Trump’s Top 25 Lies of 2025 Explained

Donald Trump’s Top 25 Lies of 2025: What They Reveal About Power, Media, and Truth

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Key Takeaways

In 2025, Donald Trump relied heavily on a smaller set of repeatedly debunked claims, especially about the economy, immigration, and foreign policy.
Many of the false statements were easily disprovable with basic data, video evidence, or even the administration’s own public records.
The lies often inflated Trump’s achievements, downplayed real crises, or rewrote the history of issues like Ukraine, January 6, and US elections.
Misinformation spanned critical areas: inflation, tariffs, crime, border security, foreign wars, public health, and US democracy.
Understanding these patterns helps readers evaluate political claims, spot red flags in rhetoric, and seek trustworthy, data-backed sources.

Overview: A Smaller Set of Bigger Lies
Economy, Inflation, and Tariffs
Crime, Public Safety, and Immigration
Foreign Policy and War Narratives
Justice, Elections, and Democratic Norms
Health Care, Vaccines, and Domestic Policy
How to Use This Analysis as a News Consumer

Overview: A Smaller Set of Bigger Lies

CNN’s detailed analysis of Donald Trump’s top 25 lies of 2025 shows a notable shift in his communication strategy. While the volume of false statements remained high, their variety shrank. Instead of constantly inventing new claims, Trump leaned on a core group of repeated fabrications, often regardless of context or questioning.

These claims ranged from exaggerating economic achievements (like an invented $17–18 trillion in investment) to rewriting clear historical facts, such as who started the war in Ukraine or what happened on January 6, 2021. Many of the lies were so extreme that they were contradicted by:

Government data and public statistics
On-camera video evidence
Basic math (for instance, “2,000%” price reductions)
Polling and public opinion research

For readers trying to navigate modern political news, this list functions as both a fact-check and a case study in how repeated misinformation can shape public debate.

Economy, Inflation, and Tariffs

Economic performance is often the centerpiece of any presidency, and Trump’s 2025 rhetoric was no exception. CNN highlights several high-impact economic falsehoods:

“$17–18 trillion in investment”: Trump repeatedly claimed he had secured that amount in less than a year. The White House website itself listed roughly $8.8 trillion – a figure that analysts said was already inflated.
“Every price is down” and “no inflation”: Despite measurable inflation and rising costs for groceries and other goods, Trump insisted that prices were falling. Polls indicated that most Americans did not believe these claims, likely because they conflicted with personal experience at the checkout line.
Tariffs paid by foreign countries: Trump continued to tell supporters that tariffs were paid by foreign governments. In reality, US importers pay tariffs and typically pass costs to consumers. Trump undercut his own narrative when he suggested cutting tariffs to reduce coffee prices for Americans.
Drug prices cut by “2,000%–3,000%”: These figures are mathematically impossible. A price drop of more than 100% would mean companies pay patients to take drugs. Rather than highlight documented but smaller reductions, Trump used huge, unrealistic numbers.

For policy-focused readers, this cluster of economic lies illustrates a broader technique: inflating success, denying visible problems, and simplifying complex trade mechanisms into misleading soundbites.

Crime, Public Safety, and Immigration

Another major theme in 2025 was public safety – in cities, at the border, and across states. Several of Trump’s most memorable falsehoods played directly to fear and urgency.

“Portland was burning down”: Trump frequently said Portland was “burning to the ground.” In reality, there were localized protests and clashes near an Immigration and Customs Enforcement building, not a citywide conflagration.
“No murders in Washington, DC for six months”: Used to showcase his federal law-enforcement takeover, this was demonstrably false. Police data and Washington Post tracking showed more than 50 homicides in that period.
“I invaded Los Angeles and we opened up the water”: Trump connected wildfires to water use for fish protection and claimed he “invaded” Los Angeles to fix it. What actually occurred was a stunt in California’s Central Valley that did not solve the problem he described.
Foreign governments emptying prisons and mental institutions: Trump alleged that leaders around the world were sending their worst criminals and patients to the US border. His own teams could not provide evidence that even one government did this, let alone “countries all over the world.”

From an information-literacy standpoint, these examples show how vivid imagery and anecdotal storytelling can overshadow publicly available data about crime, migration, and local conditions.

Foreign Policy and War Narratives

Trump’s foreign policy claims in 2025 often tried to recast him as a global peacemaker while blurring or reversing actual events.

Ukraine “started” Russia’s war: Trump told Ukraine it should never have “started” the conflict, flipping the reality that Russia launched the invasion. He also downplayed Ukrainian resistance in 2022.
Ending “seven or eight wars”: At the UN, Trump boasted that he had ended seven active wars, later inflating that to eight after a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. His list included situations that were never wars (such as Egypt vs. Ethiopia), conflicts that did not end, and disputes that predated his involvement.
“Condoms for Hamas”: To argue against foreign aid, Trump claimed the US was set to send tens of millions of dollars to buy condoms for Hamas in Gaza. CNN and other fact-checkers found no evidence such a program existed.
Drug boats killing 25,000 Americans each: To justify Caribbean strikes, Trump said each boat killed 25,000 Americans. US overdose data for all drugs in 2024 was roughly 82,000 deaths total, making that per-boat number implausible.
Annexation of Canada: Trump stated that “the people of Canada” liked the idea of becoming the 51st state. Polls showed the opposite, with about 9 in 10 Canadian adults opposed.

If you follow international affairs, these claims highlight a pattern of overstating personal influence, mislabeling diplomatic disputes as wars, and inventing wasteful-aid scenarios to justify policy shifts.

Justice, Elections, and Democratic Norms

Several of the most consequential lies of 2025 centered on the US justice system and the legitimacy of elections – core pillars of democratic governance.

January 6 rioters “didn’t assault” and “had no guns”: Court records and countless videos show physical assaults on officers and the presence of firearms. Trump’s clemency for rioters was accompanied by efforts to recast them as peaceful.
Critical media coverage is “illegal”: Trump repeatedly labeled negative coverage as unlawful, contradicting well-established First Amendment protections.
No pressure on the Justice Department: When asked about indictments of political opponents, Trump denied any involvement. Yet his own public posts had urged the attorney general to act “NOW” against several named adversaries.
Epstein files “made up” by political enemies: Trump claimed the Epstein documents were fabricated by Obama, Biden, and James Comey. In reality, investigations began under President George W. Bush and continued during Trump’s first term; Epstein died before Biden took office.
2020 election “rigged and stolen”: Trump continued to insist the 2020 election was fraudulent and that this had “been caught.” Courts, recounts, audits, and bipartisan officials have consistently found no evidence of outcome-changing fraud.
Mail-in voting and birthright citizenship “only in the US”: Trump argued the US was alone in using these systems. In fact, numerous democracies – including Canada, the UK, Germany, Australia, and Switzerland – use mail-in voting, and multiple countries recognize birthright citizenship.

For readers concerned about democratic resilience, these lies matter because they normalize distrust in elections, courts, and independent media, making it harder for citizens to agree on basic facts.

Health Care, Vaccines, and Domestic Policy

Health and social policy were also central to Trump’s misinformation in 2025, with potential real-world consequences for coverage and public health.

“80+ vaccines at once” for babies: Trump claimed infants receive “a vat” of 80 or more vaccines in a single shot, sometimes saying 82. This is inaccurate: vaccines are given on a schedule, not in a single massive injection, and totals are far lower.
Medicaid “left alone” in his domestic bill: Trump assured the public that Medicaid would be untouched. In reality, the legislation made major rule changes, cut federal funding by hundreds of billions of dollars, and was projected by the Congressional Budget Office to leave millions more people uninsured by 2034.
“Most popular bill ever signed”: Despite polls showing his major domestic bill was highly unpopular – arguably the least popular major bill in over 30 years – Trump branded it as “the single most popular bill ever signed.”

For families, patients, and health professionals, these examples show why it is vital to cross-check claims about coverage, out-of-pocket costs, and medical best practices with neutral, data-backed sources.

How to Use This Analysis as a News Consumer

Reading through CNN’s breakdown of Trump’s 2025 lies is not just an exercise in fact-checking one politician; it is a guide to recognizing patterns of misinformation. Here are practical ways you can apply this:

Watch for impossible numbers: Claims of thousands of percent changes or cartoonishly large figures often signal spin or fabrication.
Compare rhetoric with publicly available data: On crime, prices, or health coverage, look for statistics from agencies, nonpartisan researchers, or long-running databases.
Check whether a story relies mainly on vivid imagery: Phrases like “burning down,” “invaded,” or “everyone says” can distract from the absence of evidence.
Use multiple outlets: When a claim touches elections, war, or public health, consult at least two or three reputable sources, ideally with different editorial leanings.

If you want to deepen your media literacy, consider exploring:

Ultimately, the 2025 record shows how repetition, scale, and confidence can make falsehoods sound convincing – and why engaged readers who value evidence are essential to a healthy democracy.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/27/politics/analysis-donald-trumps-top-25-lies-of-2025