Trump said that every alleged Venezuelan drug boat his administration targets “kills 25,000 Americans.” That figure is absurd. In 2024, the U.S. saw around 82,000 drug overdose deaths total.
At a Cabinet meeting on October 9, 2025, President Donald Trump made a series of misleading and false claims, many focused on childhood vaccines.
He also misrepresented facts about drug prices, overseas conflicts, and the 2020 election. Here’s a breakdown of the most notable inaccuracies, as fact-checked by CNN’s Daniel Dale.
Trump wrongly claimed that infants are given 82 vaccines “in a shot” before they’ve “even formed.” That number isn’t remotely accurate.
According to CDC guidelines, babies typically receive fewer than 20 distinct vaccines and about 20–30 doses by 15 months—spread across multiple visits and never in one injection.
While gesturing toward a glass of water, Trump suggested vaccines are “twice the size” of that. This is entirely false. Infant vaccines are typically 0.5 milliliters, around a tenth of a teaspoon.
There’s no vaccine remotely close in volume to a glass of water, let alone two. His autism speculation has also been thoroughly discredited by scientific studies.
Trump claimed Amish people “don’t take any of this stuff” (referring to vaccines or medications) and have “no autism.” But experts say this is wrong. Some Amish communities do vaccinate and use medications like Tylenol.
Autism does exist in Amish populations, though comprehensive data is limited. The...
Trump said that every alleged Venezuelan drug boat his administration targets “kills 25,000 Americans.” That figure is absurd. In 2024, the U.S. saw around 82,000 drug overdose deaths total. At a ...