 that said talks would resume if both sides display "willingness and seriousness" to end the war.

PolitiFact contacted Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs for clarity, but received no response.

Claim: Hamas calls for an end to war in Gaza

Hamas has been calling for an end to Israeli military action in Gaza in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel. Hamas’ reiteration of these calls means nothing absent concessions and negotiations between the two sides.

A Hamas spokesperson told Newsweek in a Nov. 6 article that "the election of Trump as the 47th president of the USA is a private matter for the Americans, but Palestinians look forward to an immediate cessation of the aggression against our people, especially in Gaza, and look for assistance in achieving their legitimate rights of freedom, independence, and the establishment of their independent self-sovereign state with Jerusalem as its capital."

Claim: Mexico to stop migrants at border

Mexico has been stopping migrants in Mexico since January 2024, Mittelstadt said.

"Stepped-up Mexican enforcement has been ongoing since January and has been a real factor in the significant decline seen since January in arrivals at the U.S.-Mexico border," Mittelstadt told PolitiFact. "Mexican officials have said they will continue with their current posture."

Mexico Foreign Minister Juan Ramon de la Fuente said Nov. 8 that Mexico will continue existing measures to stop migrants from reaching the U.S. border, Reuters reported.

He said Mexico’s model is working, pointing to a 76% drop since December in migrants caught at the border by the U.S., Reuters reported.