Your weekly fact-checks
#TrumpCheck
PolitiFact
False: In the past 13 months, “The typical 401(k) … is up almost $30,000.”
The stock market has gone up during President Donald Trump’s second term, but his $30,000 figure for average 401(k) gains is not supported.
Fidelity Investments data shows that during the majority of Trump’s second term, average 401(k) account balances have risen by $9,454, or about one-third of the $30,000 figure Trump cited. No age group saw an increase beyond about $16,000.
CNN
False: Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was closed after a repair project by Joe Biden and Barack Obama.
Trump said at a Monday event that after a two-year repair project under former President Barack Obama, the pool “never even opened”; he similarly said in a Monday post that the pool was “rarely open due to leaks and ‘stench’” under Obama and former President Joe Biden. In reality, the pool reopened in August 2012 and has been open for the vast majority of the days since.
#Politics
Lead Stories
False: Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni publicly point out to President Donald Trump that, out of the nine countries with nuclear weapons, the United States is the only one that has used them.
The quote is completely made up. There is no evidence or actual credible news reports of Meloni making such a comment. The video included in the post on social media does not show Meloni making the remark.
PolitiFact
True: New York state law allows citizens with dual residences to choose where they want to vote.
New York case law supports the claim that voters with two homes in New York can choose where they want to vote. The state Board of Elections confirmed that dual resident voting is permitted. If a voter wants to vote from one home instead of another for political reasons, a court said that is permitted.
#Healthcare
Africa Check
False: Kenyan senator Abdul Haji approved an Ebola quarantine facility in Garissa for US citizens.
A document posted on Facebook claims that the senator for Garissa, Abdul Haji, approved an Ebola quarantine facility in the county for US citizens. He has dismissed the document as fake.
Bride Michigan
Mostly false: Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed says he erased $700M in medical debt from the state of Michigan.
Abdul El-Sayed, a former public health official, has highlighted his work in Detroit and Wayne County prominently in US Senate bid. His efforts to erase $700 million in Wayne County medical debt have made progress, but the program has only settled $57.38 million so far. As a public health director, El-Sayed also prioritized free glasses for students, access to Narcan, air quality and lead removal in schools
#Economy
Fullfact
False: A UK housing development project in designed ‘exclusively for immigrants’.
Lincolnshire Housing Partnership has no plans to acquire homes on this site despite what is claimed and there is no evidence 100 homes on the Ferriby Fields estate are being used exclusively for immigrants. They will be a mix of social rent, shared ownership, open market sale and privately rented.
PolitiFact
False: The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act are “going to go to a lot of people that are here illegally to build houses for them.”
The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act does not mention immigrants in the U.S. illegally, and it does not change barriers to federal housing assistance for this population. The bill’s main goal is to expand affordable housing supply. People in the U.S. illegally who are renters or homebuyers could benefit from a larger supply of affordable homes — but so would American citizens and legal permanent residents.
#Tech
Lead Stories
False: Jeff Bezos said water should be used to fuel AI rather than for human consumption in a public conference.
There is no evidence that Bezos made that statement at the conference. A search of the transcript of the 49-minute session found neither the quote attributed to Bezos, nor any mention of prioritising resources for AI over humans. Bezos is Amazon's executive chairman and the founder of the aerospace company Blue Origin.
#Conflict
DW
False: Zelenskyy was killed in a Russian airstrike.
A false claim spread on social media alleging that Ukrainian President Zelenskyy was killed in a Russian airstrike, but the post used unrelated 2015 footage from the Tianjin warehouse explosion, and major Ukrainian news outlets reported nothing about the incident.
#Nordics
Tjekdet
Falsk: Et billede, der angiveligt viser en dansk skoleklasse, der udfører en muslimsk bøn.
Billedet deles af både danske og udenlandske brugere, der udtrykker stor forargelse over situationen. En X-bruger har fået chatbotten Grok til at verificere billedet, og Grok forklarer, at billedet sandsynligvis er ægte. Men billedet er skabt ved hjælp af kunstig intelligens.
#WTF?! What The Fact of the week
Snopes
True: The U.S. airdropped pianos for soldiers during World War II.
During World War II, the U.S. government airdropped specially designed "Victory Vertical" pianos—manufactured by Steinway & Sons—into war zones to boost soldier morale, complete with sheet music, tuning instructions, and parachutes. Over 3,000 of these lightweight upright pianos were sent to troops across all theatres of war between 1942 and 1953, allowing musician soldiers to play popular songs, hymns, and boogie-woogies as a source of comfort and entertainment.
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