Previous Troubling Reports

Trump wrote on Truth Social, "There's BIG cheating by the Dumocrats in California," using a mocking nickname for the party, without providing any evidence, and added "Votes are all tied up. May not be in for weeks. Under investigation by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles." Newsweek noted it was unclear whether the president had actually ordered the investigation he referenced, and the outlet reached out to the White House and the LA U.S. Attorney's Office for clarification. California is simply among the slowest states to report results because it prioritizes a thorough process: officials must verify signatures, review provisional ballots, and assess damaged ballots before a legally required audit and certification process that can take up to 30 days, made more time-consuming by the state's over 23 million registered voters. This is troubling because the president is using a routine, legally-mandated counting process as supposed evidence of fraud, spreading unsubstantiated claims of cheating to a national audience without any actual proof.

CNN framed two terrorism suspects as ordinary teenagers whose lives were derailed by circumstance, essentially generating sympathy for people accused of throwing bombs at civilians. The post had to be deleted after public backlash, but it had already reached a large audience.

This article mentions several instances where Donald Trump is either stretching the truth, or just completely wrong about different aspects of his Washington DC renovation projects. The article contains numerous video clips of Trump discussing his plans to build a triumphal arch, and also clips of him lying about the size of the reflecting pool compared to the world's tallest skyscrapers. I find claims like these troubling, not because of the incorrect facts, but instead what they represent. Trump continues to lie about basic facts that can be easily fact checked in a way that very few presidents have before. It almost seems as if the American people have just accepted that this is who he is, and lying is something he does, which I find unacceptable. It is important to continue fact checking him, as it is important to ensure people know that the claims he is making are often times false

The Financial Times reported that a $300 billion reconstruction fund could be established if Iran accepts the terms of the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding, financed primarily by private investors and international partners — not directly by the US government. Trump responded on social media calling the story "fake news," but made two factual errors in doing so: he cited the figure as "300 million Dollars" rather than $300 billion, and he claimed the US was "paying Iran," which misrepresents the FT's actual reporting about a privately-backed fund supported by the administration. Trump's post effectively spread a distorted version of the original story to millions of followers, replacing a nuanced financial structure with a false and inflammatory characterization. This is particularly troubling because dismissing credible financial reporting as "fake news" — while simultaneously getting the figures wrong by a factor of 1,000 — undermines public understanding of a major international agreement.

At a June 5, 2026 rally in Wisconsin, Trump claimed African American unemployment is "doing better than it's ever done" — a stat he admitted on stage he couldn't source, saying "I don't know where the hell that stat came from, but I'll take it." CNN's fact-check confirmed the claim is false. The Black unemployment rate stood at 6.6% in May 2026, higher than the 6.2% rate Trump inherited in January 2025, and far above the actual record low of 4.8% set under President Biden in April 2023. This is particularly troubling because it spreads economic misinformation to a national audience, targets a specific demographic with false data, and was made by a sitting president who openly acknowledged he had no basis for the claim.

On NBC's Meet the Press, Trump falsely said California's slow ballot count is proof of election cheating. PolitiFact rated it "Pants on Fire." California counts slowly because state law allows mail ballots submitted on Election Day, which is completely legal and publicly documented. This type of claim is particularly dangerous because it spreads distrust in democratic institutions without any factual basis. When high-profile figures repeat election fraud narratives on national television, it reaches millions of viewers before any fact-check can catch up.

Over a hundred children were killed in what should have been a protected civilian site, and the US military's own investigation suggests it was an American missile that did it. What makes it particularly disturbing is that rather than acknowledging uncertainty, the President publicly blamed Iran for the deaths his own military had likely caused. Since this came from such a high level, it has raised serious questions about accountability and whether ordinary people can ever know the truth in real time during wartime.

Reuters found that a viral video claiming ballots would be improperly used to cast duplicate votes in the Los Angeles mayoral election was misleading. The ballots shown were actually issued for voters in West Hollywood, a separate city, and could not be used in the Los Angeles mayoral race.

The headline of a recent New York Post interview with President Trump labels Motjaba Khamenei as "probably gay" as if it's an established fact. In reality, it's an unverified intelligence claim with no physical evidence, no photos, no video, nothing that suggests this is concrete. The New York Post's own reporting acknowledges sources "diverge" on key details and that agencies don't actually have proof. The issue here is that embedding an unverified allegation directly into a headline treats speculation as fact, which is highly misleading. Beyond the factual problem, framing someone's sexuality as a scandalous detail is worth foregrounding in a headline about international diplomacy is a form of sensationalism that has nothing to do with the actual news story. The actual news story is Trump's prediction that he'll meet with Khamenei. The article buries the actual diplomatic development under what amounts to unverified gossip about someone's personal life. The New York Post, in this instance, clearly prioritizes a sexual orientation allegation from President Trump over actual news about his diplomatic efforts with Iran.

The "Democrats say you must vote for him" quote is quite obviously misinformation, as millions of Democrats don't have a single view. While a good amount of Democrats support Platner despite the controversies, they are not claiming you "must" vote for him. Claiming that Susan Collins is the most moderate GOP member of the Senate is debatable and subjective. While regarded as fairly moderate to some, this is not an objective fact. In conclusion, calling Platner a national socialist or even a nazi is an opinion and accusation, not a proven fact.

A map circulating on X and TikTok was shared widely with the false claim that the Andes strain of hantavirus was rapidly spreading across Europe and North America. In reality, the map was only tracking news coverage of the virus, not confirmed cases. What makes this troubling is how straightforward the misrepresentation is, and how easily it could have been avoided with even a basic check of what the map actually represented. In a media environment where fear spreads faster than facts, something as simple as a misread data visualization becomes a catalyst for public panic. It's a good reminder that misinformation doesn't always come from bad actors with an agenda; sometimes it's just people sharing something alarming without taking thirty seconds to verify the course, which is kind of the whole problem.

Fox News and several other news outlets incorrectly reported that Somaliland's government had called for the extradition of Rep. Ilhan Omar. The reports relied on a social media account that was not actually affiliated with Somaliland's government. After officials clarified that the account was unofficial, Fox News corrected its story.