Happy Wednesday, and 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.

A week from today marks Donald Trump's 100th day in office of his second term as president. Since January 20th, life has looked different for the whole world, especially for the people of Ukraine. 

The United States has had long-standing diplomatic relations with Ukraine, establishing a relationship nearly 40 years ago, in 1991, as soon as Ukraine seceded from the Soviet Union. On February 24th, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine in what has since been referred to as a "brutal act of war."

Under President Biden, the United States was a strong ally to Ukraine, sending over $175 billion in military and budget aid to help protect hundreds of thousands of civilians. Even then, over 62% of Americans thought that the United States should be doing more to to stop Russian military actions in Ukraine. President Biden has a well-documented, long-standing, terse relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which added to the tension of the United States supporting Ukraine as it was under siege. 

However, Trump, an outspoken fan of Putin, pulled the rug out from under Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as soon as he came into office, halting military aid. After a notoriously disastrous meeting at the end of February, it is speculated that Trump and Zelenskyy may meet again while they are both in Italy for the funeral of Pope Francis. 

Ahead of any new talks about to go down between the two leaders, today, we are here to break down the lies that Trump and his friends have been spreading about President Zelenskyy and Ukraine. 

• Trump and Vance have been outspokenly critical about President Zelenskyy not being ‘grateful enough,’ including an outright confrontation at the February 28th meeting at the White House in which Vance asked, “Have you said 'thank you' once this entire meeting?"

FACT: Zelenskyy has shown appreciation for the US during Biden and Trump's administrations, dating back to 2022, on an X post thanking Biden for the diplomatic and military assistance. He thanked Biden, Congress, and everyday Americans during a meeting with the President.  He has also publicly thanked Trump over the last few months. 

• Trump has accused President Zelensky of “prolonging the ‘killing field,’“ by damaging peace negotiations, claiming in a recent Truth Social that "nobody is asking Zelenskyy to recognize Crimea as Russian Territory."

FACT: JD Vance has called on Ukraine to agree to peace deal conditions that include "the annexation of Crimea by Russia." Crimea was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014 and is recognized as Ukrainian territory by international law. 

• Trump has referred to Zelenskyy as a 'dictator without elections'

FACT: Zelenskyy won his election in 2019 decisively with 73% of the vote, and Ukrainians are still rallying behind Zelenskyy even after Trump's attack. Ukraine is currently under martial law, and under Ukraine's constitution, it is not legal to hold national elections during this time. Zelenskyy has also said multiple times that elections will be held following the end of martial law -- he has never opposed an election or fought to stay in power.  

Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have already been killed or forced to leave their homes. The suffering has gone on long enough, but the Trump administration wants to stand with Russia. Americans aren't having it. The first step in fighting back against the Trump administration is setting the record straight; correcting misinformation is a job for us all. If you had this email forwarded to you, you can sign up for the #TrumpCheck newsletter here. 

We'll be back at defending the truth next week. Until then, stay tuned on our social media channels, linked below for information about the LACDP's fight against Trump.

Congress is now in recess for the next two weeks, which means we might not see a Republican Representative in public until May. It's like a late Groundhog Day, but this time they hide their faces when they don't do their jobs. 

Happy Wednesday, and 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.

An underlying protection as an American citizen is the promise of Social Security payments later in life. Social Security is a 90-year-old institution of the United States, created under President Franklin D. Roosevelt as a part of the New Deal in 1935. Since the Great Depression, Americans have supported our most vulnerable citizens with taxes on workers to fund payments to retirees and disabled individuals. 

With the highest approval rating of any welfare program in the United States, the Social Security Administration is a wildly popular part of American life, with a higher approval rating than Trump has ever achieved in the United States. Trump and his cronies have had their eye on Social Security for a long time, and have implemented early signs of dismantling the program. We are here to set the record straight on Trump's lies and secrets about Social Security. 

• During an interview in March on Fox News, Donald Trump claimed clearly that "I'm not going to touch Social Security," a position in line with his messaging on the campaign trail. 

FACT: Cuts have already been made to Social Security offices all over the nation. Over 7,000 employees have been fired. Field offices are being shuttered, while simultaneously demanding that beneficiaries come in-person to claim benefits they have been claiming online for years, creating disastrous wait times. 

• The Social Security Agency has stated that the cuts and changes to the agency are being done to "prioritize customer service". 

FACT: Cuts to funding are impacting operations, causing staffing shortages that have left remaining Social Security service offices to look like a "Depression-era scene," with hundreds of senior citizens waiting for hours, or being turned away. Offices are unable to purchase paper, pens, or phone headsets due to DOGE cuts, creating 6 hour hold times when trying to get help over the phone. 

• Elon Musk referred to Social Security as the '"biggest Ponzi scheme of all time" and referred to Social Security benefits as "waste and fraud". 

FACT: Nearly 70% of American adults say they will need to rely on Social Security benefits in their retirement. The impacts of the recent cuts have threatened the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of Americans. 

Trump and Musk have always been rich. They have no idea, and they never will understand, what it is like to live on a fixed income. They do not care about the havoc that they wreak by creating these problems for everyday Americans, who have worked to earn the protection of Social Security payments. The first step in fighting back against the Trump administration is setting the record straight; correcting misinformation is a job for us all. If you had this email forwarded to you, you can sign up for the #TrumpCheck newsletter here. 

We'll be back at defending the truth next week. Until then, stay tuned on our social media channels, linked below for information about the LACDP's fight against Trump.

In Solidarity,  

Team LACDP   

Happy Wednesday, and 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.

Today, we had planned to write a detailed rundown of the lies about the global 'reciprocal tariffs' that have been cast all over the world, including on an island of penguins and seals. However, in light of the 90-day pause on the tariffs, for all countries but China, we decided to shift gears. Thank goodness for the penguins and seals. 

Due to this last-minute shift, we decided to go back to basics, covering some of the lies that Trump has spread to the American public about the cost of living, and his efforts to combat rising prices. 

• While addressing the National Republican Congressional Committee dinner earlier this week, Donald Trump said that "gas prices are way down," that prices are "$2.50, $2.60, $2.75."

FACT: According to AAA, average gas prices nationally have not gone below $3.00 since Donald Trump took office. In fact, on both the day he claimed that gas prices "are way down" and today, the cost of gas was higher nationally ($3.24, and $3.235, respectively) than it was the day he took office in January ($3.12). 

• In a March 17th press release, the White House claimed that "On January 21, 2025, the wholesale price for eggs was $6.55/dozen; today, it’s $3.45/dozen — a $3.10/dozen (–47.3%) decrease"

FACT: The data linked on the press release does not support these claims, and no available data supports this claim about the cost of eggs. In fact, detailed 3rd-party tracking of grocery costs nationwide by NBC found that the average cost of eggs has not dipped below $5.00 per dozen this year. 

And finally...

• Donald Trump mused on how quaint and 'old-fashioned' the term 'groceries' is. "Groceries. It sort of says a bag with different things in it"

FACT: Donald's previous comment on grocery stores, citing that individuals need ID to buy cereal, or pick up apples from the refrigerator, indicates he hasn't even been to a grocery store. 

We live in a world of pivots - sometimes you plan on covering tariffs, and end up covering eggs. That's how it goes in the second Trump era. For us to fight back and re-establish a country in which we all can afford to fuel our cars and homes and feed our families, we need your help. Correcting misinformation about the state of the world and the actions of the administration is a task for us all. If you had this email forwarded to you, you can sign up for the #TrumpCheck newsletter here. 

We'll be back at defending the truth next week. Until then, stay tuned on our social media channels, linked below for information about the LACDP's fight against Trump.

In Solidarity,  

Team LACDP