Trump’s CPAC speech contained 104 false or misleading claims

President Trump's speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday in National Harbor, Maryland was a whirlwind, with the president proudly going "off script."
The decision to ad-lib resulted in 104 "false or misleading claims" during the two-hour speech, raising Trump's overall tally of such claims to 9,014 since he entered the Oval Office 773 days ago, per The Washington Post's "Fact Checker" database.
The CPAC speech was prolific, but Saturday only registers as the fourth-highest day for "fishy" claims during Trump's presidency. Still, it boosted his daily average for 2019 up to 22 claims per day, up from 5.6 during his first year in office and 16.5 in 2018.
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.
Among the falsehoods the Post caught during the CPAC speech, were Trump's claims that the proposed Green New Deal resolution seeks to ban air travel and energy, and that if the U.S. relies on wind power and the wind stops blowing, there will be no electricity. He also rehashed some old false favorites — that his administration passed the largest tax cut in history, the border wall is under construction, and the U.S. economy is in the best shape it has ever been. Read the full breakdown at The Washington Post.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
Icarus programme – the ‘internet of animals’
The Explainer Researchers aim to monitor 100,000 animals worldwide with GPS trackers, using data to understand climate change and help predict disasters and pandemics
-
Experience Tanzania’s untamed wilderness from Lemala’s luxury lodges
The Week Recommends The vast protected landscapes are transformed into a verdant paradise during ‘emerald season’
-
Codeword: October 9, 2025
The Week's daily codeword puzzle
-
Bondi stonewalls on Epstein, Comey in Senate face-off
Speed Read Attorney General Pam Bondi denied charges of using the Justice Department in service of Trump’s personal vendettas
-
Court allows Trump’s Texas troops to head to Chicago
Speed Read Trump is ‘using our service members as pawns in his illegal effort to militarize our nation’s cities,’ said Gov. J.B. Pritzker
-
Judge bars Trump’s National Guard moves in Oregon
Speed Read In an emergency hearing, a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump from sending National Guard troops into Portland
-
Museum head ousted after Trump sword gift denial
Speed Read Todd Arrington, who led the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, denied the Trump administration a sword from the collection as a gift for King Charles
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartels
speed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats
-
Supreme Court rules for Fed’s Cook in Trump feud
Speed Read Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her role following Trump’s attempts to oust her
-
Judge rules Trump illegally targeted Gaza protesters
Speed Read The Trump administration’s push to arrest and deport international students for supporting Palestine is deemed illegal
-
Trump: US cities should be military ‘training grounds’
Speed Read In a hastily assembled summit, Trump said he wants the military to fight the ‘enemy within’ the US