President Donald Trump is set to address a joint session of Congress on Tuesday to outline the changes he has implemented in his first six weeks in office. Some topics he may discuss include efforts to resolve the Russia-Ukraine conflict, reductions in funding for the U.S. Agency for International Development, scrutiny of Social Security beneficiaries, and stricter border security measures. However, some of the recent statements made by the Republican president on these issues have been inaccurate and misleading. Here are the facts:
**Russia-Ukraine Conflict**
During a recent Oval Office meeting, Trump criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, accusing him of being disrespectful. He also canceled a minerals deal that he claimed would have helped end the conflict with Russia. Trump’s relationship with Zelenskyy has deteriorated since he made false statements about the Ukrainian president, including labeling him as a dictator.
On February 18, Trump implied that Ukraine initiated the war during a speech at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. However, the reality is that Russia launched a full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022, claiming it was necessary to protect Russian-speaking civilians in eastern Ukraine. This aggression followed Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014 and ongoing conflicts in eastern Ukraine.
**Support for Ukraine**
Vice President JD Vance wrongly suggested that Zelenskyy had not expressed gratitude for U.S. support. In fact, Zelenskyy has publicly thanked the U.S. on multiple occasions since 2022.
**Government Budget Cuts**
The Trump administration, along with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, has targeted agencies like the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Social Security Administration for significant budget reductions. False claims have been made about their spending practices.
For example, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt inaccurately stated that USAID spent large sums on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in various countries. The truth is that only the grant to a Serbian organization was for such purposes.
In summary, while President Trump may present his accomplishments to Congress, it is crucial to separate fact from fiction in evaluating his policies and statements.
A group named Grupa Izadji received an award from USAID with the aim to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in Serbia’s workplaces and business communities. Other awards were granted by the State Department’s Office of the Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. For instance, in 2022, an Irish company was given $70,884 for a live musical event promoting shared values of diversity and inclusion. Similarly, a university in Colombia received a $25,000 grant in 2021 to raise awareness about transgender representation through an opera production, supplemented by $22,020 from non-federal sources. Another grant of $32,000 in 2022 funded a comic featuring an LGBTQ+ hero to address social and mental health issues in Peru.
Concerns have been raised by Trump and Musk about Social Security payments being made to millions of deceased individuals over age 100. While there have been improper payments to deceased individuals, the numbers cited by Musk and the White House are exaggerated. The issue partly stems from Social Security’s software system using the COBOL programming language, which may default to a birthdate reference point over 150 years ago for entries with missing or incomplete data. Despite reports highlighting shortcomings in updating death information, it does not imply that payments were being received by the individuals mentioned.
Regarding the Israel-Hamas conflict, Trump’s statements about turning Gaza into a “Riviera of the Middle East” and displacing its Palestinian population have been widely rejected by Palestinians. His claim of blocking funds for condoms in Gaza was inaccurate, as the funds awarded to the International Medical Corps by USAID were used for medical and trauma services, not for condoms. The IMC clarified that no U.S. government funding was used for procuring or distributing condoms as part of their operations in Gaza.
The surgical department has been providing around-the-clock medical care to approximately 33,000 civilians per month. According to USAID’s financial year 2023 report on contraceptive and condom shipments, which contains the most recent available data, it is highlighted that only one Middle Eastern country, Jordan, received a modest shipment of injectables and oral contraceptives valued at $45,680 for government programs exclusively. This marked USAID’s initial shipment to the Middle East since financial year 2019. Reports from USAID for the first three-quarters of 2024 reveal that the agency funded family planning programs solely in Jordan and Yemen within the Middle East.
Contributing to this story were Associated Press writers Justin Spike in Budapest and Fatima Hussein in Washington.
For more AP Fact Checks, you can visit: https://apnews.com/APFactCheck.
