&Quot;Taxpayer Dollars&Quot;

Did DOGE halt a $2.6 million annual payment to former President Obama for "Obamacare" royalties? No, that's not true: The story originated in a meme from a satirical Facebook page. The owner of the page is known for tricking conservatives into liking and sharing made-up content. The meme appeared in a Facebook post (archived here) published on February 25, 2025.…

Did TV monitors inside the HUD (Department of Housing and Urban Development) headquarters show a loop of an AI-generated video of President Trump licking the feet of Elon Musk for several minutes on February 24, 2025? Yes, that's true: HUD Secretary Scott Turner acknowledged the incident and vowed to fire whoever was responsible for the hack. A major clue the…

Did DOGE "uncover" a previously unknown $2 billion federal grant to Power Forward Communities, a nonprofit organization linked to Democratic activist Stacey Abrams? No, that's not true: The Environmental Protection Agency publicly announced the grant from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund on April 4, 2024. It was not covered up and Abrams' connection to the group is overstated, she was…

Did President Donald Trump post to Truth Social that New Zealand and Congo were both "Third World Countries" and that the Democrats were launching a "meme" coin? No, that's not true: Images of such a post circulating on social media appear to have been falsified, indicated by the inconsistent use of upper and lower case "K" in the engagement counts.…

Did USAID place a real ad reading "Help Eliminate Elon" on a street in Washington, D.C., in February 2025? No, that's not true: As Capital Bikeshare, the owner of the bike stand ad box, stopped selling ads in April 2024 it would be an unauthorized posting, according to the person who was last in charge of selling the ads. Artist…

Did Tel Aviv University get $581 million from American taxpayers? No, that's not true: The school received less than $6 million in U.S. government funds, an official website shows. A nonprofit data expert told Lead Stories that most of the money reported in the school's tax return under "Contributions and grants" is "likely Israeli government funding." The claim appeared in…

Did USAID spend over $8 million on Politico, LLC, as social media posts imply? No, that's not true: The government spending database only shows $44,000 in two transactions. Both were subscriptions, not grants. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on X where it was published on February 5, 2025. It opened: So let me get this straight... USAID…

Did the U.S. government spend or plan to spend $50 million exclusively on condoms in Gaza? No, that's not true: There's no evidence that the U.S. government intended to spend that much money just on condoms for the small territory. U.S. aid to Gaza is focused on humanitarian needs like food, medical supplies and other essential help. The U.S. State…

Did Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's wife, Olena Zelenska, buy a Bugatti sports car for almost 4.5 million euros in June 2024? No, that's not true: The invoice supposedly proving the claim contained multiple errors. Both Bugatti and Bugatti's Paris-based dealership denied the authenticity of the document shared online and a video supposedly showing a Bugatti employee confirming the claim appears…

Did President Joe Biden give $16 billion of American money away to Iran in 2023? No, that's not true: First, it's important to say that the amount in question is $6 billion, not $16 billion. Secondly, the money wasn't U.S. taxpayer dollars to begin with; the funds were Iranian financial assets that had been frozen in South Korea due to…