Trump makes numerous false claims at Cabinet meeting – CNN – CNN News

Facts FirstFact check: Trump makes numerous false claims at Cabinet meeting
By Daniel Dale, CNN,10 minute read, Updated 4:10 PM EST, Wed February 26, 2025

Source Links: Fact check: Trump makes numerous false claims at Cabinet meeting | CNN Politics

Washington CNN  — President Donald Trump made numerous false claims in remarks at the first Cabinet meeting of his new administration. The falsehoods spanned a wide variety of topics, including aid to Ukraine, trade with the European Union, the history of the EU, inflation, mail-in voting, drug overdose deaths, and where the US stands in international education rankings.

Trump also left out critical context from two claims related to Elon Musk’s efforts to reshape the federal government. Here is a fact check of some of Trump’s statements.

Ukraine and Europe

US vs. European wartime aid to Ukraine: Trump repeated his regular false claim that the US has provided $350 billion in aid to Ukraine while Europe has collectively provided just $100 billion in aid to Ukraine. That is not close to correct.

According to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, a German think tank that closely tracks wartime aid to Ukraine, Europe – the European Union plus individual European countries – had collectively committed far more total wartime military, financial and humanitarian aid to Ukraine through December 2024 (about $259 billion) than the US committed (about $125 billion). Europe had also allocated more military, financial and humanitarian aid (about $139 billion) than the US allocated (about $120 billion).

The US did have a slim lead in one particular category, military aid allocated, providing about $67 billion compared to about $65 billion from Europe. But even that was nowhere close to the giant gulf Trump described.

It’s possible to arrive at different totals using different counting methodologies, but there is no apparent basis for Trump’s “$350 billion” figure. The US government inspector general overseeing the Ukraine response has said on its website that “as of September 30, 2024, the U.S. Ukraine response funding totals nearly $183 billion, with $130.1 billion obligated and $86.7 billion disbursed” – and that includes funding spent in the US or sent to countries other than Ukraine.

Source Links: https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/26/politics/fact-check-trump-cabinet-meeting/index.html