United States

Did Donald Trump announce he is imposing a 300% penalty on landlords who raise rents excessively? No, that's not true: No White House news releases or videos corroborate that. The rumor arises from a fake news-style video providing no authentic quotes, links, interviews or other evidence Trump made such a proposal. The claim appeared on a June 3, 2025 TikTok…

Did Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr announce they are bringing The Beatles back to the U.S. with a reunion tour? No, that's not true: No announcement can be found anywhere in the news media, on the artists' websites, or with online ticketing websites. The post making the claim used an AI-generated image, which would not be expected in an official…

Did the man suspected of murdering a South African-born woman in Virginia come to the United States as a refugee in the spring of 2025? No, that's not true: The suspect is an American citizen, according to the victim's brother. He told Lead Stories that when married, the couple settled in the U.S. before Donald Trump's second presidency. The claim…

Did President Trump delete his June 4, 2025, Truth Social post discussing his phone call Russian President Vladimir Putin? No, that's not true: The post was still visible on Trump's timeline as of 12 p.m. ET on June 5, 2025. Lead Stories confirmed this 22 hours after it was initially posted and 17 hours after the false claim was posted…

Did the judge in the sex trafficking trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs issue an arrest warrant for Ellen DeGeneres in May 2025? No, that's not true: The claim appeared in a YouTube video whose description labeled it "entirely fictional and crafted solely for entertainment." Despite widespread and intensive news coverage, no outlet covering the trial has mentioned any involvement by…

Did the International Federation of Football (FIFA) move the World Cup 2026 from the United States because of President Trump's strict immigration policies? No, this is not true: As of June 4, 2025, FIFA and its president, Gianni Infantino, have not announced any changes to the hosting arrangement for the tournament, which will be held for the first time in…

Did the Rockport County Sheriff say he would ask a grand jury to indict former FBI director James Comey on state terroristic threats charges? No, that's not true: A meme making that claim originated on a Facebook page with a satire disclaimer. The owner of the page is known for tricking conservatives into liking and sharing made-up content. Also, there…

Was the latest book by Kamala Harris yanked from the shelves after it was found to be 30% plagiarized? No, that's not true: The former vice president has authored three books as of June 2025, including the last two published in 2019. Each of those books is still available for purchase online and in bookstores. Her first book, which was…

Did a federal judge order Michelle Obama to hand over "her financials from her time as First Lady" to DOGE? No, that's not true: That story originated on a satirical Facebook page. The owner of the page is known for tricking conservatives into liking and sharing made-up content. The image appeared in a post (archived here) with a meme published…

Did U.S. President Donald Trump complain on social media that Ukraine's attacks on Russia interfere with his sleep? No, that's not true: A search across his account on Truth Social did not produce a match to the image a viral post purported to have taken from his account. Searches across an archived version of his account and news reports did…

Did Chick-Fil-A drop a new advertisement for Pride Month 2025 that includes the slogan "Our pickles don't touch. Just like God intended."? No, that's not true: The ad is a fake and has circulated online for several years. There is no trace of it in the news or on the company's website. Lead Stories reached out for comment but has…

Did a video shared in June 2025 show a man threatening to kill ICE agents and telling them "I'll put a bullet in y'all fucking head"? No, that's not true: The off-screen voice in fact said the ICE agents should shoot themselves, and called their actions a "God damn shame." The off-screen voice did say that U.S. citizens would "start…

Does a video authentically show WNBA star Caitlin Clark describing an encounter with WNBA star Angel Reese telling Clark "You're only here because you're white."? No, that's not true: A voice cloning detection tool concluded that the narration of the video was AI-generated. A Google search of the sentence only found copies of the same fake video and no evidence…

Did President Trump say that Ukraine must compensate Russia for the aircraft it destroyed in a June 1, 2025, drone attack on Russian air bases? No, that's not true: There is no record of President Trump posting these words on his social media accounts or saying them publicly. A Google search for the quote finds it only on social media…

Did U.S. President Donald Trump issue an Oval Office address wishing Americans a "not so happy Pride Month"? No, that's not true: The viral clip was digitally altered. In the original video, Trump talked about Easter. The altered video includes a black screen at the end that declares it a deep fake. The claim appeared in a post (archived here)…

Did Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff turn down a $270-million contract offer from Elon Musk in May 2025? No, that's not true: Even though posts promoting the rumor claimed that Goff rebuffed Musk at a high-profile, public charity event, we found no record of any such incident. Nor was there any evidence that Goff said to Musk "Keep it and…

Did Secretary of State Marco Rubio officially declare that individuals who criticize Israel will be denied entry visas to the United States? No, that's not true: In a video posted along with the claim, Secretary Rubio does say the U.S. has implemented a new visa policy to "prevent foreign nationals from coming to the United States to foment hatred against…

Did President Trump reshare a Truth Social post that claims Joe Biden was executed in 2020 and replaced with "clones doubles & robotic engineered souless mindless entities"? Yes, he did: Trump's Truth Social timeline showed the post was shared by the president at 7:06 p.m. on Saturday, May 31, 2025. The post was still active at the time of writing…

Did President Trump post on Truth Social demanding people stop "calling me names" like "TACO" and threatening to "throw ketchup at the wall" otherwise? No, that's not true: A viral image of such a post listing several derogatory nicknames for Trump has been fabricated. There is no trace of such a post on Trump's actual Truth Social account and none…

Did actor Morgan Freeman "mercilessly" lecture White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on the topics of racism and inequality on live TV? No, that's not true: The story about the fictional TV-studio encounter was published by an anonymously registered website that listed no authors or publishers. Despite claims the encounter caused "a storm on social media" no actual media reported…