President Donald Trump is set to address the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 23, two days after key allies recognized a Palestinian state, despite U.S. and Israel opposition. The U.N. General Assembly is the global organization’s main policy-making body. Each of the 193 U.N. member states gets an equal vote as the assembly completes tasks such as approving the U.N.’s budget and appointing the secretary general. This meeting of world leaders marks the U.N.’s 80th anniversary. The milestone comes as members are at odds. PolitiFact is live fact-checking Trump’s speech, which is set to begin at 9:50 a.m. EST. Follow along here. >> In the first months of his second term, Trump has continued his longstanding criticism of the U.N. He didn’t pay member dues, ordered a review of U.N. funding and pulled the U.S. out of the World Health Organization, the Human Rights Council and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization or UNESCO. On Sept. 21, American allies including Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom joined a majority of countries in formally recognizing a Palestinian state. It’s largely symbolic and not expected to immediately change the outlook on the ground. State recognition allows for diplomatic relations such as treaties and ambassadorships. On Sept. 22, France and Saudi Arabia held a conference to rally support for a two-state solution to the Israel-Hamas war. A two-state solution is supported by 142 of 193 U.N. member states. Citing national security concerns, Trump’s State Department denied visas to the Palestinian delegation, meaning Palestinian leaders including Mahmoud Abbas will be unable to attend the meeting at the U.N. headquarters in New York City. The visa denial is part of a wider underlying dispute with the United Nations: It may violate a 1947 U.S.-U.N. agreement that became federal law. It says, in part, “The federal, state or local authorities of the United States shall not impose any impediments to transit to or from the headquarters district.” However, when the agreement became law, U.S. lawmakers also passed legislation saying the agreement couldn’t prohibit the U.S. from safeguarding its national security. The Russia-Ukraine war is another source of international concern. Despite Trump’s pledge to end the war immediately after his inauguration, the war is ongoing. The U.S. repeatedly sided with Russia in U.N. votes, including opposing a resolution condemning Moscow’s actions and supporting Ukraine’s territorial integrity. The 15-member U.N. Security Council has been deadlocked and unable to act during the Russia-Ukraine war because Russia holds a veto. The U.N. Security Council planned to hold an emergency meeting Sept. 22 to discuss Russia’s violation of Estonian airspace, which came on the heels of Russia violating Poland’s airspace earlier this month.
Hear something during Trump's speech you think we should fact-check? Reply to this email. — Madison Czopek President Donald Trump addressed the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 23, 2025, in a broad speech touching on foreign policy, immigration, climate change and more. PolitiFact fact-checked the speech on our live blog, found below. Trump overstates “massive” U.S. energy boom Trump said, “I unleashed massive energy production.” U.S. energy production has not increased dramatically on his watch. U.S. oil production was 407.4 million barrels in January, when Trump took office. By June, the latest month available, the amount was nearly identical. As for natural gas production, it fell by about 0.5% over the same period. However, the number of natural gas rigs increased during that period, from 99 to 118. The number of oil rigs in use — a common real-time metric for production — also fell between mid-January and mid-September, from 472 to 418. — Louis Jacobson Trump wrong that U.S. electricity, gasoline costs are “coming way down” Trump said, “Our (electricity) bills are coming way down. You probably see that our gasoline prices are way down.” Energy prices — a category that includes fuel oil, propane, kerosene, firewood, electricity and energy services — are down overall on Trump’s watch. But the two categories he specified, electricity and gasoline, are not. Electricity costs have spiked on Trump’s watch. They are up 4.9% since Trump took office in January, and were up by 6.2% in August compared with a year earlier. Gasoline prices are slightly higher than when Trump was inaugurated in January, and about a penny per gallon lower than a year ago. — Louis Jacobson Trump’s criticism of renewable energy ignores how it works Trump said, “We're getting rid of the falsely named renewables, by the way — they're a joke. They don't work. They're too expensive, they're not strong enough to fire up the plants that you need to make your country great. The wind doesn't blow.” Trump is glossing over the ways in which renewables contribute to the mix of U.S. energy sources. Wind energy infrastructure doesn’t produce power if the air isn’t moving, and solar doesn’t generate power if the sun’s not out. But that doesn’t mean that either source of energy is "worthless" during those periods, as Trump’s Energy Department recently said. Once produced, energy generated from wind and solar can be stored in batteries or in larger pieces of infrastructure such as reservoirs. Even without a storage component, wind or solar power can still be valuable in any energy mix, experts said. "Wind and solar can reduce the amount of electricity needed during many hours of the day," said Kenneth Gillingham, a Yale School of the Environment economist. This prevents utilities from having to switch over to more expensive fuels, such as fuel oil or diesel, he said. "Solar power often coincides with peak daytime demand when electricity prices are highest, displacing expensive fossil generation and lowering overall costs," said Christopher R. Knittel, Massachusetts Institute of Technology energy economics professor. Many states have made wind or solar important pieces of their energy strategy. In May, about one-third of the electricity generated in Texas came from renewable energy other than hydropower, a category that includes wind and solar. In California, that percentage was just over half. In Iowa, the percentage was about two-thirds. Nationally, the share is about 14%. — Louis Jacobson Whether U.S. is the world’s biggest repository of oil and gas depends on the metric Trump said, “We have the most oil of any nation anywhere, oil and gas in the world.” This depends on the metric. Using the most generous metric — an estimate that combines existing fields, recent discoveries and projections — the U.S. ranks first in the world for oil, slightly ahead of Russia. By a more conservative measure — known as proven reserves, which have a 90% likelihood of being extracted in an economically viable way — the U.S. falls short of No. 1 for both oil and natural gas. For oil, the U.S. ranks 10th. The top five countries are Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Iran and Iraq. For natural gas, the U.S. ranks fourth after Russia, Iran and Qatar. — Louis Jacobson Trump’s current poll numbers are not his highest Trump said, “I was very proud to see this morning that I have the highest poll numbers I've ever had.” It was not immediately clear what poll he was referring to, but Trump’s approval ratings across a wide range of polls are both lower than his historical highs and low compared with many other post-World War II presidents. An aggregation of polls by former FiveThirtyEight.com editor and Substack author G. Elliott Morris shows the most recent polling average for Trump is 41.9% approval and 54.2% disapproval. At the start of his second term, Trump was above water in the polling average, with an approval rating of 50.7% and a disapproval rating of 38.7%. Another polling aggregator, RealClearPolitics, showed a similar pattern, with today’s average approval at 46.1% and disapproval at 52.6%. In the Gallup poll, Trump’s approval rating fell from 47% when he was inaugurated in January to 40% in September. His personal high in the Gallup poll was 49% at one point during his first term. A Washington Post/Ipsos survey released the day of Trump’s UN speech “found a public mostly critical of his handling of crime, tariffs, immigration and other top issues,” the Post wrote, with 53% of respondents opposing Trump’s actions in office since January and 41% supporting them. — Louis Jacobson Trump distorts federal data on migrant children, saying 300,000 were lost Trump said the Biden administration lost “more than 300,000” children. “They’re lost or they’re dead,” he said. He said his administration has returned 30,000. This distorts federal data. An August 2024 report from the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general found that 32,000 unaccompanied migrant children failed to appear for immigration court dates. That includes children from October 2018 through September 2023, which spans two presidential administrations. The report said children who do not appear for court are considered at higher risk for trafficking, exploitation, or forced labor. But it did not cite data on children trafficked, missing or dead. The report did not say the children were missing. Immigration experts previously told PolitiFact that describing them that way is misleading. — Maria Ramirez Uribe Trump’s inaccurate claim that Washington, DC, was the crime capital of the U.S. "And by the way, speaking of crime, Washington, D.C., Washington, D.C., was the crime capital of America,” Trump said, referring to crime rates before he sent the National Guard into the district. This is misleading. D.C. has been dealing with a violent crime problem, like many other parts of the country, but it’s not the worst, and crime has improved over the past couple of years. Part of the White House’s argument is that the district had a higher 2024 homicide rate than New York City, Chicago and Compton, California.That’s true, experts said, but the rate is also lower than in other cities of similar size, including Memphis, Tennessee, or Kansas City, Missouri, according to NPR. The district’s homicide rate is influenced in part by the city’s limits, James Alan Fox, a Northeastern University criminology professor, told PolitiFact. The city limits are "almost completely urban" compared with other major cities such as Philadelphia and New York, which each "include suburban areas within city limits." Crime rates are calculated by dividing the number of crimes by population — so including a larger population, such as from suburban areas, can moderate crime rates "because they tend to be safer,” Fox said. In 2024, the most recent data available, the district’s homicide rate was 27.3 per 100,000 people, according to a February report from the Rochester Institute of Technology. It’s a drop from the district’s 2023 homicide rate of 39.4 per 100,000 people. The Justice Department noted this drop in a Jan. 3 press release, saying, "Violent crime for 2024 in the District of Columbia is down 35% from 2023 and is the lowest it has been in over 30 years.” — Samantha Putterman and Maria Ramirez Uribe Want a rundown of our major fact-checks? We’re still working on live fact-checks from President Donald Trump’s speech to the U.N. General Assembly. Trump exaggerates scale of tax cuts he signed Trump said, “We’ve implemented the largest tax cuts in American history.” We rated a similar claim Mostly False. Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill extends 2017 tax cuts that otherwise would have expired. When those extensions are factored in, the tax savings from Trump’s 2025 law rank third on the list of biggest tax cut laws since 1980. The bottom-line impact on Americans’ tax liabilities beginning in 2026 might not be dramatic because people are already paying the lower tax rates that the 2025 law saved from expiration. The 2025 law adds some new tax breaks, such as for income from tips and overtime and for Americans 65 and older. But by historical standards, the scale of those targeted tax cuts are modest. — Louis Jacobson Updated: 11:06 Trump says the US is using its military power to destroy Venezuelan drug trafficking networks Trump said the U.S. has started “using the supreme power of the United States military to destroy Venezuelan terrorists and trafficking networks led by (Venezuela President) Nicolas Maduro.” The U.S. military has struck at least three boats off Venezuela’s coast since Sept. 2, killing at least 17 people in what Trump officials say is an effort to thwart drug smuggling. Venezuela plays a minor role in trafficking drugs that reach the U.S., experts on drugs and Venezuela told PolitiFact. Most fentanyl in the U.S. comes from Mexico, and most cocaine comes from Colombia. The Venezuelan government allows military officers to be involved in drug trafficking. But there isn’t evidence the Venezuelan government is engaged in organized drug trafficking to the U.S., experts said. “To every terrorist thug smuggling drugs into the United States of America please be warned that we will blow you out of existence,” Trump told the U.N. gathering. — Maria Ramirez Uribe Trump said he designated multiple drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations Trump kept his campaign promise to designate drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. Secretary of State Marco Rubio designated eight groups as "foreign terrorist organizations" on Feb. 20, a month after Trump signed an executive order. Those included six cartels from Mexico; a Venezuelan prison gang called Tren de Aragua; and La Mara Salvatrucha, also known as MS-13, a gang that originated in Los Angeles and is composed primarily of Salvadoran immigrants and their descendants. The foreign terrorist organization designation carries financial and legal ramifications for the group and people in its broader network. It also makes people inadmissible to the U.S. and easily deportable. Some international relations and counterterrorism experts have questioned the tangible impact of designating drug cartels, warning that it could harm U.S. diplomatic relations with Mexico. — Maria Briceño Trump wrong that China doesn’t have a lot of wind power installed Trump said, “I give China a lot of credit, they build (windmills), but they (have) very few wind farms.” We previously rated this Pants on Fire. China has about 44% of the world’s wind farm capacity, ranking No. 1 globally and almost tripling what the U.S. has. China is also planning or building more wind farm capacity than any other country. — Louis Jacobson Trump incorrectly said 300,000 people died of drug overdoses last year Trump said, “I believe we lost 300,000 people last year to drugs, 300,000.” That’s Pants on Fire! Fentanyl deaths continue to be a national problem, but this figure far exceeds data. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s latest data shows that from May 2024 to April 2025 an estimated 43,000 people died from a synthetic opioid overdose, most of which are fentanyl. At its peak in 2022, the CDC reported nearly 74,000 overdose deaths from synthetic opioids, mainly fentanyl. — Maria Ramirez Uribe Trump wrong that London wants to switch to a national Sharia law system Trump said London wants “to go to Sharia law, but you're in a different country. You can't do that.” This is inaccurate. The claim has been fueled by right-wing groups. It is not a mainstream political goal in the city. There are ongoing debates about the role of Islamic Sharia councils in the United Kingdom, including in London, but those operate on a limited basis in specific community contexts. They do not represent a desire to replace UK law with Sharia law. Sharia councils in the UK predominantly deal with Islamic divorces, arbitration and mediation. Their rulings have no legal standing. —Samantha Putterman Caution needed on Trump’s claim of $17 trillion investment Trump touted large investments he said are being made in the United States under his leadership. “In just eight months since I took office, we have secured commitments and money already paid for $17 trillion,” he said. That there is no guarantee that the full amounts promised will come to fruition, and some of this investment would have occurred regardless of who was president. “Historically, large-scale investment announcements often overpromise and underdeliver,” University of Louisville professor Roman V. Yampolskiy told PolitiFact in May. “There is a performative element to them, especially in politically charged contexts. They function as political theatre as much as economic commitment.” In a Sept. 18 X post, economic commentator Peter Schiff said that if the $17 trillion figure is accurate, “growth would explode by roughly 50%,” which he deemed unrealistic. — Louis Jacobson Trump’s take on lower prices is exaggerated Trump said, “Under my leadership, energy costs are down, gasoline prices are down, grocery prices are down, mortgage rates are down, and inflation has been defeated.” These claims are a mixture of accurate and inaccurate. Energy prices are down overall, but one key component of energy — electricity bills — are up 6.2% compared to one year ago. Gasoline prices are slightly higher than when Trump was inaugurated in January, and about a penny per gallon lower than a year ago. Grocery prices overall are up 2.7% compared to a year ago. He’s correct that mortgage rates are down, from 6.96% when Trump was sworn in to 6.26% today. Finally, inflation remains at 2.9%, with inflation rates rising for four consecutive months. — Louis Jacobson Trump is wrong that Russia and Ukraine are losing “5,000 to 7,000” soldiers per week. The best estimates show that Trump overstated how many people are dying each week amid the Russia-Ukraine war. Since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the Center for Strategic and International Studies estimated there have been nearly 250,000 Russian military deaths, said Mark Cancian, a senior defense and security adviser at the center. One thousand civilians have also been killed, he said. (CSIS estimates largely align with British and U.S. intelligence estimates, CNN reported.) On the Ukrainian side, there have been 80,000 military deaths. The U.N. Human Right Monitoring Mission in Ukraine reported about 14,100 civilian deaths. In total, that means there’ve been about 345,100 deaths since the start of the conflict. The war began with Russia’s Feb. 24, 2022, invasion. That amounts to roughly 264 deaths per day or 1,848 deaths per week. That’s thousands short of Trump’s figures. Trump’s closer if you consider casualties broadly, counting deaths and injuries, Cancian said. There have been a total of about 1.53 million casualties or about 1,172 casualties per day. That’s around 8,204 casualties per week. The White House did not respond to our request for comment. —Madison Czopek Trump’s questionable assessment of attack on Iran nuclear facilities Trump described Operation Midnight Hammer, in which the U.S. bombed three Iran nuclear facilities, as “totally obliterating everything.” About three months after the U.S. attack on Fordo, a major underground Iranian nuclear site, it’s not clear how much damage U.S. bombs created. Trump said the facilities were “completely and totally obliterated” just hours after the June 22 attack. At the time, experts told PolitiFact that a few hours was far too soon for Trump to know the extent of the damage with any certainty. Officials still haven’t publicly released a definitive damage assessment. An Aug. 20 analysis by The New York Times found that subsequent assessments have found an increasing likelihood that significant damage resulted from the strike. However, the Times concluded that “with so many variables — and so many unknowns — it may be difficult to ever really be certain.” — Louis Jacobson As a real estate developer, Trump offered to update UN headquarters building in New York Trump reminded those gathered that in the early 2000s he sought the contract to rebuild the United Nations headquarters in New York. He said he could’ve completed it for less. “Many years ago, a very successful real estate developer in New York, known as Donald J. Trump, I bid on the renovation and rebuilding of this very United Nations complex. I remember so well. I said at the time that I would do it for $500 million rebuilding everything would be beautiful,” he said. In 2005, Trump told a Senate committee that the developer responsible for the U.N. building project wasn't up to the task and estimated the work would cost more than the initial $1.2 billion estimate, closer to $3 billion. He was close. The renovation project cost about $2.3 billionwhen it was completed in 2017. The work began in 2008 and faced delays and budget increases. The U.S. provided about $488 million to help pay for the renovations, according to a 2015 Government Accountability Office report. — Samantha Putterman Here’s the history on Trump’s comment that NATO countries agreed to raise defense spending from 2% to 5% of GDP At the June 2025 NATO Summit, member nations agreed to invest 5% of Gross Domestic Product annually on defense and security spending by 2035, including 3.5% for military expenses and 1.5% for infrastructure. NATO, formally the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, was created in 1949 to provide collective security against the Soviet Union. The alliance has 32 members, including the United States. The previous benchmark was 2%, following Russia’s 2014 invasion of Crimea. All the allies with a defense budget are on track to meet or exceed the 2% benchmarkthis year. The U.S. spends over 3%, and Trump’s position is that the U.S. should not have to meet the 5% goal. “I don't think we should, but I think they should,” Trump said in June before the summit. “We've been supporting NATO so long.” The 3.5% is aspirational and many countries will take a long time to reach it except for those with small economies or those that border Ukraine/Russia, Stephen M. Saideman, a professor at Carleton University's Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, told PolitiFact. Countries have a lot of leeway as to what they can count toward the 1.5%. Trump’s position that allies should spend more has been consistentsince the 1980s, and defense experts said Trump deserves credit for the allies agreeing to the increase. — Amy Sherman Trump repeats false statement that immigrants came in from prisons, mental institutions Trump said “for the last four months, and that's four months in a row, the number of illegal aliens admitted and entering our country has been zero.” Last year, he said, there were “millions and millions of people pouring in from all over the world, from prisons, from mental institutions, drug dealers all over the world.” The number of people illegally entering the U.S. has dropped significantly under Trump. However, border crossings have not reached zero. In August, the most recent available data, border patrol agents encountered about 8,000 people illegally trying to cross the U.S. border. That’s down from about 60,000 in August 2024. Encounters data under the Trump administration doesn’t show how many people were detained, quickly deported or released into the U.S. to await court cases. More detailed immigration data hasn’t been updated since Jan. 16, before Trump entered office. Trump frequently says people entered the U.S. from prisons and mental institutions. That claim is Pants on Fire! There is no evidence that countries are emptying their prisons, or that mental institutions are sending people to illegally migrate to the U.S. |
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