Trump

Does a viral video document that TSA employees stopped screening passengers at U.S. airports as a result of the October 2025 government shutdown? No, that's not true: The clip was generated by AI, and the video's early versions included a watermark disclosing that fact. Additionally, the agency's seal on the uniform of the supposed TSA agent -- which is one…

Did Walmart announce it would shut down stores for in-person shopping on November 1, 2025, due to the expected lapse in federal funding of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program? No, that's not true: Lead Stories found no credible sources saying that. As of this writing, the company's website continued to advertise multiple in-person November deals. The claim appeared in a…

Do flight logs show that the man who anonymously donated $130 million to pay American soldiers during the October 2025 U.S. government shutdown flew on Jeffrey Epstein's Lolita Express plane? No, that's not true: The flight log page cited in social media posts making the claim does show that Paul Mellon, heir to the Mellon banking fortune, flew with Epstein…

Did U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement "rebrand" itself to be publicly known as Homeland Security Investigators, not ICE? No, that's not true: ICE still exists under the same old name. "Homeland Security Investigators" discussed in social media posts is not a brand-new entity -- it has operated since 2010 as one of the major divisions within ICE, but the correct…

Did the Donald Trump White House publish a press release offering pieces of the demolished East Wing for $500 per item at a website whose name suggested an affiliation with the U.S. president? No, that's not true: An image of the purported press release circulating on social media was full of nonsensical typos and redirected to a nonexistent website. As…

Was a plaque quoting President Franklin D. Roosevelt about "a house owned by all the American people" torn down by the demolition of the East Wing of the White House? No, that's not true: The FDR quote is engraved into a stone wall at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial. Tourists can find it in the first section of the "Second…

Did White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt describe the ballroom construction at the White House as President Trump's "main priority"? Yes, she did, but social media posts took the quote out of context. When Leavitt said "the ballroom is really the President's main priority", she was not addressing the overall state of affairs in the country or abroad. Leavitt was…

Does a viral video really show a mother of six's rant about her "food stamps" and housing benefits being cut from $4,300 per month to $19 per month? No, that's not true: The woman appearing in the video has previously said she posts the rants as satire and they are not real. That dollar amount greatly exaggerates what is available…

Does a photo show Pam Bondi with Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein? No, that's not true: The image being widely shared across social platforms with the claim it shows the future Attorney General Bondi with Trump and Epstein is real, but the blonde woman is Belgian model Ingrid Seynhaeve, according to the photo agency that owns the photograph. The Getty…

Did Donald Trump (or another famous person) dismiss the achievements of Dick Van Dyke (or some other celebrity) by saying, "He's just a dancer." (or some other talent)? No, that's not true: This story about a broadcast studio turning into a "televised earthquake" is nothing but a formulaic structure to pair the names and pictures of some famous people for…