The Washington Post fact-checked Trump's USA Today column. They struggled to find a single honest sentence.


President Trump's USA Today op-ed lacerating Democrats' push for Medicare-for-all on Wednesday used his signature hyperbolic flair, including claims that health care as we know it would be "forced to die" and that Democrats want to recreate Venezuela.
But The Washington Post's fact checker found that the op-ed was even worse than merely hyperbolic. "Almost every sentence contained a misleading statement or a falsehood," the Post concluded. The single-payer health-care plan as outlined by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) would expand services for seniors, not "take away benefits that seniors have paid for their entire lives," as Trump posited.
Fact checker Glenn Kessler also pointed out that health insurance premiums have not, in fact, gone down on average, and Trump did not keep his promise to bolster protections for pre-existing conditions. Where Trump blames Democrats, the Post blames the efficacy of health-care providers; where Trump claims seniors will be disproportionately harmed, the Post describes the opposite. When Trump, or his ghostwriter, inexplicably ropes in the calls to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Kessler reminds him that it's far from a widely held view.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Trump's warning that the "Democratic plan would inevitably lead to the massive rationing of health care" is nothing more than a "Chicken Little" style "scare scenario," Kessler determines. Read the point-by-point dismantling of Trump's rhetoric at The Washington Post.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Summer Meza has worked at The Week since 2018, serving as a staff writer, a news writer and currently the deputy editor. As a proud news generalist, she edits everything from political punditry and science news to personal finance advice and film reviews. Summer has previously written for Newsweek and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, covering national politics, transportation and the cannabis industry.
-
The genetic secrets of South Korea's female free-divers
Under The Radar Unique physiology of 'real-life mermaid' haenyeo women could help treat chronic diseases
-
Democrats: How to rebuild a damaged brand
Feature Trump's approval rating is sinking, but so is the Democratic brand
-
Unraveling autism
Feature RFK Jr. has vowed to find the root cause of the 'autism epidemic' in months. Scientists have doubts.
-
Qatar luxury jet gift clouds Trump trip to Mideast
speed read Qatar is said to be presenting Trump with a $400 million plane, which would be among the biggest foreign gifts ever received by the US government
-
Trump taps Fox News' Pirro for DC attorney post
speed read The president has named Fox News host Jeanine Pirro to be the top federal prosecutor for Washington, replacing acting US Attorney Ed Martin
-
Trump, UK's Starmer outline first post-tariff deal
speed read President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Kier Starmer struck a 'historic' agreement to eliminate some of the former's imposed tariffs
-
Fed leaves rates unchanged as Powell warns on tariffs
speed read The Federal Reserve says the risks of higher inflation and unemployment are increasing under Trump's tariffs
-
Denmark to grill US envoy on Greenland spying report
speed read The Trump administration ramped up spying on Greenland, says reporting by The Wall Street Journal
-
Supreme Court allows transgender troop ban
speed read The US Supreme Court will let the Trump administration begin executing its ban on transgender military service members
-
Hollywood confounded by Trump's film tariff idea
speed read President Trump proposed a '100% tariff' on movies 'produced in foreign lands'
-
Trump offers migrants $1,000 to 'self-deport'
speed read The Department of Homeland Security says undocumented immigrants can leave the US in a more 'dignified way'