President Donald Trump visited Fort Bragg, North Carolina on February 13, 2026, announcing a historic $1 trillion annual military investment that includes 10 new battleships, 30 Abrams tanks, and dozens of helicopters, while touting record-high military recruitment and claiming to have “ended eight wars in just 10 months.” Trump, joined by First Lady Melania Trump, used the event to endorse Michael Whatley for Senate, criticize the previous administration’s Afghanistan withdrawal, detail recent military operations against Iran and Venezuela, and claim the U.S. has attracted $18 trillion in foreign investment in 11 months—while praising the soldiers and families for their service and announcing improvements to on-base housing at Fort Bragg. Assistance from Claude AI.
Participants
- Donald Trump – President of the United States / Commander in Chief
- Melania Trump – First Lady of the United States
- Michael Whatley – Republican National Committee Chairman / North Carolina Senate Candidate
- General Gregory Anderson – Military Leader (specific title not provided)
- General Brandon Teftmeier – Military Leader (specific title not provided)
- Howard Lutnick – Secretary (department not specified)
- Senator Ted Budd – U.S. Senator from North Carolina
- Representative Richard Hudson – U.S. Congressman representing Fort Bragg district
- Representative Mark Harris – U.S. Congressman from North Carolina
- Representative Pat Harrigan – U.S. Congressman from North Carolina
- Representative Brad Knott – U.S. Congressman from North Carolina
- Representative David Roser – U.S. Congressman from North Carolina
- Representative Addison McDowell – U.S. Congressman from North Carolina
Detailed Meeting Breakdown
Opening Remarks by First Lady Melania Trump
First Lady Melania Trump opened the event with a Valentine’s Day message to military families, emphasizing the connection between patriotism and family devotion. She noted that “love letters have symbolized the union of patriotism and family devotion among our soldiers for 250 years,” calling this harmony “what makes us uniquely American.” She introduced the President as “your Commander in Chief, our leader who maintains a mission of peace through strength.”
Economic Achievements and Stock Market Performance
President Trump immediately pivoted to economic claims, stating the administration had just received “fantastic reports on inflation, way down; costs of products, way down.” He claimed the country is “hitting all-time high stock numbers” and emphasized the stock market milestones:
- The Dow Jones reached 50,000 “in one year” when experts predicted it would take “maybe four years”
- The S&P 500 hit 7,000 in one year when it was expected to take “at least four years, could be five or six”
- He emphasized that “your 401(k)s are doing very well”
Trump characterized the situation he inherited as “a mess, a total mess” that is “now really coming along.”
Military Family Payment and Fort Bragg Name Restoration
The President referenced a $1,776 payment to military families, explaining the symbolic amount: “They came in, they said, sir, we can do $1,775. I said, oh, that’s good. They put the number—I said, you know, if we had one more dollar, it’s $1,776. I said, add a dollar, add a dollar.”
Trump made multiple references to the restoration of the Fort Bragg name, which had been changed during the previous administration. He stated: “We have your name back. We got your name back from the radical left. The radical left is not happy about it. It’s another reason you have to vote for us, because they’ll change it back to whatever it might be.”
Michael Whatley Senate Campaign Endorsement
The President gave an extended endorsement of Michael Whatley, the Republican National Committee Chairman, who is running for U.S. Senate in North Carolina:
Trump’s introduction: “This is a man who was the head of North Carolina, so—he did so well that I said, who is that guy that did so well? Because when it came time to picking the head of the Republican Party, I picked him and you saw what happened in the last election. We won in a landslide. We won every swing state, all seven swing states.”
Trump claimed to have won the popular vote “by millions of votes” and referenced his 2016 election, stating: “The first time, I won, but they say I didn’t win the popular vote. You know I did. I won it by a lot, but they say I didn’t.”
Whatley’s remarks: The Senate candidate emphasized Trump’s commitment to Fort Bragg and North Carolina military personnel: “In his term in office and in this term in office, there has never been a president who has fought for Fort Bragg, who has fought for the men and women in uniform in North Carolina, as well as our veterans, more and harder and better than Donald J. Trump.”
Whatley stated that “the highest most important function for any government is to keep its communities and its citizens safe.”
Military Recruitment Success
Trump detailed what he characterized as a dramatic turnaround in military recruitment:
Previous situation: “A year and a half ago, nobody wanted to join the military. They didn’t want to join the Army. You know that. It was, like, terrible. They didn’t want to join the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, the Marines, the Coast Guard or my beloved—how about that, Space Force?”
Current situation: “As soon as we won the election, that election took place on November 5th. From November 5th on, it was like a miracle. Now we have waiting lists for every branch of the military.”
Specific achievements:
- The Navy, Air Force, and Space Force all surpassed recruiting goals “by five months early”
- The Army is “beating its recruitment goal by 116 percent”
- “The number and the quality of recruit has never been higher”
Trump attributed this to ending “the scourge of political correctness in our military.”
Department of War Name Change
The President announced renaming the Department of Defense to the Department of War: “We renamed the Department of Defense to the Department of War. Think of it, we won World War I. We won everything, World War II and everything before, during and a little bit after, except we fought a little bit differently. We fought to be politically correct.”
Merit-Based Advancement and Supreme Court Victory
Trump emphasized implementing merit-based systems throughout government and military:
“We brought back merit as the sole consideration for advancement and promotion in our military. We won the Supreme Court case, shockingly in that case. It took courage to come up with that decision.”
He applied this principle beyond the military: “Now you want to get into a college, it’s based on merit. It’s not based on anything else. You want to get into the military, you’ve got to have a little muscle. You got to be strong, like these people here.”
Military Investment: The $1 Trillion Annual Budget
Trump announced massive military spending:
Overall investment: “This year we’re investing also $1 trillion in our armed forces, most we’ve ever spent. And next year it’s being raised.”
Battleship construction program: The President announced plans to build 10 new battleships, comparing them to World War II-era vessels like the Iowa, Alabama, and Missouri. He claimed the new battleships would be “100 times more powerful” than 1940s ships.
Trump described requesting design changes: “I’ve seen and helped design, I put a little more spirit in the hull, a little more—give me a little bit more hull and give me—I want that ship to look gorgeous. You know? Forget about stealth. They say, oh, it’s stealth. They design ugly equipment for stealth. Well, we’re designing great-looking equipment, also stealth.”
Specific equipment purchases:
- 30 new and modified Abrams tanks (Trump joked they were “named in honor of Stacey Abrams”)
- 48 new Blackhawk, Chinook, and King Stallion helicopters
- 86 armored multi-purpose fighting vehicles
Infrastructure improvements: “We’ll also be investing over $1 billion to improve on-base housing, and a lot more than that at Fort Bragg.”
Operation Midnight Hammer: Iran Nuclear Strikes
Trump provided detailed descriptions of military operations against Iran, which he called “Operation Midnight Hammer”:
Timing and execution: “Last summer, I ordered devastating strikes on Iran’s key nuclear facilities and something that was called Operation Midnight Hammer. That’s exactly what it was. 1:00 in the morning at midnight with no moon. You couldn’t see a thing.”
B-2 bomber performance: “The B-2s, the flying wing. And I didn’t understand the B-2s until then, but now I understand it very well. So does—we just ordered a lot more super-duper new model, right? But they flew in, they were totally undetected.”
Trump described meeting with the pilots: “I met the pilots, I had them down to the White House in the Oval Office. I gave them all medals, actually. And I said, do you really like doing this stuff? You know, they’re flying into very hostile territory. And, uh, they said, sir, we couldn’t wait.”
Results claimed: “Operation Midnight Hammer, achieving total obliteration of the Iran nuclear potential capability, totally obliterated. And think, every single one of those 100,000 pound bombs hit its target, which happens to be an air shaft that goes directly into the facility.”
He added: “I don’t think they’ll be building airships anymore. That’s not a good concept. They wanted to get a little air. They wanted to get a little fresh air. It didn’t work out too well.”
Venezuela: Maduro Capture Operation
Trump described the military operation that captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro:
Operation details: “Last month, we proved this truth once again, when some of our greatest soldiers, right here, to ever live, frankly, successfully captured the outlaw, dictator of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro and brought him back to face American justice, where he’s now, right now waiting.”
Base assault: “It’s a pretty military country. It was a big base, one of the biggest bases in South America, where he lived. And it was in a matter of minutes before he was on a helicopter being taken out of there. They had to go through steel doors, the steels were like—It was like papier mache.”
Equipment performance: Trump claimed that during the operation, “The Russian equipment didn’t work. The Chinese equipment didn’t work. Everyone’s trying to figure out why it didn’t work. Someday you’re going to find out, but it didn’t work.”
Casualties: “We did have three helicopter pilots who were wounded pretty badly in the legs, landing on a couple of—machine gunners seemed to have make it through a thicket of bombs. But they were taken out rapidly by our snipers who were stationed on platforms, actually unbelievable helicopter platforms all the way the line and they were taken out immediately.”
Trump expressed admiration for the wounded pilots: “They’re landing a big chopper and they’re being shot at from close range by a machine gun, so that’s not a comfortable feeling. They landed it perfectly and they got out of there perfectly.”
Peace Through Strength and War Endings
Trump claimed significant diplomatic achievements:
“I ended eight wars in just 10 months. Eight wars are ended and we have a couple of more to go but one in particular, Russia, Ukraine.”
On the Russia-Ukraine conflict: “It’s a mess, it’s a horrible thing and I think we’ll get there. It takes two to tango. You have to remember that. And we have to get there. Tremendous casualties, number of casualties.”
Trump claimed the U.S. is not spending money on the conflict: “In fact, we’re not spending any money. We are spending and sending weapons to NATO. And because of the increase from two percent to five percent of GDP that the NATO countries are paying, they pay us full for the weapons and then they distribute the weapons to mostly, I guess Ukraine, but that’s up to them.”
NATO Funding Changes
Trump repeatedly emphasized changes to NATO cost-sharing:
“We have a very good relationship with NATO, but NATO took advantage of us for many years. We were paying for almost 100 percent of NATO. Now they’re paying their own bills.”
He claimed: “I got them to pay. We took them from not paying two percent GDP to paying in full, five percent GDP, big difference, like day and night.”
Border Security Claims
Trump made claims about border enforcement:
“With the help of our military, we stopped the invasion on our southern border. For nine straight months, zero illegal aliens have been admitted into the United States and that’s done by the radical left. Those charts are made up by the radical left.”
He expressed skepticism about his own administration’s data: “So I can’t imagine that they could be wrong, because it seems hard to believe we could have had zero.”
Biden Administration Criticism
Trump repeatedly criticized his predecessor, calling him “the worst president in the history of our country”:
Afghanistan withdrawal: “That was a Biden embarrassment. What a—what a terrible president. But we came back and we, uh, already have rebuilt our military to stronger than it was even then, and we don’t leave equipment behind.”
Trump detailed the equipment left in Afghanistan: “We don’t leave jets behind. I said, why did you leave those jets behind? Sir, I thought it was cheaper to leave it behind. You know, $150 million plane. All they had to do was put a little jet fuel in there and fly it to wherever they want to fly it.”
Military rebuilding: “We rebuilt it in my first term. We had a great first term. We had the best economy in history, but this is blowing it away. But we had a great economy in the first term. We did everything, but we really created a tremendous military.”
Foreign Investment Claims
Trump made dramatic claims about foreign investment in the United States:
“I say it, the king of Saudi Arabia told me when I was there, he spent $2 trillion. We have $18 trillion being invested right now in our country from other companies and countries all over the world.”
He compared this to previous records: “The most any country has ever had is $3 trillion that was a long time ago and it didn’t happen to be us, it was another country. It starts with a C. Can you imagine what I’m talking about, China?”
Comparison to Biden administration: “As an example, in the Biden four years they had less than a trillion. Think of this, less than a trillion over four years. We have $18 trillion in 11 months because we haven’t gotten the final numbers on the 12 month, so that’s only going to go up.”
Saudi King’s quote: Trump claimed the King of Saudi Arabia told him: “You know, a year and a half ago, I thought the United States of America was finished. I thought it was dead. And now you have the hottest country anywhere in the world.”
Political Campaign Elements
Trump made several political references and endorsements:
Crime and immigration: He referenced “the monster that killed an innocent young, Ukrainian girl a couple of months ago, slitting her throat from behind,” blaming North Carolina’s former governor for allowing the perpetrator’s release.
Midterm elections warning: “If we don’t win the midterms, they’ll take it off again. They’ll take it off again. You can’t let that happen.”
Congressional support: Trump praised Representative Richard Hudson for advocating for Fort Bragg funding, joking: “He’s always bugging me for more money for Fort Bragg. I said, Richard, get off my back. And we’re going to do that. You know, they’re talking about a big compound, right? And we’re going to get that done.”
Personal Anecdotes and Supporter Recognition
Trump recognized loyal supporters: He acknowledged a group of North Carolina women who have attended “almost 200 rallies,” joking: “I have women from North Carolina, it’s about 50 or 60 of them and they followed me all over the place. Where are they? They got to be here.”
He added with humor: “I don’t know what the hell is going on with their husband because they’re, you know, traveling to California. They’re all over the place. But they’ve gone to almost 200 rallies.”
Trump mentioned they even attended international events: “Sometimes I’d see them—like, I made a speech in London. They ended up being—they must be pretty wealthy. That’s all I know, because they do a lot of traveling.”
Chief of Staff recognition: “We have Susie Wiles here also, who’s the first female chief of staff. And she’s done a fantastic job.”
First Lady’s Popularity and “Movie Star” Status
Trump praised Melania Trump multiple times:
“I want to thank Melania. Our country is truly blessed to have such a phenomenal first lady. And now she’s a movie star on top. Can you believe? She did a movie. It’s the hottest thing you’ve ever—it’s crazy.”
He elaborated on the movie’s success: “You know, who loves that movie, the ladies. They go see it three or four times. That’s what I heard. They go see it with the husband, husband really likes it a lot, but the women go back and see it.”
Joking about relocation: Trump suggested potentially moving to the Fort Bragg area: “In fact, I’m thinking about moving here someday. Maybe I’ll—maybe I’ll move here with our great movie star. I’ll move here with our first lady. We’ll move to Fort Bragg. Would you like that darling?” Melania responded, “Very much.”
Iran Diplomacy Hopes
Despite describing the military strikes, Trump expressed desire for a diplomatic resolution with Iran:
“We have a situation right now where we sent a very big carrier group to Iran. I’d love to see if we could make a deal. They’ve been difficult to make a deal. I thought we would have had a deal last time. They wished they did and that’s why we did Midnight Hammer.”
Closing Message to Troops
Trump concluded with direct messaging to the service members:
“My message to all of the warriors here today is that your commander in chief supports you totally. I have—I support you more than—I know you’ve had a couple of good ones, not that many, if you want to know the truth. But we support you more than any of them and you’re going to get out and when needed, you’re going to fight, fight, fight, you’re going to win, win, win.”
He emphasized America’s global standing: “We’re going to continue to make our country bigger and better and stronger than ever before. And that’s exactly where we are right now. We are the most respected country anywhere in the world.”
“Donald Trump Addresses Military Families at Fort Bragg, North Carolina – February 13, 2026.” Factbase, 13 Feb. 2026, transcript.
Fact-Check: Trump’s Fort Bragg Speech Claims
Stock Market Claims
CLAIM: The Dow Jones hit 50,000 and S&P 500 hit 7,000 “in one year” when experts said it would take “four years” or more.
VERDICT: MOSTLY ACCURATE with important context
Evidence:
- The Dow Jones did close above 50,000 for the first time on February 6, 2026 (closing at 50,115.67), approximately 14 months into Trump’s second term
- The S&P 500 first touched 7,000 during intraday trading on January 28, 2026, reaching a peak of 7,002.28
- Both milestones were achieved faster than some analysts had predicted in late 2024/early 2025
- However, Trump was inaugurated for his second term on January 20, 2025, so these milestones were reached approximately 12-13 months into his term, not exactly “one year” but close
Important Context:
- The stock market rally began in late 2024 and continued through 2025, driven by AI-related investments, strong corporate earnings, and Federal Reserve rate stabilization
- Markets had already been on an upward trajectory before Trump’s second inauguration
- Multiple factors contributed to market gains beyond any single administration’s policies
Sources: CNN, CBS News, S&P Dow Jones Indices, Financial Content (January-February 2026)
Military Payment Claim
CLAIM: Approximately 1.45 million service members received $1,776 payments funded by tariff revenues.
VERDICT: ACCURATE with important caveats about funding source
Evidence:
- Trump announced on December 17, 2025 that approximately 1.45 million service members would receive a one-time $1,776 payment (dubbed the “Warrior Dividend”)
- Payments were distributed before Christmas 2025, making Trump’s February 13 reference to having sent them “a couple of weeks ago” technically inaccurate by about 7-8 weeks
- Eligible recipients included active-duty service members in pay grades O-6 and below and Reserve Component members on active-duty orders of 31 days or more as of November 30, 2025
Funding Source Dispute:
- Trump claimed the payments came from “tariff revenues,” but multiple sources confirmed the $2.6 billion in payments actually came from congressionally-approved housing funds
- Congress had approved $2.9 billion for Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) supplements in the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” signed in July 2025
- The Pentagon redirected approximately $2.6 billion of these housing funds to make the one-time payments
- Defense officials described it as a “one-time basic allowance for housing supplement”
Sources: Military.com, DefenseScoop, CNN, Defense One, Federal News Network (December 2025)
Military Recruitment Claims
CLAIM: Military recruitment hit record highs after “years of recruiting shortfalls,” with the Army “beating its recruitment goal by 116 percent” and services “surpassing goals by five months early.”
VERDICT: PARTIALLY ACCURATE but significantly exaggerated
Evidence – What’s Accurate:
- Fiscal Year 2025 did see significant recruiting improvements across all services:
- Army: Goal of 61,000, achieved 62,050 (101.72% of goal) – met goal 4 months early
- Navy: Goal of 40,600, achieved 44,096 (108.61% of goal)
- Air Force: Goal of 30,100, achieved 30,166 (100.22% of goal)
- Space Force: Goal of 796, achieved 819 (102.89% of goal)
- Marine Corps: Exactly met its goal of 26,600
- All active-duty services met their FY2025 goals for the first time since 2020
- FY2024 also saw improvements after the severe crisis of FY2022-2023
What’s Exaggerated or Misleading:
- The claim of “116 percent” appears to be inflated or refers to a different metric than standard recruiting goal achievement
- The phrase “beating by 116 percent” would mean achieving 216% of the goal, which did not occur
- The improvement began in mid-2024 under the Biden administration, not specifically after Trump’s November 2024 election as strongly implied
- Recruitment success attributed to multiple factors: increased pay (4.6% raise in 2023, 5.2% in 2024, 4.5% in 2025), expanded recruitment bonuses, relaxed standards (body fat, tattoos, test scores), prep courses for marginal candidates, and increased recruiter numbers
Context on Causation:
- Pentagon officials credited the improvements to programs implemented years earlier, not to any single election or administration change
- The Defense Department noted recruiting improvements were “already off to a strong and promising start” for FY2026 by October 2025
Sources: Department of Defense reports, Military Times, National Security Journal, MyBaseGuide, ClearanceJobs, Sandboxx (2024-2025)
Operation Midnight Hammer (Iran Nuclear Strikes)
CLAIM: U.S. conducted Operation Midnight Hammer using B-2 bombers with 100,000-pound bombs that “totally obliterated” Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity, with “every single one” hitting air shafts.
VERDICT: MOSTLY ACCURATE regarding operation details; EXAGGERATED regarding complete destruction
Evidence – What’s Confirmed:
- Operation Midnight Hammer occurred on June 21-22, 2025
- Seven B-2 Spirit bombers from Whiteman Air Force Base conducted an 18-hour mission
- Dropped fourteen GBU-57A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) bombs weighing 30,000 pounds each (not “100,000 pounds” as Trump claimed)
- Targets: Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan nuclear facilities
- More than 125 U.S. aircraft participated, including fighters, refueling tankers, and surveillance aircraft
- A submarine launched over two dozen Tomahawk cruise missiles at Isfahan
- First combat use of the MOP “bunker buster” bombs
- Iranian defenses did not fire; no U.S. aircraft were shot at during the mission
What’s Exaggerated:
- Bomb weight: Trump claimed “100,000 pound bombs” but they were actually 30,000 pounds each
- Complete obliteration: Pentagon assessments found facilities were “severely damaged” but not completely destroyed
- A July 2025 Pentagon assessment estimated Iran’s nuclear program was set back approximately 2 years, not permanently eliminated
- Israeli intelligence reported that Fordow sustained serious damage but was not completely destroyed
- Iran had moved significant portions of its uranium stockpile before the strikes
- CNN reported that tunnels beneath Isfahan where highly enriched uranium was stored were not touched by the strikes
- The fate of 900 pounds of near-weapons-grade uranium remained uncertain
Additional Context:
- IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi stated that “very significant damage is expected” but noted Iran retains the industrial capacity and knowledge to resume enrichment
- The operation was preceded by Israeli strikes on June 13, 2025 that degraded Iranian air defenses
Sources: Wikipedia, CBS News, Congressional Research Service, Breaking Defense, Council on Foreign Relations, CSIS, ABC News, PBS News, GlobalSecurity.org (June-August 2025)
Venezuela – Maduro Capture
CLAIM: U.S. forces “successfully captured” Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January 2026, taking him “in a matter of minutes” from a “heavily fortified military fortress.”
VERDICT: ACCURATE
Evidence:
- On January 3, 2026, U.S. forces conducted Operation Absolute Resolve (Trump referred to it generically in his speech)
- Delta Force and other special operations forces captured Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, at approximately 1:00 AM ET from a compound in Caracas
- The operation involved more than 150 aircraft launching from 20 bases across the Western Hemisphere
- Maduro was transported to the USS Iwo Jima, then flown to New York to face narcoterrorism charges in Manhattan federal court
- A CIA team had been operating inside Venezuela for months, tracking Maduro’s movements
- Trump gave final approval for the mission on Friday, December 27, 2025 at 10:46 PM ET
Operation Details Confirmed:
- U.S. forces conducted bombing strikes on Venezuelan military infrastructure to suppress air defenses
- Delta Force breached Maduro’s residence; he attempted to flee to a “steel safe room” but was captured before reaching it
- A firefight broke out after capture; a U.S. helicopter was hit
- Several U.S. troops were injured (Trump mentioned “three helicopter pilots who were wounded pretty badly in the legs”), all survived
- By 3:30 AM ET, U.S. forces had safely exited Venezuela
Legal and Political Context:
- Maduro was under a March 2020 U.S. federal indictment for narcotics trafficking and narco-terrorism
- The operation was highly controversial under international law, with legal scholars describing it as a “significant violation of Venezuelan sovereignty”
- Vice President Delcy Rodríguez was sworn in as interim president on January 5, 2026
Sources: Wikipedia, CNN, CBS News, NBC News, House of Commons Library, Al Jazeera, Chatham House, Military.com, CSIS (January 2026)
NATO Defense Spending Claims
CLAIM: “We took them from not paying two percent GDP to paying in full, five percent GDP.”
VERDICT: MISLEADING – Confuses proposal with current reality
Evidence – What’s Actually Happening:
- NATO allies agreed at the June 24-25, 2025 Hague Summit to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP by 2035 (not currently paying 5%)
- The 5% target breaks down as: 3.5% for core military spending and 1.5% for security-related infrastructure, cyber defense, and innovation
- Spain received an exemption from the 5% requirement
- Progress will be reviewed in 2029 with a final deadline of 2035
Current Status (as of 2025-2026):
- In 2025, all NATO members except Canada were expected to meet the 2% GDP target
- 22 of 32 members were meeting the 2% goal as of 2024
- European Allies and Canada collectively spent 2.02% of GDP in 2024, up from 1.43% in 2014
- No NATO member currently spends 5% of GDP on defense
- Poland spends the most at just over 4% of GDP
Trump’s Role:
- Trump did pressure allies during his first term to increase spending from the 2% baseline
- NATO acknowledged this pressure contributed to spending increases
- However, the increase from ~1.4% to 2% occurred gradually over a decade (2014-2024), driven by multiple factors including Russia’s 2014 Crimea annexation and 2022 Ukraine invasion
What Trump Got Wrong:
- NATO members are not currently “paying five percent” – they’ve only committed to reach 5% by 2035
- The U.S. itself spends approximately 3.4% of GDP on defense, not 5%
- The claim “we were paying for almost 100 percent of NATO” is a significant exaggeration; the U.S. contributed approximately 68.7% of NATO defense spending in 2023
Sources: Peterson Institute for International Economics, PBS News, ShareAmerica, Wikipedia, NATO official website, CNBC, Stars and Stripes, Visual Capitalist (2025-2026)
Border Security Claim
CLAIM: “For nine straight months, zero illegal aliens have been admitted into the United States.”
VERDICT: HIGHLY IMPLAUSIBLE and unsupported
Evidence:
- Trump himself expressed skepticism about this claim during the speech, stating: “it seems hard to believe we could have had zero”
- He attributed the data to “charts made up by the radical left,” suggesting even he doesn’t fully trust the numbers
- No independent verification of “zero illegal border crossings for nine months” could be found
- This claim contradicts all available border security data and expert assessments
Context:
- Even with significantly enhanced border security, achieving literally “zero” illegal entries for nine consecutive months would be unprecedented and virtually impossible given the 1,954-mile U.S.-Mexico border
- Trump’s own in-speech skepticism suggests this is likely either:
- Misinterpreted data (perhaps referring to a specific category or measurement)
- Propagandistic claims he’s repeating despite doubts
- An exaggeration of reduced crossings
Wars Ended Claim
CLAIM: “I ended eight wars in just 10 months.”
VERDICT: UNVERIFIABLE without specifics
Evidence:
- Trump provided no details about which eight wars he claims to have ended
- The only specific conflict he mentioned was the Iran-Israel war, which ended with a ceasefire on June 24, 2025 (though this was only 5-6 months into his term, not 10)
- He acknowledged “a couple more to go” including Russia-Ukraine
What’s Unclear:
- No independent verification of “eight wars” ending could be found
- Trump may be counting conflicts, ceasefires, or de-escalations that others wouldn’t categorize as distinct “wars”
- The timeframe of “just 10 months” is ambiguous given he’s been in office approximately 13 months
Economic Claims
CLAIM: The U.S. has attracted “$18 trillion in foreign investment in 11 months” versus “less than a trillion over four years” under Biden.
VERDICT: UNVERIFIABLE – Extraordinary claim lacking independent confirmation
Evidence:
- This claim appears nowhere in economic reporting or government data
- $18 trillion would represent an absolutely unprecedented level of foreign investment
- For context, total U.S. GDP is approximately $28 trillion
- The claim lacks specificity about what constitutes “investment” (direct investment, portfolio investment, commitments vs. actual capital flows, etc.)
Red Flags:
- The magnitude is so extreme it would be headline news globally
- No corroborating evidence from Treasury Department, Commerce Department, or independent economic analysis
- Trump’s attribution to “the king of Saudi Arabia” is anecdotal, not data-based
Other Notable Claims
Department of Defense renamed to “Department of War”
VERDICT: ACCURATE
- Multiple sources confirm the Pentagon was renamed the “War Department” during Trump’s second term
- This represented a return to the pre-1947 name
Battleship Construction
CLAIM: Building “10” new battleships that will be “100 times more powerful” than WWII-era ships.
VERDICT: PARTIALLY VERIFIABLE
- The claim about new battleship construction is mentioned in Trump’s speech but lacks independent confirmation from Navy sources in the searches conducted
- Modern naval weapons are indeed vastly more powerful than 1940s-era systems, so “100 times more powerful” is plausible for missile/weapons systems
Summary Assessment
Most Accurate Claims:
- Stock market milestones (Dow 50K, S&P 7K) – timing slightly off but largely true
- Operation Midnight Hammer occurred with details as described (though bomb weight and destruction level exaggerated)
- Maduro capture operation happened as described
- Military recruitment did improve significantly in FY2024-2025
- $1,776 payments to service members occurred (though funding source misrepresented)
Most Misleading Claims:
- NATO members currently paying 5% GDP (they’ve only committed to reach this by 2035)
- “Zero illegal aliens” for nine months (implausible, unsupported, Trump himself expressed doubt)
- $18 trillion in foreign investment (extraordinary claim lacking any verification)
- “116 percent” recruitment success rate (actual rates were 101-108%)
- Iran nuclear facilities “totally obliterated” (severely damaged but not destroyed; 2-year setback per Pentagon)
Pattern: Trump’s speech contains kernels of truth significantly embellished with exaggerated numbers, compressed timelines, and credit-claiming for events with multiple causes.