State of the Truth Address

FactCheck, a nonpartisan, nonprofit “consumer advocate” for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics, has monitored the factual accuracy of what was said by President Donald Trump in the State of the Union Address on February 24 2026. Their goal is to apply the best practices of both journalism and scholarship, and to increase public knowledge and understanding.

Fact Finding the State of the Union Address

Trump SOTU Fact Check Full story here: https://www.factcheck.org/2026/02/factchecking-trumps-state-of-the-union-address/
	Trump’s State of the Union Address	Fact Checking the SOTU Address
1	Trump falsely claimed that he inherited “a stagnant economy” with “inflation at record levels.”	Annual growth in real GDP was 2.5% or higher each year under former President Joe Biden, and the annual inflation rate was down to 3% from its peak of 9.1% peak when Trump took office.
2	The president went on to claim that the economy “is roaring like never before,”	Real GDP growth in 2025 was down to 2.2%, according to a federal estimate. Also, the unemployment rate has increased slightly under Trump.
3	He misleadingly claimed that prices are “plummeting downward” because of his policies.	The annual rate of inflation has declined, but prices overall are still increasing.
4	Trump’s claim that “more Americans are working today than at any time in the history of our country,”	while accurate, doesn’t account for population growth. Job growth slowed a bit last year.
5	The president misleadingly claimed that Americans “will now pay the lowest price anywhere in the world for drugs.”	The administration’s negotiations with drug companies may have lowered prices for some specific drugs in certain situations, but there is no evidence of a widespread decline in prices.
6	The president continued to exaggerate the decline in gasoline prices, saying they are “now below $2.36 a gallon in most states.”	In no state was the average that low. And the nationwide average is $2.94.
7	He claimed to have presided over a “tremendous renewal” of religion in America,	Recent polling has found the opposite.
8	Trump claimed that $1,776 “warrior dividend” bonus checks paid to military personnel came from tariff revenue.	It was actually a reallocation of funds initially earmarked for an increased housing allowance.
9	The president repeated his unsupported claim that many immigrants came from “prisons” and “mental institutions,”	He wrongly claimed that the Biden administration allowed in “11,888 murderers.”
10	Trump boasted about stock market gains since his election	The gains were less than each of the last two years under Biden.
11	He exaggerated when he said his signature legislation eliminated tax on tips, overtime and Social Security benefits for seniors.	The tax breaks are substantial but do not apply to all individuals.
12	As he has for years, Trump insisted, without evidence, that “cheating is rampant in our elections.”	He claimed legislation was needed “to stop illegal aliens” from voting, though evidence suggests that’s rare.
13	Trump claimed that the federal budget could be balanced “if we’re able to find enough of that fraud.”	The most recent budget deficit was $1.8 trillion, more than three times higher than the highest federal estimate of government money lost annually to fraud.
14	Trump claimed that he inherited “rampant crime at home” and later boasted that “last year, the murder rate saw its single largest decline in recorded history.”	Crime and murder was down last year, continuing a trend that began in 2022.
15	Trump made the dubious claim that his increased tariffs would one day replace income taxes,	Something many economists say doesn’t add up.
16	Trump claimed that the U.S. “obliterated Iran’s nuclear weapons program” last year.	Experts have said the program was damaged but not destroyed, and Trump is now considering military action over Iran’s nuclear program.
17	Trump said “American oil production is up by more than 600,000 barrels a day,”	Crude oil production increased by 334,600 barrels per day in his first full 10 months in office.
18	He also claimed that U.S. natural gas production increased to “an all-time high” because he “kept” his “promise to drill, baby, drill.”	Production of natural gas was already at record levels before he took office.

Fact Finding the State of the Truth Address February 24, 2026

Trump’s Feb. 24 address was longer than any prior SOTU, clocking in at over 1 hour and 47 minutes, as measured by the American Presidency Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

References

By Robert Farley, D'Angelo Gore, Lori Robertson, Jessica McDonald, Kate Yandell, Saranac Hale Spencer, Sanjana Juvvadi, Andrew Noh and Ashley Wang. (n.d.). FactChecking Trump’s State of the Union Address. FactCheck.org - A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center. Retrieved February 25, 2026, from https://www.factcheck.org/2026/02/factchecking-trumps-state-of-the-union-address/ 

Life Cycle Emissions ICE or EV

Gasoline car emissions have been reduced in the UK and Norway. Barry Saxifrage reports that their most effective single policy has been a "polluter pays" tax added to new cars. Specifically, they calculate the purchase tax for new cars based on car weight, CO2 emissions and NOx emissions.

Barry Saxifrage's first chart shows the relative climate emissions from fuelling our cars with gasoline and electricity.

Research shows that making a gasoline car is currently a bit less climate-polluting than making an electric car. Around 2 tCO2 less. But this small advantage gets wiped out many times over by the extra emissions from fuelling the car.

A chart showing the latest vehicle registration numbers from Statistics Canada shows that electric cars are a thin green frosting on top of an ever-expanding fleet of burnermobiles. For every new electric car added to our roads over the last five years, we've added 10 more gasoline cars.

The trend in Canada is an increase in purchases of gasoline cars, SUV’s, and trucks as contrasted by decreases in these purchases in Norway, UK, France, Germany, Sweden, and Japan. Barry Saxifrage notes that the most effective single policy in Norway has been a "polluter pays" tax added to new cars. Specifically, they calculate the purchase tax for new cars based on car weight, CO2 emissions and NOx emissions. This can nearly double the cost of buying a polluting gas guzzler. Imagine Canada bringing in an 80 per cent sales tax on big, new gas-guzzling SUVs and you've got the basic idea.

As Canadians switch to electric vehicles in response to the increasing cost of gasoline and concern for the effect of greenhouse gas emission on the increasing frequency and severity of climate events in our country, we may find “polluter pay” taxation to be an effective strategy

References

Saxifrage, B., & Woodside, J. (2023, February 24). Gasoline versus electric cars? Here's how their life cycle emissions compare in Canada. National Observer. Retrieved February 24, 2023, from https://www.nationalobserver.com/2023/02/24/analysis/gasoline-versus-electric-cars-life-cycle-emissions-compared-canada

Backsliding on Climate Action

Even as the world is enduring another season of wildfires, droughts, floods, and intense storms, there is political and economic pressure to return to oil and gas projects that may be applied to compensate for the reduction of Russian exports of these products to Europe while the war in Ukraine continues.

More gas and oil production?

Frances Willick of CBC News reports on renewed signs of interest in Goldboro and Bear Head gas projects in our region.

"The world has changed a lot since then," Pieridae CEO Alfred Sorensen told CBC News Tuesday. "We have to take advantage of all the work we've done already and try and see if we can move the project forward very quickly."

The company is now shifting its attention back to a land-based project because it would be able to produce more gas than a barge-based facility, and the federal government is interested in maximizing output, Sorensen said.

Asked what type of supports Ottawa is offering to Pieridae, Sorensen said, "hopefully more than prayers and hugs."

"I think it is going to be a combination of regulatory and financial support. There's no doubt about that." (Willick, 2022)

Cloe Logan of the National Observer reports on calls by environmental groups to require a proposed LNG facility in Nova Scotia to undergo environmental assessment. Mike Sawyer, executive director of the Citizens’ Oil & Gas Council, said it needs a federal assessment.

“The proposed Pieridae LNG export scheme is part of the Big Lie that natural gas, and therefore LNG, is environmentally friendly and will help combat climate change…” said Mike Sawyer, executive director of the Citizens’ Oil & Gas Council. (Logan & Fawcett, 2022)

Kenny Sharpe of CBC News notes that as Russian military aggression in Ukraine reaches the six-month mark, governments and energy industry lobbyists, including Canada's, are floating the idea that adding LNG capacity could help circumvent Europe's reliance on Russia's oil and gas supply. But there's backlash to the idea, with one demonstrator in Hamburg suggesting that to invest more in LNG would be "climate suicide," exacerbating already high levels of carbon in the atmosphere.

"In general there's the idea that Europe needs LNG to stay warm in the winter and this is really a lie," Toni Lux told CBC News from the site of a protest camp set up this week in northwest Hamburg.

Other Canadian oil and gas suppliers also say they're eager to expand further into Europe, with GNL Quebec saying it could help "Europe to diversify its energy sources."

Alberta-based Pieridae Energy has proposed a multibillion-dollar pipeline to ship natural gas from Western Canada to Nova Scotia, where it could then be sent across the Atlantic. (Sharpe & Burns, 2022)

The price we pay for increasing gas and oil production may include a more dangerous and  less habitable world for our children and grandchildren as the average earth temperature rises.

References

Logan, C., & Fawcett, M. (2022, August 12). Environmental groups call on feds to review proposed LNG facility in Nova Scotia. National Observer. Retrieved August 13, 2022, from https://www.nationalobserver.com/2022/08/12/news/environmental-groups-call-feds-review-proposed-lng-facility-nova-scotia 

Sharpe, K., & Burns, A. F. (2022, August 14). Worried about a warming world, thousands of Germans reject using LNG — including Canada's. CBC. Retrieved August 15, 2022, from https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/germany-lng-energy-crisis-1.6549991 

Willick, F. (2022, May 11). 2 stalled LNG projects in Nova Scotia may be on the brink of revival. CBC. Retrieved May 11, 2022, from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/2-lng-proposals-could-move-forward-bear-head-goldboro-1.6447671