FACT FOCUS: A look at false and misleading claims Trump made at inaugural events

[January 21, 2025] 

In his first address after being sworn in on Monday, President Donald Trump repeated several false and misleading statements that he made during his campaign. They included claims about immigration, the economy, electric vehicles and the Panama Canal. In remarks later at the Capitol's Emancipation Hall, he issued a number of other false claims, including one that distorts pardons made by President Joe Biden as he left office. Here’s a look at the facts.

Biden did not pardon 33 murderers

CLAIM: Trump, at Emancipation Hall, said Biden pardoned “what is it, 33 murderers, absolute murderers, the worst murderers. You know, when you get the death sentence in the United States, you have to be bad.”

THE FACTS: Biden announced on Dec. 23 that he was commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 people on federal death row, converting their punishments to life imprisonment. A commutation does not exonerate the person.

In making the announcement, Biden said: “These commutations are consistent with the moratorium my Administration has imposed on federal executions, in cases other than terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder.”

The move spared the lives of people convicted in killings, including the slayings of police and military officers, people on federal land and those involved in deadly bank robberies or drug deals, as well as the killings of guards or prisoners in federal facilities.

The three federal inmates that now face execution are Dylann Roof, who carried out the 2015 racist slayings of nine Black members of Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina; 2013 Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev; and Robert Bowers, who fatally shot 11 congregants at Pittsburgh’s Tree of life Synagogue in 2018, the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S history.

Trump resurfaces false claim about the 2020 election

CLAIM: “2020, by the way, that election was totally rigged.” — remarks at Emancipation Hall.

THE FACTS: The election was not rigged. Authorities who have reviewed the election — including Trump’s own attorney general — have concluded the election was fair.

Biden won the Electoral College with 306 votes to Trump’s 232, and the popular vote by more than 7 million ballots. Recounts in key states affirmed Biden’s victory, and lawsuits challenging the results were unsuccessful.

Nancy Pelosi did not reject National Guard troops on Jan. 6

CLAIM: Calling the Select Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6th Attack on the United States Capitol the “Unselect Committee of political thugs,” Trump alleged that then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi “turned down the offer of 10,000 soldiers” on Jan. 6, 2021 and that she was “in charge of security at the Capitol.” — remarks at Emancipation Hall.

THE FACTS: Trump has frequently claimed Pelosi rejected his offer to send National Guard troops to the Capitol on Jan. 6. While he was involved in discussions in the days prior to Jan. 6 about whether the National Guard would be called ahead of the joint session, he issued no such order or formal request before or during the rioting, and the guard’s arrival was delayed for hours as Pentagon officials deliberated over how to proceed.

In a 2022 interview with the Democratic-led House committee that investigated the attack, Christopher Miller, the acting defense secretary at that time, confirmed that there was no order from the president.

Pelosi did not direct the National Guard. However, as the Capitol came under attack, she and then-Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell called for military assistance, including from the National Guard.

The Capitol Police Board makes the decision on whether to call National Guard troops to the Capitol. It is made up of the House Sergeant at Arms, the Senate Sergeant at Arms and the Architect of the Capitol. The board decided not to call the guard ahead of the insurrection but did eventually request assistance after the rioting had already begun, and the troops arrived several hours later.

The House Sergeant at Arms reported to Pelosi and the Senate Sergeant at Arms reported to McConnell. There is no evidence that either Pelosi or McConnell directed the security officials not to call the guard beforehand. Drew Hammill, a then-spokesperson for Pelosi, said after the insurrection that Pelosi was never informed of such a request.

Trump repeats unfounded claim about immigrants

CLAIM: Trump, a Republican, said in his inaugural address that the U.S. government "fails to protect our magnificent, law-abiding American citizens but provides sanctuary and protection for dangerous criminals, many from prisons and mental institutions that have illegally entered our country from all over the world.”

THE FACTS: There is no evidence other countries are sending their criminals or the mentally ill across the border.

Trump frequently brought up this claim during his most recent campaign.

Inflation did not reach record highs under Biden

CLAIM: “I will direct all members of my Cabinet to marshal the vast powers at their disposal to defeat what was record inflation and rapidly bring down costs and prices.” — inaugural address.

THE FACTS: Inflation peaked at 9.1% in June 2022 after rising steadily in the first 17 months of Democrat Joe Biden’s presidency from a low of 0.1% in May 2020. The most recent data shows that as of December it had fallen to 2.9%.

President Donald Trump speaks from Emancipation Hall as House Speaker Mike Johnson, from left, his wife Kelly Johnson, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., and his wife Jennifer Scalise, listen after the 60th Presidential Inauguration, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. (Jasper Colt/Pool Photo via AP)

Other historical periods have seen higher inflation, such as a more than 14% rate in 1980, according to the Federal Reserve.

The average price of basic consumer goods has seen major spikes in recent years. For example, a dozen large eggs went from a low of $1.33 in August 2020 to $4.82 in January 2023. They decreased in price to $2.07 in September 2023 but are currently on the rise again, at $4.15 as of December, partly attributable to a lingering outbreak of bird flu coinciding with high demand during the holiday baking season.

A gallon of whole milk rose to a high of $4.22 in November 2022, up from $2.25 at the start of Biden’s term. As of December, it was at $4.10.

Gasoline fell as low as $1.77 a gallon under Trump. But that price dip happened during coronavirus pandemic lockdowns when few people were driving. The low prices were due to a global health crisis, not Trump’s policies.

Under Biden, gasoline rose to a high of $5.06 in June 2022. It has since been on a downward trend, at $3.15 as of December.

Promise of an External Revenue Service to collect tariffs

CLAIM: Promising to establish an External Revenue Service to collect “all tariffs, duties, and revenues,” Trump said in his inaugural address, “It will be massive amounts of money pouring into our Treasury, coming from foreign sources.”

THE FACTS: Nearly all economists point out that American consumers will pay at least part, if not most, of the cost of the tariffs. Some exporters overseas may accept lower profits to offset some of the cost of the duties, and the dollar will likely rise in value compared with the currencies of the countries facing tariffs, which could also offset some of the impact.

But the tariffs won’t have the desired impact of spurring more production in the U.S. unless they make foreign-made products more expensive for U.S. consumers.

In addition, many of Trump’s supporters, and even some of his appointees, argue that he intends to use tariffs primarily as a bargaining tool to extract concessions from other countries. Yet if an External Revenue Service is established, it certainly suggests Trump is expecting to impose and collect many duties.

Calls for revocation of EV mandate that doesn't exist

CLAIM: “We will revoke the electric vehicle mandate, saving the auto industry and keeping my sacred pledge to our great American autoworkers.” — inaugural address.

THE FACTS: It's misleading to claim that such a mandate exists. In April 2023, the Environmental Protection Agency announced strict limits on greenhouse gas emissions from passenger vehicles. The agency says these limits could be met if 67% of new-vehicle sales are electric by 2032.

And yet, the new rule would not require automakers to boost electric vehicle sales directly. It sets emissions limits and allows automakers to choose how to meet them.

In 2019, Kamala Harris co-sponsored a bill as a U.S. senator called the Zero-Emission Vehicles Act that would have required 100% of new passenger vehicles sold to be zero-emission by 2040. The bill, which stalled in committee, did not ban ownership of vehicles that produce emissions.

China does not operate the Panama Canal

CLAIM: Discussing his desire for the U.S. to take back the Panama Canal: “American ships are being severely overcharged and not treated fairly in any way, shape or form, and that includes the United States Navy. And, above all, China is operating the Panama Canal." — inaugural address.

THE FACTS: Officials in Panama have denied Trump’s claims that China is operating the canal and that the U.S. is being overcharged. Ricaurte Vásquez, administrator of the canal, said in an interview with The Associated Press that “there’s no discrimination in the fees.”

“The price rules are uniform for absolutely all those who transit the canal and clearly defined,” he said.

He also said China was not operating the canal. He noted Chinese companies operating in the ports on either end of the canal were part of a Hong Kong consortium that won a bidding process in 1997. He added that U.S. and Taiwanese companies are operating other ports along the canal as well.

Vásquez stressed that the canal can’t give special treatment to U.S.-flagged ships because of a neutrality treaty. He said requests for exceptions are routinely rejected, because the process is clear and there mustn’t be arbitrary variations. The only exception in the neutrality treaty is for American warships, which receive expedited passage.

Trump, complaining about rising charges for ships transiting the canal, has refused to rule out the use of military force to seize control of the canal.

The United States built the canal in the early 1900s as it looked for ways to facilitate the transit of commercial and military vessels between its coasts. Washington relinquished control of the waterway to Panama on Dec. 31, 1999, under a treaty signed in 1977 by President Jimmy Carter, a Democrat.

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Associated Press writers Melissa Golden in New York and Chris Rugaber in Washington contributed to this report.

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