Alwaght- In his State of the Union Speech at the Congress, the US President Donald Trump made claims many of which are unfounded and false.
His annual address comes at a time when Americans are divided over whether his first year in office has been a success, according to an NPR report. A joint poll conducted by NPR, PBS News, and Marist shows that six in 10 Americans believe the country is worse off than it was last year, and a majority think the US is no longer as powerful as it once was. In this report, by shedding light on content of his speech, we fact-check Trump's claims against the substance of his speech.
1. Housing allowance, mislabeled as "dividends"
In his recent speech, Trump claimed that “every member of the military has received $1,776 in battlefield dividends.”
This claim is false. According to a report by Saige Miller of the Washington Minute, the money in question is part of a budget bill allocated for military housing allowances, totaling $2.9 billion. Relabeling these funds as “battlefield dividends” is misleading and inaccurate.
2. Stealing $19 billion by Somalians
During his remarks, Trump alleged that Somalis in Minnesota have ripped off American taxpayers for about $19 billion.
Immigration reporter Yasmine Garsed notes that the $19 billion theft claim refers to a controversial 2022 case in which dozens of individuals were charged with stealing hundreds of millions of dollars from child nutrition programs, aided by a Minnesota nonprofit called "Feeding Our Future." Now, Trump has seized on the incident to attack the Somali American community.
3. Claim of 32,000 people killed in recent Iran unrest
Trump said that just over the past few months of Iranian unrest, at least 32,000 protesters lost their lives, either shot dead or executed.
Just contrary to this claim, a list of those dead in the January protests published by the Iranian government with identity said that 3,117 were killed mainly in terrorist attacks backed by the US and Israel.
4. An immigrant killed an American citizen
Trump has claimed that "Iryna Zarutska, an American citizen, was killed in the US by a stone-cold criminal who was an immigrant who was roaming free."
Immigration reporter Yasmine Garsed has pushed back on this claim, noting that Iryna Zarutska was fatally stabbed while boarding a light rail train in Charlotte, North Carolina, on August 22, 2025. The attacker was 34-year-old Decarlos Brown Jr., a US citizen born in Charlotte with a history of mental health issues who had previously served time in North Carolina prisons, meaning he was not an immigrant, contrary to Trump's assertion.
5. Ending eight wars
Trump claimed that in the first ten months of his presidency, he stopped eight wars. He is making this claim while he has failed to end Ukraine war and despite brokering a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, the Israeli regime is violating the truce on a daily basis.
6. Obliterating Iran's nuclear program
Trump has once again asserted that a joint US military strike last June destroyed what de called Iran's "nuclear weapons program" in an operation he dubbed "Midnight Hammer."
However, experts have cast doubt on the claim. While coordinated American-Israeli attacks reportedly inflicted significant damage on Iranian nuclear facilities, analysts argue this falls far short of "obliterating" the program. American intelligence sources have previously indicated that Iran's nuclear infrastructure, while degraded, remains intact.
Critics also point out the contradiction in Trump's rhetoric: if the program was truly destroyed, they question why he is now advocating for a new round of strikes against the very same targets.
7. Foreign investment
Trump boasts that during his first year in the White House, he secured over $18 trillion in investment commitments for the US from around the globe.
But the official White House website tells a different story. According to records from his own administration, the total investment, both domestic and foreign, clocked in at less than $10 trillion, casting serious doubt on the former president's math.
8. Oil and gas output
Trump said that the US oil has increased over 600,000 barrels per day since he took over the power.
According to the Energy Information Administration, output increased by about 400,000 barrels per day starting in 2024. That is not a new trend sparked by Trump, it is the exact same increase the US saw before he took office.
Here's what Trump is not telling us: projections for 2026 show US oil production actually dropping by around 100,000 barrels per day. So his claim of a 600,000-barrel surge? The data simply does not support it.
9. Election fraud
Trump said the US needs to stop "illegal aliens and other unauthorized people" from voting in what he calls "sacred American elections.
"Elections reporter Miles Parks points out what fact-checkers have been saying for years: there's zero evidence that noncitizens are casting ballots in U.S. elections.
10. Migration of killers, convicted criminals, and the mentally ill
Trump said that millions of those migrating to the US are criminals and mentally ill people. A CNN investigation found no evidence to support Trump's claim. Extensive research shows that immigrants, both documented and undocumented, commit crimes at lower rates than native-born US citizens. Furthermore, while the number of people in US immigration detention has hit an all-time high (nearly 70,000 as of earlier this month), data shows that 74 percent of them have no criminal convictions.
11. Price of prescripted medicines
Americans who have paid the highest prices for prescription drugs of any country anywhere in the world for decades will now pay the lowest prices anywhere in the world for drugs.
But a New York Times report shows Americans are still paying several times more for prescription medications than people in other comparable countries.
12. Gasoline prices
Trump said: "Gasoline that I had at over $6 a gallon in some states — which, frankly, was a disaster — is now below $2.30 a gallon in most states, and in some places it's down to $1.99 a gallon. And when I visited the great state of Iowa just a few weeks ago, I saw gas for $1.85 a gallon."
According to a GasBuddy report, only 10 percent of the cheapest gas stations in the US are selling at $2.31 a gallon or less, and while gas prices in Iowa were at $1.85 a gallon in early January, prices have risen since then. Patrick De Haan of GasBuddy noted that "as for that $1.99 gas, only 8 gas stations out of nearly 150,000 across America are selling below $2 a gallon."
13. Stock market
Trump claimed that the stock market has broken 53 record highs since the election.
"Think about it—pensions, 401(k) plans, and retirement accounts for millions of Americans have gone up—they're all benefiting. They're all up, way up."
According to a Bloomberg report, while the US stock market has seen big gains over the past year, it is important to remember that stock ownership is highly concentrated. The wealthiest 10 percent of households hold 87 percent of all US stock market wealth. Senior economics correspondent Scott Horsley reports that half of all Americans have little to no stock market exposure.
14. Exaggerated claims about inflation
Trump further claimed that within 12 months, his administration brought core inflation down to its lowest level in more than five years, dropping to 1.7 percent in the final quarter of 2025."
An NPR report indicates that the cost of living in the US is still rising. A few items have become cheaper over the past year, such as gasoline and eggs. But housing, groceries, electricity, and natural gas have all gotten more expensive. Trump's tariffs have also driven up the price of certain imported goods.
