Fact-Checker Debunks Trump’s False Claims on Ukraine Aid and Tariffs

News
Alex Bollinger
March 1, 2025
9 minutes read

Trump’s net worth reached $8 billion Tuesday. (Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images)AFP via Getty Images

President Donald Trump’s recent statements on Ukraine aid and the economy are inaccurate, according to CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale. Speaking with anchor Phil Mattingly, Dale dissected Trump’s remarks following his joint news conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

The press event featured several notable moments, including Trump retracting his claim that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was a “dictator” and mistakenly referring to Starmer as the Prime Minister of “Great Britain and Ireland” in an official email update.

“What stood out to you?” Mattingly asked Dale during the broadcast. “It wasn’t the barrage of false claims we had at the president’s cabinet meeting yesterday,” Dale responded. However, he emphasized that there were “two significant things to fact-check nonetheless.” Dale first pointed to Trump’s misleading claim about the total U.S. aid provided to Ukraine.

“First of all, the president keeps using a fictional figure for how much aid the U.S. has provided to Ukraine during this war,” said Dale. “He said today it’s $300 billion to $350 billion. That is simply not true. A European think tank that closely studies this issue puts it at about $125 billion. The U.S. government has used a higher figure, as high as $185 billion, but still nowhere close to what the president says.”

Remarkably stupid, and insulting, of the Trump White House to call the British Prime Minister the “Prime Minister of Britain and Ireland.” Can someone please let King Donald and his minions know Ireland has been independent for a century? What an eejit!
🇺🇸 🇮🇪 pic.twitter.com/xntlwTtm1p
— Congressman Brendan Boyle (@RepBrendanBoyle) February 27, 2025

Another falsehood related to tariffs is a frequent point of contention between Trump and economic experts. “He was asked about his claim earlier today that it’s foreign countries, not Americans, who paid tariffs, and he stood by it,” said Dale. “He said that, you know, in the first term he put tariffs on China, took in hundreds of billions of dollars.

Study after study, including one from a bipartisan United States government commission, found that it is Americans who paid those tariffs, and it is American importers who literally make the tariff payments. So importers in this country make the payments and very often pass on those costs to American consumers.”

Dale’s fact-checking aligns with findings from multiple economic and foreign policy analysts, who have frequently challenged Trump’s assertions regarding both international trade and financial aid distribution. As Trump continues his public engagements, scrutiny over his statements remains high.