Did Donald Trump announce in May of 2025 the government would pay $15,000 cash to anyone who buys an American-made car? No, that's not true: The claim was posted without links or descriptions of where and when Trump said it that could be used to corroborate the claim. No evidence of such a policy was found on the White House page that provides copies of presidential announcements, speeches and policy documents. No evidence of such a statement, which would be a major news story, was found in the GoogleNews index of thousands of news pages.
The claim appeared in a video May 7, 2025 X post (archived here) by the @LynneBP_294 account under the title "🔥🔥 Trump: Buy an American made car and get $15K cash from the government. This is a bold move, indeed!". The voice-over opened:
Breaking News Trump just announced a jaw-dropping new policy. Buy an American made car and get $15,000 cash from the government.
This is what the post on X looked like at the time this fact check was written:
(Source: X.com screenshot by Lead Stories.)
The rest of the voice-over continued, providing no time or place information that would allow verification, as follows:
Data shows U.S. auto sales have dropped three years in a row. Factories are closing. Trump says it's time to fight back with real money on the line. In his speech, Trump sounded like a gambler betting it all: 'Wanna save manufacturing? It starts with the car you drive home.' And he didn't hold back: 'If saving America means getting attacked, I'll take the heat for life.'
The visuals of the post included a generic globe-lights-chrome news intro template available on YouTube with no links or logos identifying a specific news organization making such a report, nor any links or other elements that would permit independent verification of the claims. A New York Post headline appears at 00:17 into the video, but that describes a possible deduction of car loan interest, not a cash rebate.
The bio for the account posting the item, @LynneBP_294, with no full name or location. It features a heroic photo of Trump and an eagle riding a motorcycle:
(Source: X.com screenshot taken by Lead Stories.)
There was, on May 7, 2025, no announcement of cash car rebates posted to the White House Press Office index of speeches, announcements and policy documents. Searches using keywords "buy AND car AND American" (archived here) returned no car rebate program announcement:
(Source: WhiteHouse.gov screenshot taken by Lead Stories.)
Searching the GoogleNews.com index of thousands of news sites, using search terms "Trump AND American AND car AND $15,000" Lead Stories found no reporting on a Trump announcement of a cash rebate program by any evidence-based news organizations:
(Source: Googlenews.com screenshot by Lead Stories.)
Readers can find more Lead Stories fact checks about Trump declarations here.
