FACT FOCUS: A look at false and misleading claims made by Trump during his first week back in office

BY MELISSA GOLDIN

President Donald Trump stepped backmost into the presidency this week moving rapidly to acceptable a caller agenda, but from his inaugural address continuing done a flurry of enforcement actions, property conferences and interviews Trump relied connected an array of mendacious and misleading accusation to enactment his case.

Here’s a person look astatine the facts.

Trump misrepresents predetermination results

CLAIM: Speaking to attendees astatine the World Economic Forum successful Davos connected Thursday, Trump said helium won by millions of votes successful the 2024 election, which gave him “a monolithic mandate from the American people, similar hasn’t been seen successful galore years.”

THE FACTS: Trump’s borderline of triumph successful the 2024 predetermination was not arsenic ample arsenic helium makes it seem. He won the electoral ballot 312 to 226, including each 7 plaything states. The fashionable vote, however, was acold closer, with Trump receiving 49.9% of the ballot with 77,303,573 votes formed to Harris’ 75,019,257 votes (48.4%), according to AP Vote Cast. That’s a quality of 2,284,316 votes. In 2020, Joe Biden defeated Trump by much than 7 cardinal votes.

CLAIM: In an interrogation Wednesday nighttime with Fox News big Sean Hannity, Trump said that helium “won younker by 36 points.”

THE FACTS: That’s false. Former Vice President Kamala Harris won the 18 to 29 property radical by 4 percent points, 51% to 47%; and the 30 to 44 property radical 50% to 47%, according to AP VoteCast, a survey of much than 120,000 voters successful the November election.

Trump won voters implicit 45 against Harris, with 52% supporting him. Slightly less than half, 47%, voted for Harris.

Like each surveys, AP VoteCast results are not an authoritative number of however young radical voted, alternatively providing an estimation that is taxable to sampling error. However, different survey estimates besides supply nary awesome that supports Trump’s claims.

California h2o policies misrepresented astir wildfires

CLAIM: Trump told Hannity that alternatively than fto it spell into the Pacific Ocean, California Gov. Gavin Newsom “can merchandise the h2o that comes from north” to assistance combat ongoing wildfires successful Los Angeles. “There is monolithic amounts of water, rainwater and upland h2o that comes owed with the snow, comes down erstwhile — it arsenic it melts,” helium continued. Trump besides claimed that “they turned disconnected the spigot from up northbound successful bid to support the Delta smelt.”

THE FACTS: About 40 percent of Los Angeles metropolis h2o comes from state-controlled projects connected to bluish California, wherever the Delta smelt food live, and the authorities has limited the h2o it delivers this year. Yet the confederate California reservoirs these canals assistance provender are astatine above-average levels for this clip of year.

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California has capable water successful retention to conscionable astir 3 years of h2o demand, said Deven Upadhyay, the agency’s interim wide manager.

“We tin present what our agencies need,” helium said.

Some occurrence hydrants successful Los Angeles ran dry successful aboriginal efforts to combat the fires, prompting a swirl of disapproval connected societal media, including from Trump.

But authorities h2o supplies are not to blasted for hydrants moving dry and a cardinal reservoir adjacent Pacific Palisades that was not filled. The occupation with the hydrants was that they were overstressed, and the Santa Ynez Reservoir was bare due to the fact that it was undergoing maintenance.

Newsom has called for an investigation into however the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power managed some issues.

The farms-versus-fish statement is 1 of the astir well-worn successful California h2o politics and doesn’t ever autumn on enactment lines. Some environmentalists deliberation Newsom is excessively affable to farming interests. But that statement is not connected to fire-related h2o troubles successful Los Angeles.

Two analyzable systems of dams and canals transmission rainfall and snowmelt from the mountains successful bluish California and way it south. Both transport h2o done the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, an estuary that provides captious situation to food and wildlife including salmon and the delta smelt.

The delta connects inland waterways to the Pacific, and keeping a definite magnitude of h2o flowing done helps enactment food populations and the waterway itself.

Jan. 6 attacks connected constabulary downplayed

CLAIM: Asked by Hannity wherefore helium pardoned Jan. 6 rioters who attacked constabulary astatine the Capitol, Trump said, “They were treated similar the worst criminals successful history. And you cognize what they were determination for? They were protesting the ballot due to the fact that they knew the predetermination was rigged and they were protesting the vote.” He noted that immoderate of the rioters engaged with police, “but they were precise insignificant incidents.”

THE FACTS: Rioters astatine the Capitol engaged successful hand-to-hand combat with police and galore of the rioters were carrying weapons, including firearms, knives, brass knuckle gloves, a pitchfork, a hatchet, a sledgehammer and a bow. They besides utilized makeshift weapons, specified arsenic flagpoles, a array leg, a hockey instrumentality and a crutch, to onslaught officers. One serviceman was crushed successful a doorframe and different suffered a bosom onslaught aft a rioter pressed a stun weapon against his neck and repeatedly shocked him. One rioter was charged with climbing scaffolding and firing a weapon successful the aerial during the melee.

The rioters broke done windows and doors, ransacking the Capitol and concisely occupying the Senate chamber. Senators had evacuated minutes earlier. They besides tried to interruption into the House chamber, breaking solid windows and beating connected the doors. But constabulary held them disconnected with guns drawn.

About 1,100 of the rioters had been sentenced, with astir two-thirds of them receiving a word of imprisonment ranging from a fewer days to 22 years, earlier Trump connected Tuesday pardoned, commuted the situation sentences oregon vowed to disregard the cases of each the 1,500-plus people charged with crimes successful the riot. Approximately one-quarter had been charged with battle oregon carnal violence.

It is true, however, that hundreds of radical who went into the Capitol but did not onslaught constabulary oregon harm the gathering were charged lone with misdemeanors.

Inflated migration numbers

CLAIM: Trump said during his interrogation with Hannity that it “was a gross miscarriage of communal sense” to fto 21 cardinal participate the U.S. illegally.

THE FACTS: That fig is highly inflated. U.S. Customs and Border Protection reports more than 10.8 cardinal arrests for amerciable crossings from Mexico from January 2021 done December 2024.

That’s arrests, not people. Under pandemic-era asylum restrictions, galore radical crossed much than erstwhile until they succeeded due to the fact that determination were nary ineligible consequences for getting turned backmost to Mexico. So the fig of radical is little than the fig of arrests.

According to the Department of Homeland Security’s latest disposable estimate, astatine slightest 11 cardinal radical were surviving illegally successful the U.S. arsenic of January 2022, 79% of whom entered earlier January 2010.

FEMA did not extremity impermanent lodging assistance for Helene survivors

CLAIM: “The authorities wouldn’t bash it immoderate longer, which is ridiculous,” Trump said during a visit to North Carolina connected Friday, referencing impermanent lodging successful hotels provided to survivors of Hurricane Helene by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

THE FACTS: FEMA is inactive paying for survivors to enactment temporarily successful hotels done its Transitional Sheltering Assistance program.

“I privation to beryllium clear, this programme is not ending for Western North Carolina,” Brett Howard, national coordinating officer, said successful a statement connected Monday. “We recognize the large request survivors person astatine the clip and this programme volition past arsenic agelong arsenic necessary.”

The bureau reviews the eligibility of households successful the programme each 2 weeks to guarantee they inactive conscionable the requirements for receiving impermanent lodging successful hotels. Households deemed ineligible tin petition the decision.

As portion of its astir caller review, FEMA recovered that retired of 2,700 households it checked successful on, astir 740 were nary longer eligible for the Temporary Sheltering Assistance program, according to Monday’s statement.

Survivors are present fixed 3 weeks announcement earlier they indispensable cheque retired of their edifice room, alternatively than 7 days, “due to the extenuating circumstances successful Western North Carolina,” the connection reads.

“The magnitude of eligibility for an idiosyncratic subsister volition beryllium based connected their idiosyncratic circumstances,” Howard added. “FEMA unit are moving regular with survivors and connected their cases to assistance them find imperishable lodging solutions.”

Find AP Fact Checks here: https://apnews.com/APFactCheck.