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A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center

Experts Raise Doubts About Trump’s Dividend Payment Proposal

Experts Raise Doubts About Trump’s Dividend Payment Proposal

Q: Will U.S. citizens receive stimulus or tariff-based checks of $2,000 in November?

A: No checks are being issued. President Donald Trump said he wants to use tariff revenue to give “dividend” payments of “at least $2,000” to “middle-income people and lower-income people.” But no formal plan has been finalized and approved by Congress. Fiscal policy experts say there’s not enough tariff revenue for that. 

Trump Serves a Misleading Thanksgiving Meal Statistic

Trump Serves a Misleading Thanksgiving Meal Statistic

Walmart’s 2025 Thanksgiving meal consisting of pre-selected products costs about one-quarter less than last year’s meal, but it also includes fewer grocery items and different food brands. Yet President Donald Trump has been misleadingly touting the decline in the price of this year’s meal without mentioning the reasons for the big decrease.

Explaining Democrats’ Request to Restore Foreign Aid

Explaining Democrats’ Request to Restore Foreign Aid

Q: Did Democrats request funding for “climate resilience” in Honduras, “civic engagement” in Zimbabwe, and “LGBTQI+ democracy grants” in the Balkans, to end the government shutdown?

A: A Democratic proposal would restore almost $5 billion in unused funding for foreign aid that President Donald Trump let expire on Sept. 30. The proposal did not specify which international projects should receive the funds.

FactChecking Trump’s ‘60 Minutes’ Interview

FactChecking Trump’s ‘60 Minutes’ Interview

In a lengthy “60 Minutes” interview, President Donald Trump made false and questionable claims about nuclear weapons testing, inflation and military strikes in the Caribbean Sea. He also repeated numerous misleading claims he has made before on a range of topics.

Pritzker’s Inaccurate Pushback on Chicago Murder Rate Claim

Pritzker’s Inaccurate Pushback on Chicago Murder Rate Claim

Defending Chicago in a recent Fox News interview, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said it was “not in the top 30” of “big cities” with the highest rates of murder. But in 2024, Chicago had the 15th highest murder rate among U.S. cities with at least 250,000 residents, according to FBI data. It ranked higher if limiting to cities with even larger populations.

What’s in the Bolton Indictment?

What’s in the Bolton Indictment?

A federal grand jury in Maryland on Oct. 16 returned an indictment against former National Security Adviser John Bolton for mishandling classified national defense information obtained during his tenure in the first Trump administration. Here, we’ll provide information about what’s in the indictment and Bolton’s response.

WIC Becomes a Political Football in Shutdown

WIC Becomes a Political Football in Shutdown

The Trump administration has said while the federal government is shut down, tariff revenue will be used to fund a key federal program that provides food aid and other services to nearly 7 million low-income women and young children. But as the shutdown entered its second week last week, Republicans and Democrats blamed each other for that program being in a financial bind.

Evidence Behind Comey Indictment Is Unclear

Evidence Behind Comey Indictment Is Unclear

Former FBI Director James Comey was indicted by a federal grand jury on Sept. 25 for lying to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding. In this story, we cover the few details we know about the indictment and what Comey told Congress.

Trump Misleads on Climate Change and Renewables at U.N.

Trump Misleads on Climate Change and Renewables at U.N.

In an hourlong address before the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 23, President Donald Trump lashed out at those promoting “the green energy agenda.” Along the way, he made numerous false and misleading claims about renewable energy and climate change, many of which we’ve fact-checked before.