Trump averaged 15 lies a day in 2018, triple his 2017 average, The Washington Post estimates


President Trump had a banner year for falsehoods, untruths, misleading claims, and other forms of lies. According to the latest updated tally from The Washington Post's Fact Checker team, Trump told more than 5,600 untruths in 2018, nearly triple the 1,989 lies he told during his first year in office. That amounts to an average of 15 false statements a day, though that average includes the zero lies Trump told publicly on Jan. 1 and the 139 he told on Nov. 5, during the apex of his pre-election mendacity.
Trump spent nearly the first half of the year and most of December at his 2017 average of 200 to 250 lies a month, but that increased to 500 falsehoods in June, July, and August, then 600 in September, more than 1,200 in October, and nearly 900 in November, the Post found. More than 25 percent of Trump's lies were told at rallies, another quarter at press events, and 17 percent were disseminated via Twitter. And, as the Post demonstrates in the video below, many of Trump's 5,600+ falsehoods this year were repeat events:
"Even as Trump's fact-free statements proliferate, there is growing evidence that his approach is failing," the Post says, pointing to polls showing that Americans increasingly view Trump as unusually dishonest. "When before have we seen a president so indifferent to the distinction between truth and falsehood, or so eager to blur that distinction?" presidential historian Michael Beschloss pondered earlier this year. The Constitution foresaw presidents more in the mold of George Washington, he said, adding that not telling lies "is a bedrock expectation of a president by Americans." You can read more about Trump's record at The Washington Post.
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.
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
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Today's political cartoons - March 28, 2025
Cartoons Friday's cartoons - national debt, debt of gratitude, and more
By The Week US Published
-
China's football crisis: what's happened to Xi's XI?
In The Spotlight String of defeats and finishing bottom of World Cup qualifying group comes a decade after Xi Jinping launched a football crusade
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
'Like a sound from hell': Serbia and sonic weapons
The Explainer Half a million people sign petition alleging Serbian police used an illegal 'sound cannon' to disrupt anti-government protests
By Abby Wilson Published
-
Supreme Court upholds 'ghost gun' restrictions
Speed Read Ghost guns can be regulated like other firearms
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump sets 25% tariffs on auto imports
Speed Read The White House says the move will increase domestic manufacturing. But the steep import taxes could also harm the US auto industry.
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump allies urge White House to admit chat blunder
Speed Read Even pro-Trump figures are criticizing The White House's handling of the Signal scandal
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Waltz takes blame for texts amid calls for Hegseth ouster
Speed Read Democrats are calling for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and national security adviser Michael Waltz to step down
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Judge: Nazis treated better than Trump deportees
speed read U.S. District Judge James Boasberg reaffirmed his order barring President Donald Trump from deporting alleged Venezuelan gang members
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
US officials share war plans with journalist in group chat
Speed Read Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg was accidentally added to a Signal conversation about striking Yemen
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Canada's Mark Carney calls snap election
speed read Voters will go to the polls on April 28 to pick a new government
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Musk set to earn billions from Trump administration
Speed Read Musk's company SpaceX will receive billions in federal government contracts in the coming years
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published