'False Information and Distortion'... 13 Lies by Trump Since Inauguration [One Month of Trump's Second Term]

CNN: "Trump’s Official Statements Filled with Exaggerations and Fabrications"
Deception About Who Pays Tariffs Pointed Out
Remarks Disrupting International Order Also Noted

US broadcaster CNN claimed that President Donald Trump engaged in misinformation and distortion throughout the first month of his presidency. It pointed out that he confused the international community and the public by making speculative remarks without concrete evidence or fact-checking.

Yonhap News

On the 20th (local time), CNN published an article titled "Trump’s 13 biggest lies of his first month back in office," introducing his statements after inauguration and criticizing him for "filling his official statements in speeches, interviews, exchanges with reporters, and social media posts not only with exaggerations but also with completely fabricated content."

The list of Trump’s lies included the "constant deception about who pays tariffs." When President Trump announced tariffs on Chinese imports, he promoted how much money the US Treasury earned from China through these tariff measures. However, the party paying the tariffs is not foreign countries but US importers. CNN pointed out that multiple studies, including those by bipartisan federal trade commissions, showed that Americans bore almost all the costs of tariffs on Chinese products during his first term, but Trump did not acknowledge this.

Trump’s list of lies also included statements related to condom support for Gaza. White House spokesperson Caroline Levitt explained at a regular briefing on the 29th of last month, "We are preventing taxpayers’ money from being spent in absurd places." The next day, President Trump elaborated on this, stating that the US blocked a plan to spend $50 million to provide condoms to the Gaza Strip. He also added that Hamas had been using condoms to manufacture bombs. Foreign media fact-checked this, revealing it to be false. CNN reported at the time, "Reviewing the government’s 2023 accounting data, USAID spent $7 million (about 1.01 billion KRW) on condom purchases, which was solely for AIDS prevention in Africa, and none was sent to the Middle East."

He also made statements that confused the international community without hesitation. When Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed dissatisfaction about being excluded from negotiations to end the Russia-Ukraine war, President Trump said, "You should never have started. You could have made a deal," shifting the responsibility for the Russia-Ukraine war onto Ukraine, the victim country. CNN pointed out that it is an obvious fact that the Ukraine war began when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

President Trump’s bombastic remarks, disregarding other countries, continued. He said, "Many people in Canada would love to become the 51st state (of the US)." This statement, which did not consider Canadian public opinion, led to boycotts of American products in Canada and a mood of rejecting tourism to the US.

His remarks about China operating the Panama Canal were made impulsively. In his inauguration speech, President Trump claimed, "Above all, China is operating the Panama Canal. We will take it back." However, the Panama Canal is operated by the Panamanian government, not China. CNN noted that it would have been better to raise concerns about China’s influence over the Panama Canal.

Other lies he told during the 30 days included claims that there was no assault during the Capitol riot, spreading false information about California’s water policy, statements about the 2020 election results being fraudulent, claims that he won the presidential election due to youth votes, and gross exaggerations regarding the increase in autism.