CNN Fact-Checks Trump’s Cabinet Meeting Claims: “So Much Was Just Not True”

CNN fact-checkers Dana Bash and Daniel Dale took on the task of dissecting a series of questionable claims made by President Donald Trump during the first Cabinet meeting of his second term on Wednesday. “There was just so much in this Cabinet meeting,” Dale remarked. “So, let me run through some of the big ones.”

One of Trump’s most striking assertions was that the U.S. had provided $350 billion in aid to Ukraine—three times the amount given by Europe. “The $350 billion number is not true,” Dale clarified. “Nor is the idea that the U.S. has provided way more than Europe.” Trump also repeated a claim about American education rankings, stating that the U.S. ranked 40th out of 40 in some education measures.

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“I specifically asked the White House what those rankings were. They were not able to point to any of them,” Dale explained. “It appears not to exist.” The fact-checker then addressed Trump’s statement that his administration had taken in hundreds of billions of dollars from tariffs on China.

“In fact, Americans made those tariff payments,” Dale corrected. “And it’s not true that Trump was the first president to impose tariffs on China.” Trump also made sweeping claims about trade with the European Union.

“He said the European Union doesn’t take American farm products,” Dale said. “In fact, it is the fourth biggest market for U.S. agricultural exports, worth $13 billion per year.” The president then claimed that the European Union was created “to screw” the U.S., but Dale noted this was historically inaccurate.

“It was formed with U.S. support, so not even close to correct,” he said. “And, so, I don’t even know where to go from here!” Trump also echoed a previous statement that around one million federal employees who did not respond to an email from Elon Musk’s team “may not exist.”

“I guess it’s possible that the U.S. government is paying some people who don’t exist,” Dale said. “But I think it’s important to note that numerous agency or department heads told their employees not to respond. So, the simpler explanation is that people were instructed not to do this, rather than them being, you know, fictional, non-existent human beings.”

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Bash then chimed in with another striking claim from Trump. “There was one other doozy,” she said. “The allegation that there were Social Security checks going to people who are 150 years old. Those people got older during the Cabinet meeting today.

Apparently, they’re 200 years old. So, there is that.” As Trump’s second term unfolds, fact-checkers continue to scrutinize his statements, ensuring that rhetoric is measured against reality.

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