Did Donald Trump raise the monthly pension of Medal of Honor recipients to almost $70,000? No, that's not true: The Department of Veterans Affairs confirmed to Lead Stories that those figures show the annual change, not monthly. According to the federal agency, there are 63 veterans and 34 surviving spouses who receive this pension, as of December 3, 2025.
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published on Facebook on December 2, 2025. In part, it read:
President Donald Trump approved the Medal of Honor Act, directing the Department of Veterans Affairs to raise the special monthly pension provided to living Medal of Honor recipients from $16,880 to about $67,500.
This is what the post looked like on Facebook at the time of writing:
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of post at facebook.com/ground.newsapp)
The claim, however, was self-debunking: The increase was not monthly but annual, and the article (archived here) shared in the post also said that, at the time of writing:
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of article at ground.news)
On December 1, 2025, President Donald Trump signed into law (archived here) the "Medal of Honor Act" (archived here). In part, it read:
SEC. 3. INCREASE IN DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS SPECIAL PENSION PAYABLE TO MEDAL OF HONOR RECIPIENTS.
Section 1562 of title 38, United States Code, is amended --...
(B) by striking 'the rate of $1,406.73' andinserting 'the rate described in subparagraph (B)'...
In practice, that meant a change in the formula of monthly payments distributed by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
On December 12, 2025, Gary J. Kunich, who is a public relations deputy director for the Department of Veterans Affairs, cited the updated figures in an email to Lead Stories:
Under this law, recipients will now receive $5,780.00 per month in 2026, or $69,360 per year.
The email continued:
As of Dec. 3, 2025, there are 63 Veterans and 34 surviving spouses who receive this pension.
