Fact Check: Trump’s Cabinet Meeting Claims
As usual, President Donald Trump made numerous false claims in his televised Cabinet meeting on Tuesday. And, as usual, most of them had previously been debunked.
Trump repeated familiar false claims about consumer prices, investment in the US, foreign affairs, public safety, the 2020 election, and his signature domestic policy legislation, among other topics.
Here is a fact check of 13 of his inaccurate assertions, plus one more that needs context.
Inflation and the economy
Grocery prices
Trump repeated his false claim that “grocery prices are down.” They’re up. The most recent available Consumer Price Index figures, for September, show average grocery prices were up about 2.7% from September 2024; about 1.4% from January 2025, the month Trump returned to office; and about 0.3% from August to September.
Prescription drug prices
Trump repeated his false claim that an executive order he issued on prescription drug prices will “slash drug prices by 200%, 300%, 400%, 500%, 600%, 700%, 800%,” adding, “Nobody’s ever heard of it before”; later in the meeting, he used a “900%” figure. Nobody has heard of such reductions because they are mathematically impossible; if the president magically got the companies to reduce the prices of all of their drugs to $0, that would be a 100% cut. You can read a longer fact check here.
Inflation under Trump
Trump falsely claimed, “Since last January, we’ve stopped inflation in its tracks.” That’s a vague phrase, but it’s not true by any reasonable definition of “stopped in its tracks.” Inflation hasn’t been stopped at all; the year-over-year inflation rate in September, 3.0%, was the same as the rate in January – in fact, if you go to multiple decimal places, the September rate was a tiny bit higher – and September was the fifth consecutive month the year-over-year rate had increased. (In fairness, Trump did add Tuesday: “And there’s still more to do, there’s always more to do, but we have it down to a very good level.”)
Inflation under President Joe Biden
Trump repeated his false claim that “I inherited the worst inflation in history.” He added, “They say it’s the worst inflation that we’ve had in 48 years, I say ever.” Again, Trump inherited a 3.0% inflation rate, same as the most recent rate. He could have fairly said the year-over-year US inflation rate hit a 40-year high under Biden in June 2022, when it was 9.1%, but that was not close to the all-time record of 23.7%, set in 1920. Trump was also wrong if he was claiming there was record cumulative inflation over the course of Biden’s presidency; it was much higher during the Jimmy Carter administration.
Investment in the US
After referring to “new investments in the United States,” Trump repeated his false claim that “we’ve secured commitments of over $18 trillion.” This figure is fiction. At the time he spoke on Tuesday, the White House’s own website said the figure was “$9.6 trillion,” and even that is a major exaggeration; a detailed CNN review in October found the White House was counting trillions of dollars in vague investment pledges, pledges that were about “bilateral trade” or “economic exchange” rather than investment in the US, or vague statements that didn’t even rise to the level of pledges. You can read more here.
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