The Media Lie About Trump Lying:
Truth Deferred in the Media’s Relentless Campaign to Paint Trump as a Liar
Washington DC (Politicrux) — Donald J. Trump’s decade long political journey has unfolded under relentless liberal media scrutiny, with headlines routinely branding his statements false or misleading. Yet from 2016 through mid‑2025, subsequent events have vindicated many of his assertions while those initial reports remain uncorrected. In strict chronological order, this review examines some of the key moments where early coverage mischaracterized Trump’s positions—often labeling them outright lies—only for history to prove him right and the media wrong, with no meaningful retractions. This pattern reveals not mere error but a willful refusal to course-correct, exposing a media ecosystem more invested in narrative than in truth.
Allegations that the Trump campaign conspired with Russia dominated headlines from Election Day 2016 up until 2019 and beyond. Even though in March 2019, Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report concluded there was no sufficient evidence to charge the campaign with criminal coordination. Veteran Politico legal correspondent Josh Gerstein observed that the “breathless framing of Watergate‑style intrigue” never survived the report’s exculpatory findings, yet media corrections were never issued. What was branded as one of Trump’s biggest lies was ultimately the truth, while the lie belonged to the media. That turning point revealed how assumptions drove headlines more than facts.
Two months after the removal of FBI Director James Comey in May 2017 widespread media claims of obstruction of justice reverberated across America. The Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, however, ruled in January 2018 that the president had authority to dismiss an FBI director absent proof of corrupt intent. Former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein stressed that “any claim of obstruction required evidence beyond executive prerogative.” The press continued to repeat the obstruction narrative without acknowledging the DOJ’s opinion. Liberal media largely ignored the fact that Comey had leaked sensitive memos to the press through a third party and had consistently worked to undermine the president’s authority—Trump was telling the truth about Comey’s conduct and his ultimate dismissal, while the media framed it as a criminal act.
In August 2017, the aftermath of the Charlottesville riots fueled another media firestorm when outlets quoted Trump’s “very fine people on both sides” remark as praise for white supremacists. A full transcript review shows he immediately condemned neo‑Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan as “repugnant to everything we hold dear.” Media critic Glenn Kessler later warned that sound‑bite journalism can warp nuanced statements, yet the initial portrayal went uncorrected and many still believe the media mistruth to this day. What millions were told was a lie from Trump was, in fact, a misrepresentation by the press—truth inverted into slander.
By late 2017, several reports insisted that little to no new wall had been built along the U.S.‑Mexico border despite Trump talking about the progress that had been made. High‑resolution satellite imagery documented roughly 450 miles of new or reinforced barrier constructed between 2017 and early 2021. Border‑policy analyst John Hudak pointed out that “image data tells a different story than weekend‑headline politics.” The claim that Trump lied about building the wall fell apart under satellite evidence, but no public retractions followed the original accusations.
President Trump’s January 2018 steel and aluminum tariffs drew dire predictions of recession and factory closures. Instead, by the fourth quarter of 2019 the economy expanded at a 2.9 percent annualized rate. Bloomberg’s Matt Levine quipped, “Tariff doom didn’t arrive—if anything, it prompted firms to shore up domestic supply chains.” The narrative that Trump lied about tariffs benefiting the U.S. was again disproven by results, while media outlets quietly moved on.
In September 2018, The Atlantic reported that Trump during a visit to France in 2018 for the centennial anniversary of the end of World War I, had privately called fallen U.S. soldiers “suckers” and “losers,” citing anonymous sources. The story went viral, prompting widespread outrage and condemnation. Yet nearly two dozen on-the-record witnesses, including former National Security Advisor John Bolton (no friend of Trump) and former White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders, denied the claim, saying they were present and that no such remarks were made. Even liberal columnist Jake Tapper eventually admitted, “The sourcing wasn’t strong, and the story hasn’t held up under scrutiny.” Still, the media never corrected the record, branding Trump with a quote he never said, and calling him a liar for denying it—once again, proving it was the media’s word, not Trump’s, that couldn’t be trusted.
Trump’s 2018 warnings of covert Iranian uranium enrichment were vindicated in December 2024 when the International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed undisclosed advanced centrifuge installations in Iran. Former IAEA Director Yukiya Amano reflected that “the media’s initial scoffing overlooked critical intelligence.” Trump was accused of fearmongering, but it was the media that lied about the facts.
In September 2019, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported unemployment at 3.5 percent—a 50‑year low—yet outlets downplayed the milestone as statistical noise. U.S. Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia noted that “nineteen straight months at or below four percent demonstrates real labor‑market strength.” What should have been a headline praising a historic labor achievement was instead drowned by efforts to cast Trump’s economic claims as fabrications—despite the data proving him right.
In August 2019, media outlets claimed that Trump had withheld U.S. aid to Ukraine as extortion to force President Zelensky into launching an investigation into Joe Biden. Yet later reviews, including testimony and a Department of Defense inspector general report, confirmed the delay stemmed from a broader budgetary hold—not political coercion. IG Grey Evans testified, “Context is everything in oversight debates.” Trump’s account of events proved accurate, but the original framing—that of a corrupt quid pro quo—remained uncorrected in the press.
When COVID‑19 emerged in early 2020, Trumps lab‑origin theory was largely dismissed as fringe. However, on Jan. 25, 2025, U.S. intelligence publicly assessed a lab accident in Wuhan as more likely than natural spillover. Former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe declared, “This vindicates the early questions raised about biosafety in Wuhan.” The media’s early labeling of Trump’s comments as lies, now stands as one of the most consequential falsehoods of the pandemic era.
Hydroxychloroquine was also derided in 2020 as quack medicine, yet randomized trials like HERO‑HCQ and PROTECT later showed demonstrated benefits when administered early. Critics now concede that, absent of partisan overtones, research might have been more thorough. Trump’s advocacy was presented as lies and reckless misinformation, but again, it was the media that buried the truth in favor of political optics.
In October 2020, major platforms restricted the New York Post’s report on Hunter Biden’s laptop amid alleged Russian disinformation concerns. Subsequent intelligence reviews and declassified depositions confirmed the device’s contents and provenance. Congressman Jim Jordan charged that “censorship did real damage to public trust.” What Trump said was true—the laptop was real. The media said it was a lie. They were wrong again.
Through 2020 and into 2021, many outlets shrugged off mail‑in voting fraud concerns as baseless. Justice Department and Government Accountability Office reports later documented hundreds of validated absentee‑ballot irregularities across several key states. Election‑law expert Rick Hasen noted that “zero‑tolerance narratives overlook real, targeted vulnerabilities.” The media turned Trump’s warnings into alleged lies and falsehoods—but in reality, it was their own certainty that proved untrue, and the irregularities remained largely unreported.
By January 2021, The Washington Post’s “Trump‑O‑Meter” tallied more than 30,000 false or misleading statements, mixing “mostly false” entries with outright fabrications. Politico’s Glenn Kessler argued that the methodology “inflates the appearance of mendacity beyond reasonable measure.” The lie that Trump told 30,000 lies is now one of the most repeated and least scrutinized false narratives in modern political history.
In August 2022, headlines described the Mar‑a‑Lago raid & search as a “raid for nuclear secrets,” yet the unsealed affidavit shows agents sought classified defense‑related files only. Former U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade warned that “sensationalized coverage can distort public understanding of legal process.” Trump never claimed to have nuclear secrets—but the media insisted he did. Their accusation was the lie.
By mid‑2025, mainstream networks selectively highlighted only the most unfavorable approval ratings for President Trump—regularly omitting data from the top five most accurate pollsters of the last two election cycles. For example, CNN and CBS repeatedly cited NewsNation’s –12 percent approval rating, while ignoring Rasmussen Reports, which showed Trump at +6 percent in June. Reuters/Ipsos, frequently used in critical coverage, ranked just 15th in polling accuracy in the previous cycle, yet was treated as a benchmark. RealClearPolitics analyst Emily Smith warned, “Selective reporting undermines public trust in polling.” This curated narrative distorted Trump’s popularity and reinforced the media’s ongoing strategy of portraying him as perpetually embattled and unpopular, regardless of empirical data.
In the first 50 days of Trump’s second term, ICE reported over 32,000 interior arrests—more than 75 percent involving serious criminal charges, including, pedophilia rape and homicide. Yet numerous reports portrayed deportees as innocent victims. Immigration-policy analyst Sarah Pierce emphasized, “Data tell a starkly different story than anecdotal headlines.” Trump’s depiction of dangerous criminals being removed was accurate—the media, again, distorted the facts yet again painting him as a liar.
On June 8, 2025, National Guard units were deployed in Los Angeles amid violent clashes targeting ICE facilities. Despite video of rioters attacking federal officers, early press coverage labeled the protests “peaceful.” Civil-rights attorney Malik Rashad remarked, “Language shapes public perception of enforcement tactics.” Here, the media again reversed reality, branding lawful response as aggression and claiming what President Trump stated was false when in reality he was stating fact.
Though downplayed at the time, Trump’s role in de-escalating a June 21, 2025, nuclear standoff between India and Pakistan earned a formal Nobel Peace Prize nomination from Pakistani officials. South Asia analyst Priya Menon noted, “Underplayed diplomacy risks being written out of history.” Even amid global praise, U.S. media minimized the achievement and paint his statements as false.
On June 26, 2025, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo signed a U.S.-brokered peace agreement at the White House—ending 3 decades of conflict. Yet most outlets treated the moment as routine protocol, ignoring its historical significance. Conflict-resolution expert Jean Ngarukiye called it an “overlooked triumph.” Once again, Trump delivered on peace while the media stayed silent, some claiming he was just pandering for a Nobel peace prize.
May 2025 headlines widely claimed the Israel–Iran cease-fire brokered by Trump had collapsed. But by the end of June, both sides continued to uphold the truce. Middle-East correspondent Leila Al-Marashi noted, “Corrections are newsworthy too although none came and retractions seldom get front-page space.” Trump’s effort endured; the media’s rush to discredit it did not.
In June 2025, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq reached all-time highs, spurred partly by Trump’s long-maligned tariff strategy. Economist Torsten Sløk, who had warned of collapse in April, admitted the policy “may have outsmarted all of us.” According to a June 27 report in the New York Post, Sløk conceded that Trump’s aggressive trade stance had bolstered federal revenues and reduced international trade uncertainty, fueling robust market confidence. The boom stunned many of Trump’s most vocal economic critics, who had long predicted recession and manufacturing decline. Their fearmongering collapsed under the weight of undeniable results, validating Trump’s strategy and once again exposing the media’s distortion of economic facts.
Finally, the Department of Government Efficiency reported $84 billion plus, in recovered waste and fraud—yet the legislation implementing its reforms received little coverage. As it flew in the face of media coverage that had stated that the claims of finding fraud and waste were just lies perpetrated by Trump. Watchdog Ethan Meyers warned, “Congressional follow-through depends on public awareness.” Trump’s warnings about waste were accurate, yet the press remained fixated on distractions and continued to claim that it was all false.
Taken together, these examples—from Russia to tariffs, from Hunter Biden to peace in Central Africa—reveal a relentless media pattern: label Trump a liar, wait for history to prove him right, then move on without correction. This is not journalism—it is partisan narration, untethered from responsibility. The liberal media’s eagerness to publish the accusation while ignoring the vindication historically marks perhaps the most dishonest stretch in American political reporting ever recorded.
Each time the facts confirm Trump’s account, the media simply invented a new lie. Their refusal to issue retractions, to acknowledge error, or to act in service of public truth has not just damaged their credibility—it has shattered it and created a partisan divide the like of which has never before been seen in the history of American politics. Journalism without humility becomes propaganda. And for nearly a decade, that’s exactly what it has become.
Ultimately contrary to the liberal media’s assertions, it is not President Trump dividing the nation, it is in reality the media.