Fact check Trump spread this fake news at his inauguration

US President Donald Trump's inauguration speech lasted around half an hour. He spoke about the election, illegal migration and the fires in California. A review of five of his claims.

DPA

20.01.2025, 23:16

dpa

In his inauguration speech, Donald Trump presented many topics of his upcoming presidency and backed them up with alleged facts. Not all of them stand up to scrutiny.

"More money is spent on it than in any other country in the world."

Facts

True. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the US healthcare system cost USD 12,555 (CHF 11,384) per capita in 2022. This put the USA in first place, which was around twice as much as the OECD average.

"[The government] provides sanctuary and protection to dangerous criminals, many from prisons and mental institutions, who have come to our country illegally from around the world."

Facts

There is no evidence for this. Trump has already made this claim several times during the election campaign. In May, for example, he said that Democratic President Joe Biden was "letting millions of people into the country from prisons, from mental institutions, from psychiatric institutions and drug dealers". When asked at the time, Trump's campaign team did not provide any evidence for his thesis, according to CNN. Other US media also found no evidence.

In the financial years 2021 to 2024 (October to September), the US Border Patrol detained around 60,000 non-US citizens with criminal convictions. This is based on data from the agency. Not all of them entered American soil. During the same period, more than 7.5 million people were apprehended who crossed the border illegally. This included people who were apprehended on multiple attempts.

"We are not aware of any country or other jurisdiction trying to empty its mental health facilities or its jails and detention centers to send people with mental health issues or criminals to the U.S.," Michelle Mittelstadt, a spokeswoman for the nonpartisan research organization Migration Policy Institute, told the New York Times in December 2023, for example.

"We won a clear victory in all seven swing states and won the most votes nationwide."

Facts

True. In fact, Trump received more than 77.3 million votes in the November election - more than his rival Kamala Harris (around 75 million). Trump also won all the so-called "swing states", i.e. the states that were considered particularly contested before the election between Democrats and Republicans and therefore important for the election.

"Los Angeles, where the fires from weeks ago are still tragically burning without even a hint of resistance."

Facts

This is not correct. Biden declared the affected region around Los Angeles a disaster area in early January. This allows communities and survivors to immediately apply for federal funds for reconstruction. He also announced emergency aid of 770 dollars each for those affected.

Almost 17,000 helpers, including firefighters from Mexico and Canada, were deployed on site in California to fight the fires.

"American ships are being grossly overcharged and are not being treated fairly in any way, [...] and most importantly, China operates the Panama Canal and we did not turn it over to China."

Facts

False. The waterway is operated by the Panama Canal Authority - not by China. The state authority is committed to neutrality and must allow ships from all countries to pass under the same conditions. "China has no influence whatsoever on our operations," Ricaurte Vásquez Morales, head of the authority, recently told the Wall Street Journal.

Today, around 14,000 ships pass through the sea route every year. The fees are calculated according to the type, size and cargo of the ships. The prices are considered standard market rates, with larger cargo ships paying several 100,000 US dollars for the passage. In 2023, the canal company collected around 3.3 billion dollars (3 billion Swiss francs) in passage fees.