Donald Trump’s claim to have once reduced grown men and women to tears with the signing of an executive order that cut regulations appears not to be true. Trump earlier this week boasted at a renewable energy summit in Council Bluffs, Iowa, that the February 2017 signing in the White House had caused many of the homebuilders, farmers and ranchers stood behind him to weep for the very first time in their lives:

However, official White House video from the event appears to show there was not a wet eye in the house:

It is conceivable that someone standing in the far corners of the room, who were not covered by the cameras, shed a tear at the president’s move. But it’s not the first time Trump has claimed to have made folks all emotional for the right reasons. Daniel Dale, a fact-checking reporter who is joining CNN, called out Trump over his latest tale on Twitter.

In Iowa this week, Trump told a story about how homebuilders, farmers and ranchers were crying as they stood behind him when he signed his executive order on the Waters of the United States rule.



He signed the order on camera. Nobody cried at any point. https://t.co/Ku7uCiVJpipic.twitter.com/MLCMV0DSdI — Daniel Dale (@ddale8) June 13, 2019

He also noted Trump’s usual modus operandi when it came to telling stories about making people weep:

This is the second time the president has told this particular "crying" lie. It's one of the only Tears Alert stories that is possible to fact-check: he usually situates the grateful crying people "backstage" or in some other setting without independent witnesses. — Daniel Dale (@ddale8) June 13, 2019