WASHINGTON—On Friday morning, U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted, “I cannot believe the level of dishonesty in the media. It is totally out of control, but we are winning!”

Trump then tweeted four consecutive false things over the course of 28 minutes.

He misquoted the judge in former campaign chief Paul Manafort’s trial, falsely saying the judge had made a declaration of “no collusion.” He misquoted someone talking about the economy on Fox News. He falsely claimed the government was apprehending “record numbers of illegal immigrants”; though the numbers have increased in recent months, they are still not close to a record. And he misstated the unemployment rate for women.

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The tweet blitz was the most densely dishonest moment of a relatively quiet week in presidential lying. He made 25 false claims in all, way down from 111 the week prior and just the 62nd-worst week of 112 to date.

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Trump is now up to 4,584 false claims for the first 780 days of his presidency, an average of 5.9 per day.

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If Trump is a serial liar, why call this a list of “false claims,” not lies? You can read our detailed explanation here. The short answer is that we can’t be sure that each and every one was intentional. In some cases, he may have been confused or ignorant. What we know, objectively, is that he was not telling the truth.

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Every false claim Trump made last week:

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Monday, March 4

The claim: “’There is no Collusion. All of these investigations are in search of a crime. Democrats have no evidence to impeach President Trump. Ridiculous!’ @DevinNunes @FoxNews” — Twitter

In fact: Trump misquoted Nunes, the California Republican, though he probably captured the spirit of Nunes’s remarks. Nunes did not say in this Fox News interview, “Democrats have no evidence to impeach President Trump. Ridiculous!” His actual quote: “If the Democrats move forward with impeachment, I’d like to know what exactly they are gonna — what evidence they have to impeach, right? ‘Cause all of these investigations have really been an investigation in search of a crime.” Later in the interview, he said, “They’re just making wild accusations like just claiming, ‘Oh, well, yes, we know that there was direct evidence. Well, just because you say it doesn’t make it so. You have to actually have some evidence.”

The claim: “I mean, all of your states are doing very well. I think we have the strongest economy, perhaps, ever. The lowest unemployment rate we’ve ever had — you could say ‘51 years’ or you could say ‘ever.’” — Speech to National Association of Attorneys General

In fact: Neither “51 years” nor “ever” was correct. The latest unemployment rate at the time Trump spoke, for Jan. 2019, was 4.0 per cent. That was the lowest in 18 years, if you don’t count earlier months during Trump’s own term. The record is 2.5 per cent in 1953.

The claim: “I mean, all of your states are doing very well. I think we have the strongest economy, perhaps, ever. The lowest unemployment rate we’ve ever had — you could say ‘51 years’ or you could say ‘ever.’ But groups — if you look at African-American, Asian-American, Hispanic American — the lowest unemployment rate, historically, ever.” — Speech to National Association of Attorneys General

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In fact: The African-American unemployment rate remained at an all-time low, but the Hispanic and Asian unemployment rates did not. Hispanic American unemployment rate dropped to a record low of 4.4 per cent in October 2018 and December 2018. But the most recent rate at the time Trump spoke, for January 2019, was 4.9 per cent, higher than the 4.8 per cent of December 2000. The Asian-American unemployment rate briefly dropped to a low, 2.0 per cent, in May 2018 — a low, at least, since the government began issuing Asian-American data in 2000 — but the most recent rate at the time Trump spoke, for January 2019, was 3.2 per cent. This was higher than the rate in Obama’s last full month in office, 2.6 per cent.

The claim: “But I can tell you, I said to President Xi that we cannot let fentanyl into our country. Almost 100 percent comes from China. It’s devastating.” — Speech to National Association of Attorneys General

In fact: It is not true that all fentanyl is made in China; some of it is made in Mexico, and some of it, intended for legal use, is made in the U.S. The Drug Enforcement Agency included detailed information on “Mexico-sourced fentanyl” in its 2018 National Drug Threat Assessment. It said in the report: “Clandestinely produced fentanyl is trafficked into the United States primarily from China and Mexico, and is responsible for the ongoing fentanyl epidemic. In contrast, the diversion of pharmaceutical fentanyl in the United States occurs on a small scale, with the diverted fentanyl products being intended for personal use and street sales.”The report continued: “DEA and CBP reporting indicate the fentanyl shipped directly from China is typically seized in smaller quantities but with purities commonly testing above 90 per cent. By comparison, fentanyl trafficked overland into the United States from Mexico is typically seized in larger, bulk quantities but with much lower purity, with exhibits on average testing at less than 10 per cent pure.”

Tuesday, March 5

The claim: “Now that they realize the only Collusion with Russia was done by Crooked Hillary Clinton & the Democrats, Nadler, Schiff and the Dem heads of the Committees have gone stone cold CRAZY. 81 letter sent to innocent people to harass them. They won’t get ANYTHING done for our Country!” — Twitter

In fact: The claim that Clinton and the Democrats colluded with Russia is simple nonsense; the word “collusion” — in common language, a “secret agreement or co-operation especially for an illegal or deceitful purpose” — just does not apply to Democrats’ Russia-related activities. The accusation is based on the fact that the British ex-spy who produced a research dossier on the Trump campaign’s alleged links to Russia, which was funded in part by Clinton’s campaign, used Russian sources in compiling his information. That does not come close to meeting the definition of “collusion.”

The claim: “Republican Approval Rating just hit 93%. Sorry Haters! MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” — Twitter

In fact: We could not find any recent poll in which Trump’s approval rating with Republicans was 93 per cent. In polls released that week, Trump was at 86 per cent with Republicans in Monmouth, 86 per cent in YouGov/The Economist, and 82 per cent in Quinnipiac. He has consistently claimed to have this “93 per cent” Republican approval rating even as his Republican approval rating has remained in the high 80s. (We will update this item if evidence to support Trump’s claim emerges.)

The claim: “I’m so happy that he’s our secretary (of veterans affairs). If you look over the last fairly long time now that he has been secretary, we’ve had so many good stories about what’s happening, generally, at the VA. We’re extremely of proud of Choice. It’s been many, many decades that they have been trying to get Choice, where a veteran can go out and see a doctor if the lines are long. They don’t have to wait four days, nine days — I always say three weeks, five weeks, ten weeks. Never get to see a doctor. People go on line and they’re not feeling well, and they end up being terminal by the time they get to see a doctor.” And: “No administration has accomplished — probably, you could say this with absolute surety — in the first two years anywhere near what we have accomplished. Whether it’s the tax cuts; whether it’s regulation cuts; whether it’s the Veterans Administration — what we’ve done with the Veterans Administration, with Choice and so many other things that nobody thought would be possible to get passed; no administration has done in its first two years what the Trump administration has done.” — Speech on executive order to combat veteran suicide

In fact: The Veterans Choice health program was passed and created in 2014 under Obama. The law Trump signed in 2018, the VA MISSION Act, modified the Choice program.

The claim: “The witch hunt continues. The fact is that, I guess, we got 81 letters...But essentially what they’re saying is, ‘The campaign begins.’ And instead of doing infrastructure, instead of doing healthcare, instead of doing so many things that they should be doing, they want to play games. President Obama, from what they tell me, was under a similar kind of a thing — didn’t give one letter. They didn’t do anything. They didn’t give one letter of the request. Many requests were made; they didn’t give a letter.” — Speech on executive order to combat veteran suicide

In fact: Trump was referring to House Democrats sending letters demanding documents from 81 people in Trump’s orbit, including his business associates and prominent members of his family. He was wrong that Obama “didn’t do anything” or “didn’t give one letter of request” when faced with similar document requests from House Republicans when they had the majority. Though Obama claimed executive privilege over certain documents, he turned over tens of thousands of others. Obama adviser Eric Schultz said on Twitter: “From 2011 — 2016 the Obama White House produced hundreds of thousands of documents to Congress on Solyndra, Benghazi, Fast and Furious, CAFE standards rule, Deep Water Horizon spill, ACA, ACA website, Clean Water Rule, and Ft Hood shooting.” The Associated Press reported that Trump’s claim was “not true. The Obama administration gave Congress hundreds of thousands of pages of documents requested in oversight investigations. The Obama White House turned over tens of thousands of documents to the Republican-led investigation of the deadly attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, for example, and the State Department released hundreds of Hillary Clinton’s emails from that time, when she was secretary of state. The Obama administration also gave Congress volumes on the collapse of the solar energy firm Solyndra. It resisted turning over documents on the botched Operation Fast and Furious gun-trafficking probe until a court forced it to release them to Congress.”

Wednesday, March 6

The claim: “Thank you very much for being here. We have a very big moment because we have Danny Burch back home, where he should be. He was in Yemen, in a very horrible situation — a captive, a prisoner. You can call him whatever you want, but it wasn’t good. He was there for 18 months — even a little more than 18 months — and we got him out.” — White House meeting with freed captive Danny Burch

In fact: This was one of Trump’s regular little exaggerations. Burch was abducted in Yemen on the weekend of September 23, 2017, according to news reports at the time. Trump announced on Feb. 25, 2019 that Burch had been released. That is just over 17 months, not “a little more than 18 months.”

The claim: Trump: “Thank you, Jay. And if you remember from past years, others said that manufacturing was not going to happen; those jobs were never coming back. And they are coming back. We have 600,000...” Jay Timmons, National Association of Manufacturers: “Well, they’re coming roaring back.” Trump: “Right, they’re roaring back. We have 600,000, and it’ll be a lot higher than that when the next report comes out. And it’s really been something, the manufacturing jobs. We’re going to be up to — getting close to record numbers. Nobody thought they were coming back.” — Remarks at Workforce Policy Advisory Board meeting

In fact: The “600,000” figure is not correct even if you go back to Trump’s election, which allows him to count jobs created in the final three months of Obama’s term. There were 12,341,000 manufacturing jobs in November 2016, the month of the election, and 12,822,000 in January 2019, the most recent month for which there was data at the time Trump spoke. That was a gain of 481,000. Later in the week, the monthly jobs report revised the January figure up to 12,830,000, but it put the February figure at 12,834,000, a gain of just 4,000; that was an overall gain of 493,000, still not 600,000.

The claim: “We’re all working together. We have our military sent to the border. We have 8,000 military personnel right now at the border.” — Remarks at Workforce Policy Advisory Board meeting

In fact: There are about 5,700 troops at the border, spokespeople for the U.S. military’s Northern Command told the Star: 4,000 active duty troops and 1,700 members of the National Guard. When we asked if the number was 8,000 any time in the last month or two, spokesperson Jamie Davis said in an email, “No, somebody may have double counted something, current is about 5,700, the peak was about 6,200.”

The claim: “Human trafficking is a disaster. Nobody knew too much about it until recently. It’s been going on for a million years, actually. It’s been going on for a long time. But we’ve seen it. We’ve spotted it.” — Remarks at Workforce Policy Advisory Board meeting

In fact: This is baseless nonsense. There is no basis for the claim that “nobody knew too much” about human trafficking “until recently” and that Trump’s team “spotted it.”

The claim: “We have a tremendous number of not only car companies coming in; we have a lot of car companies coming in. They’re coming in, they’re building new, but they’re also expanding. And they’re going to Pennsylvania. They’re going to Ohio. Very heavy in Michigan. South Carolina, North Carolina — all over.” — Remarks at Workforce Policy Advisory Board meeting

In fact: There are no automotive assembly plants in Pennsylvania at all.

The claim: “So we’re going to let a lot of people come in because we need workers. We have to have workers. Unemployment at 3.7, 3.6, probably. These are low numbers.” — Remarks at Workforce Policy Advisory Board meeting

In fact: The most recent unemployment rate at the time Trump spoke, for January 2019, was 4.0 per cent. Later in the week, after Trump spoke, the government released the February 2018 rate of 3.8 per cent.

Friday, March 8

The claim: “Well, the economy is doing very well. We’re seeing wages rise more than they have at any time for a long, long time. Wages are going up (for the) first time for many years — I talked about it during the campaign — for over 20 years.” And: “The unemployment rate just went lower. We’re down now to 3.8 per cent, so we had very good news on that. I think the big news, really, was that wages went up. And that’s great for the American worker. That’s something people — I don’t know if they ever expected to see it. Yeah?” — Exchange with reporters before Marine One departure

In fact: Wage growth in February 2018, 3.4 per cent, was the best in nearly 10 years, but Trump is wrong that wages were rising for the first time “for many years” or “for over 20 years.” Wages have been rising steadily since 2014, though the pace has accelerated under Trump. As PolitiFact reported: “For much of the time between 2012 and 2014, median weekly earnings were lower than they were in 1979 — a frustrating disappearance of any wage growth for 35 years. But that began changing in 2014. After hitting a low of $330 a week in early 2014, wages have risen to $354 a week by early 2017. That’s an increase of 7.3 percent over a roughly three-year period.” FactCheck.org reported: “For all private workers, average weekly earnings (adjusted for inflation) rose 4% during Obama’s last four years in office.”

The claim: “I feel very badly for Paul Manafort. I think it’s been a very, very tough time for him. But if you notice, both his lawyer — a highly respected man and a very highly respected judge — the judge said there was no collusion with Russia. It’s had nothing to do with collusion. There was no collusion. It’s a collusion hoax. It’s a collusion witch-hoax. I don’t collude with Russia. So I just want to tell you that his lawyer went out of his way, actually, to make a statement last night. No collusion with Russia. There was absolutely none. The judge, I mean, for whatever reason — I was very honoured by it — also made the statement that this had nothing do with collusion with Russia.” — Exchange with reporters before Marine One departure

In fact: Neither the judge nor the lawyer generally declared that there was “no collusion” between Trump’s campaign and Russia. Rather, both of them said that there was no collusion involved in Manafort’s case in particular. The judge, T.S. Ellis III, said that Manafort was “not before this court for anything having to do with collusion with the Russian government to influence this election.” In a post-sentencing statement, Manafort lawyer Kevin Downing said, “There is absolutely no evidence that Paul Manafort was involved in any collusion with any government official or Russia.”

The claim: “Well, I think that it’s going very well. The border — we’re doing a great job. We’re apprehending record numbers of people — 75,000 over the last short period of time. That’s a lot of work. And with a wall, we wouldn’t have to do it. No, I think we’re doing fine in Congress. They understand it’s an emergency.” — Exchange with reporters before Marine One departure

In fact: Apprehensions were not at a record high. According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 396,579 people were apprehended between ports of entry on the Mexican border in the 2018 fiscal year, down from more than 1.5 million in 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2000 and down from more than 400,000 in five Obama-era years: 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014 and 2016. The number for February 2018, the month before Trump spoke, was 66,450, an 11-year high — but that was still not even close to the levels of the early 2000s. It was 211,328 in Feb. 2000. (It did seem possible that there was a record high in one subset of illegal immigrants — families, rather than individuals — but Trump claimed an overall record.)

The claim: “Look, when I came in — under the Obama administration, North Korea was a disaster. You were going to war, folks, whether you know it or not. You were going to war.” — Exchange with reporters before Marine One departure

In fact: There is no indication the U.S. was close to going to war with North Korea when Trump took office, or, as Trump has repeatedly claimed, that Obama told Trump he was close to going to war with North Korea; such a remark would be a total departure from Obama’s long-held views on North Korea. Obama’s office has declined to comment on Trump’s previous claims about Obama supposedly making this statement at his post-election meeting with Trump, but Ned Price, a former special assistant to Obama and spokesperson for the National Security Council, called Trump’s remark “absolute revisionist history,” saying, “I’ve never heard anything even remotely like that coming up during that session.” Obama’s strategy of “containment and deterrence” was “predicated in part on the understanding that a military conflict on the (Korean) Peninsula would be nothing short of catastrophic,” Price said. In the past, Trump has confirmed what news outlets have reported: Obama told him North Korea was the biggest or most urgent problem he would face, not that war was inevitable.

The claim: “The Wall is being built and is well under construction. Big impact will be made. Many additional contracts are close to being signed. Far ahead of schedule despite all of the Democrat Obstruction and Fake News!” — Twitter

In fact: None of Trump’s wall was under construction at the time. While it was true that some existing barriers had been renovated, zero new miles of barrier had been built. Construction appeared close to beginning on new wall in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas, but Customs and Border Protection told us the week Trump started specifically talking about that project, the month prior to this remark, that only “vegetation clearing” had begun for that project.

The claim: “Both the Judge and the lawyer in the Paul Manafort case stated loudly and for the world to hear that there was NO COLLUSION with Russia. But the Witch Hunt Hoax continues as you now add these statements to House & Senate Intelligence & Senator Burr. So bad for our Country!” — Twitter

In fact: Neither the judge nor the lawyer generally declared that there was “no collusion” between Trump’s campaign and Russia. Rather, both of them said that there was no collusion involved in Manafort’s case in particular. The judge, T.S. Ellis III, said that Manafort was “not before this court for anything having to do with collusion with the Russian government to influence this election.” In a post-sentencing statement, Manafort lawyer Kevin Downing said, “There is absolutely no evidence that Paul Manafort was involved in any collusion with any government official or Russia.”

The claim: “’This is as good a time as I can remember to be an American Worker. We have the strongest economy in the world.’ Stuart Varney @foxandfriends So true!” — Twitter

In fact: Trump misquoted Varney in two ways: Varney was issuing a prediction rather than making a declarative statement, and he was comparing the U.S. economy to those of other “industrial democracies,” not to “the world.” Varney actually said: “This is as good a time as I can remember to be an American worker. There are plenty of jobs out there. And the report that we’re going to get in a couple of hours’ time, I think it will show that America has the strongest economy of all the industrial democracies.”

The claim: “We are apprehending record numbers of illegal immigrants — but we need the Wall to help our great Border Patrol Agents!” — Twitter

In fact: Apprehensions were not at a record high. According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 396,579 people were apprehended between ports of entry on the Mexican border in the 2018 fiscal year, down from more than 1.5 million in 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2000 and down from more than 400,000 in five Obama-era years: 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014 and 2016. The number for February 2018, the month before Trump spoke, was 66,450, an 11-year high — but that was still not even close to the levels of the early 2000s. It was 211,328 in Feb. 2000. (It did seem possible that there was a record high in one subset of illegal immigrants — families, rather than individuals — but Trump claimed an overall record.)

The claim: “Women’s unemployment rate is down to 3.6% — was 7.9% in January, 2011. Things are looking good!” — Twitter

In fact: The women’s unemployment rate was 3.8 per cent at the time, not 3.6 per cent. (The measure that was at 7.9 per cent in January 2011 was the rate for women 20 and older, not the overall rate for people age 16 and over. That measure was at 3.4 per cent at the time of Trump’s tweet.)

The claim: .@RepMikeTurner “The only time that Michael Cohen told the truth is when he pled that he is guilty.” Also when he said no collusion and I did not tell him to lie!” — Twitter

In fact: Trump twisted Cohen’s words. Cohen did not flatly declare that there was “no collusion” between Trump and Russia. Cohen said in his opening statement to Congress: “The questions have been raised about whether I know of direct evidence that Mr. Trump or his campaign colluded with Russia. I do not, and I want to be clear. But I have my suspicions.” He said later: “So, as I stated in my testimony, I wouldn’t use the word ‘colluding.’ Was there something odd about the back-and-forth praise with President Putin? Yes, but I’m not really sure that I can answer that question in terms of collusion. I was not part of the campaign. I don’t know the other conversations that Mr. Trump had with other individuals. There is just so many dots that all seem to lead to the same direction.”

Saturday, March 9

The claim: “Wacky Nut Job @AnnCoulter, who still hasn’t figured out that, despite all odds and an entire Democrat Party of Far Left Radicals against me (not to mention certain Republicans who are sadly unwilling to fight), I am winning on the Border. Major sections of Wall are being built and renovated, with MUCH MORE to follow shortly. Tens of thousands of illegals are being apprehended (captured) at the Border and NOT allowed into our Country. With another President, millions would be pouring in. I am stopping an invasion as the Wall gets built. #MAGA” — Twitter

In fact: None of Trump’s wall was under construction at the time. While it was true that some existing barriers had been renovated, zero new miles of barrier had been built. Construction appeared close to beginning on new wall in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas, but Customs and Border Protection told us the week Trump started specifically talking about that project, the month prior to this remark, that only “vegetation clearing” had begun for that project.