President Donald Trump’s inauguration speech on January 20, 2025, was an avalanche of lies, according to fact-checkers. CNN’s Bryan Mena and Daniel Dale wasted no time pointing out the false claims, which covered everything from the economy to immigration and the 2020 election.
Trump kicked things off by claiming that the U.S. was experiencing “record inflation” under President Biden. While inflation did hit a 40-year high in 2022, it wasn’t close to the record 23.7% from 1920. By the time Trump spoke, inflation had dropped to 2.9%, making his claim completely false.
He also falsely said that tariffs would be paid by foreign countries, not Americans. “Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich other countries, we will tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens,” Trump claimed. But in reality, U.S. businesses and consumers pay the cost of tariffs, not foreign governments. Studies, including one from the U.S. International Trade Commission, show that Americans paid the price, especially on Chinese goods.
Trump went on to make unproven claims about immigration, saying many migrants under Biden had come from “prisons and mental institutions.” There’s no evidence to back this up. Experts say the global prison population is actually rising, not falling, making Trump’s claim even less believable.
Then, Trump repeated his false story about former Speaker Nancy Pelosi rejecting his offer of 10,000 National Guard troops on January 6, 2021. This has been debunked multiple times. The National Guard falls under the president’s control, not Pelosi’s, and there’s no evidence she turned down such an offer. Video footage from that day shows Pelosi frustrated with the lack of security, but not admitting to any decision to block National Guard troops.
Trump also repeated the false claim that the 2020 election was “totally rigged.” Despite multiple court rulings and audits confirming Joe Biden’s win, Trump keeps pushing the idea that the election was stolen.
In his speech, Trump falsely claimed that his opponents “tried” to rig the 2024 election but failed. Again, there’s no evidence of this. He also said he would’ve won California if the state had stronger voter ID laws. That’s false too. Trump lost California by over three million votes in 2020, and there’s no evidence of widespread fraud.
Trump also exaggerated his victory margin in Alabama, saying, “We won Alabama by 48 points.” The real margin was about 30.5 points. Another exaggeration.
Finally, Trump repeated his claim about building “571 miles of wall” on the southern border during his first term. Official records show 458 miles were built, including replacements for old barriers. Once again, Trump overstated his accomplishments.
Overall, Trump’s inauguration speech was filled with lies and exaggerations. Fact-checkers quickly pointed out the falsehoods, showing once again that Trump has a long history of making misleading and unverified claims.
