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Fact-check: Trump previews Day 1 executive orders, repeats falsehoods at preinauguration rally

National

President-elect Donald Trump gestures Nov. 14, 2024, after speaking during an America First Policy Institute gala at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP)

By PolitiFact Staff January 19, 2025

PolitiFact fact-checked President-elect Donald Trump's Make America Great Again victory rally at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.

The rally happened the day before Trump’s inauguration as the 47th president of the United States.

PolitiFact has fact-checked Trump 1,071 times since 2011. We’re also tracking Trump’s campaign promises for his second term.

To suggest a claim from Trump or another speaker for us to fact-check, email truthometer@politifact.com. If you prefer a morning roundup, subscribe to our weekly newsletter or sign up to receive text messages from PolitiFact.

Trump rally fact-checks

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See sources link in live blog.

NextGen Climate Action Committee

stated on August 8, 2014 in a campaign ad:

Says Rick Scott "is letting Duke (Energy) keep collecting billions" despite troubled power plants.

half-true

half-true

Georgia Department of Transportation

stated on July 19, 2011 in a press release:

The Northwest Corridor highway project in Cobb and Cherokee counties "is expected to create over 9,700 jobs statewide."

false

false

Republican National Committee

stated on June 5, 2008 in in a news release:

Obama couldn't have afforded his home without Rezko's help.

false

false

stated on December 8, 2021 in an interview with Hugh Hewitt:

Gas prices were "$1.86 when I left" the White House.

false

false

Louise Slaughter

stated on September 5, 2017 in a tweet:

Rescinding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program "will harm our economy."

true

true

stated on March 2, 2017 in a headline:

"Doctors who discovered cancer enzymes in vaccines all found murdered."

pants-fire

pants-fire

David Menchetti

stated on November 28, 2016 in testimony before the Illinois House Labor and Commerce Committee:

"The causation standard in Indiana is exactly the same as it is in Illinois."

true

true

stated on September 16, 2016 in a White House press conference:

"If you look at any real analysis," the Trans-Pacific Partnership is "going to generate better-paying jobs that are more stable."

half-true

half-true

stated on November 17, 2015 in press release:

While the smoking rate nationally has fallen, more than 18 percent of Georgians still light up.

mostly-true

mostly-true

NextGen Climate Action Committee

stated on August 8, 2014 in a campaign ad:

Says Rick Scott "is letting Duke (Energy) keep collecting billions" despite troubled power plants.

half-true

half-true

Georgia Department of Transportation

stated on July 19, 2011 in a press release:

The Northwest Corridor highway project in Cobb and Cherokee counties "is expected to create over 9,700 jobs statewide."

false

false

Republican National Committee

stated on June 5, 2008 in in a news release:

Obama couldn't have afforded his home without Rezko's help.

false

false

stated on December 8, 2021 in an interview with Hugh Hewitt:

Gas prices were "$1.86 when I left" the White House.

false

false

Louise Slaughter

stated on September 5, 2017 in a tweet:

Rescinding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program "will harm our economy."

true

true

stated on March 2, 2017 in a headline:

"Doctors who discovered cancer enzymes in vaccines all found murdered."

pants-fire

pants-fire

Harriet Hageman
stated on March 16, 2025 in a podcast interview:

The federal Education Department has a “budget of about $280 billion a year. Less than 25% goes to educating our students.”

By Louis Jacobson • March 20, 2025
Facebook posts
stated on March 18, 2025 in a post on Facebook:

Files reveal that John F. Kennedy Jr. wrote a 1994 letter calling then-Sen. Joe Biden “a traitor” before Kennedy’s 1999 death.

By Madison Czopek • March 20, 2025
Facebook posts
stated on March 1, 2025 in a post:

Says Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “engaged in election interference by campaigning” in Pennsylvania for former Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.

By Amy Sherman • March 20, 2025
Elon Musk
stated on February 28, 2025 in an interview with podcaster Joe Rogan:

“Social Security is the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time.”

By Louis Jacobson • March 19, 2025
Threads posts
stated on March 15, 2025 in a post on Threads:

President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social that, “After I’ve annexed Greenland and making it the 52nd State, I will annexe Alaska.”

By Madison Czopek • March 19, 2025
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
stated on March 4, 2025 in a Fox Nation interview:

“A lot of studies” show that getting measles "boosts your immune system later in life against cancers, atopic diseases, cardiac disease."

By Jeff Cercone • March 19, 2025
Brooke Rollins
stated on March 7, 2025 in an X post:

A $600,000 federal grant went to study “menstrual cycles in transgender men.”

By Grace Abels • March 19, 2025
Ro Khanna
stated on February 20, 2025 in a TikTok video:

“Breaking news: The Trump administration just announced that Medicare will stop covering telehealth starting April 1. … We need to stand up to these Medicare cuts.”

By Suz Redfearn • March 18, 2025
Donald Trump
stated on March 17, 2025 in a Truth Social post:

Former President Joe Biden’s pardons of lawmakers on the committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol attack “are hereby declared void, vacant, and of no further force or effect,” because “they were done by autopen.”

By Louis Jacobson • March 17, 2025
Facebook posts
stated on March 13, 2025 in Facebook posts:

DOGE found former first lady Michelle Obama “has been receiving a monthly $122,000 payment from the (General Services Administration) since 2009.”

By Loreben Tuquero • March 17, 2025

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