Congratulations! Today is the 52nd day of the second Trump administration, which means we are over halfway through the 'first 100 days' marker. If these have felt like the longest 52 days of your life, don't worry, you're not alone.

Welcome back to our #TrumpCheck series, the LACDP's weekly newsletter that holds the Trump administration accountable for its lies, deception, and self-serving actions. Every week, the LACDP will provide updates and fact-checks on actions, claims, or atrocities made by Trump himself, his cronies, or his new employer, Elon Musk.

This week, we're here to correct some of the misinformation being spread about the Department of Education, a wildly popular part of the American government that over 68% of voters want to INCREASE funding to. 

• Trump has widely and frequently claimed that that "I'm going to close the Department of Education." 

FACT: The president does not have the authority to eliminate a Cabinet department. That power lies with Congress, and would then require 60 votes in the Senate, an unlikely outcome with the current Senate cohort. 

• While justifying the dismantling of the education system, Donald Trump reported that the United States is dead last in education rankings."They talk about 40 countries. We’re rated No. 40.”

FACT: There are no metrics in which the U.S. ranks 40th on any list for educational outcomes. The White House has been unable to provide any ranking that aligns with this claim. In fact, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development ranked the U.S. 8th out of 41 countries for education.

• While discussing eliminating the Department of Education with Fox & Friends, Trump explained that this will allow them to defund schools whose curriculum they do not like, like teaching about slavery. 

FACT: News flash, Donald - the states already control the curriculum. The U.S. Department of Education does NOT write curriculum or impact curriculum in any way in the United States. 

Education is the foundation of a civilized society, and providing a good education for American children is the first step to building prosperous futures for all. Trying to destroy the basis of education in our country is no more than a power grab, and an unsuccessful one at that. 

Correcting misinformation distributed by the United States government is the first step in the fight and a job for us all. We will keep it up here, and on our social media accounts, linked below.

Well, Trump has officially made his first official address to Congress of his second term. He spoke for over 90 minutes last night, the longest presidential address in over 60 years. More impressive is the record 89 minutes that JD Vance and Mike Johnson spent clapping.

Welcome back to our #TrumpCheck series, the LACDP's weekly newsletter that holds the Trump administration accountable for its lies and self-serving actions. Every week, the LACDP will provide updates and fact-checks on actions, claims, or atrocities made by Trump himself, his cronies, or his boss, Elon Musk. This week, we're here to correct some of the lies that Donald Trump spread in his dizzying speech last night. 

• Announced last week, Trump re-emphasized his plan to create a "gold card" visa for wealthy immigrants. The visa would cost $5 million, and would go on sale "very, very soon." 

FACT: The president does not have the authority to create a new visa.  Congress is the only entity with that power. Even if it’s just an adjustment of the current EB-5 visa, it still requires congressional action. As of now, there has been no current proposal brought forth by the Trump administration, so this plan is currently unclear. 

• In a rant about energy prices, Donald Trump claimed that the Biden administration "closed more than 100 power plants."

FACT: Under the Biden administration, the number of utility-scale electric power plants increased. Only coal-fired power plants, which are increasingly moving out of favor, decreased from to 227 from from 284 during that same time. 

• Donald Trump read aloud a list of 'government waste' that had been cut by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency. Among these 'corrupt' expenditures: $3.5 million on "lavish fish monitoring," $20 million on the "Arab Sesame Street" and $8 million on "transgender mice". 

FACT: Trump was referring to 'larval' fish monitoring, which is a typical method for tracking species health and abundance. The "Arab Sesame Street" claim was referring to $20 million that was allocated to an Iraq early childhood development program, over the course of 6 years; none of that money is spent on a TV show, although the program does produce a show with "Sesame Street" characters. The "transgender mice" claim is referring to medical trials conducted on rodents, having to do with thyroid and hormonal care for diseases like cancer and HIV. 

No one is providing gender-affirming care to mice or rats. 

Correcting misinformation distributed by the United States government is the first step in the fight and a job for us all. We will keep it up here, and on our social media accounts, linked below.

Welcome back to our #TrumpCheck series, the LACDP's weekly newsletter holding the Trump administration accountable for their lies and self-serving actions.

• Elon Musk has claimed that there is widespread fraud in the Social Security Administration, and that there are millions of individuals taking advantage and making money off of the federal government. He claims that "there are FAR more 'eligible' social security numbers than there are citizens in the USA" and that "this might be the biggest fraud in history."

FACT: There is not evidence of widespread fraud within the Social Security Administration (SSA). About 44,000 Americans over the age of 100 are collecting SSA  benefits, which is on track with census data that tracks the number of Americans over the age of 100 years old. 

• At a conference last week, Elon Musk said that his goal is to help what he described as "America, Inc." complete a "corporate turnaround" that will include deleting "entire agencies." This does seem to imply the SSA, based on earlier comments. This is similar to his acquisition of Twitter in 2022, when he eliminated over 80% of their staff. 

FACT: Elon Musk makes $8 million PER DAY in government contracts. In comparison, the average American on Social Security benefits makes $65.00 per day off of the US government. Donald Trump, who campaigned on creating "explosive economic growth" is actively going against that promise as he empowers Elon Musk to eliminate jobs, and hoard taxpayer dollars for himself. 

• Donald Trump claimed in a Truth Social post on Thursday that Politico was  "paid Millions of Dollars for NOTHING" and implies that the government employees of USAID "ARE BUYING THE PRESS!"

FACT: Between 2023 and 2024, across the entire agency, USAID employees paid $44,000 in Politico subscriptions. That's it. They had subscriptions. 

The Trump administration will continue to try to deceive the American public with their lies and storytelling. 

Correcting misinformation distributed by the United States government is a job for us all. We will keep it up here, and on our social media accounts, linked below.