In a two-hour talk with Elon Musk on his platform X, Donald Trump made several questionable and false statements that were mostly not challenged. The Republican presidential candidate discussed topics he’s focused on before, like illegal immigration and rising prices, and he also spoke about climate change. TWT Verify has been fact-checking some of his statements.
How fast are sea levels set to rise?
Claim: “The biggest threat isn’t global warming, where the ocean is only going to rise by one-eighth of an inch over the next 400 years.”
Reality: Trump’s estimate is far too low.
Between 2014 and 2023, sea levels have been rising by nearly 4.8mm (0.19 inches) each year, according to the World Meteorological Organization. This is already much more than the one-eighth of an inch (0.13 inches) Trump says will happen over 400 years.
Future sea-level rise is hard to predict exactly, as it depends on factors like ice-sheet melting and greenhouse gas emissions. However, the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates that sea levels could rise between 0.28 and 1.01 meters (about 1 to 3.3 feet) by 2100. This level of rise could cause severe flooding for hundreds of millions of people and submerge parts of low-lying countries like the Maldives.
Have 20 million crossed the border?
Claim: “I think 20 million people have crossed the border… I think millions are coming every month.”
Reality: It’s unclear exactly how many illegal immigrants have crossed the southern border during President Biden’s term. Official data shows record levels, but not as high as Trump claims.
Since January 2021, the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reports 10.1 million encounters with illegal migrants, with over 8 million of these at the southern border. However, these numbers don’t mean all of these people entered the US—some may have been sent back, and the same person could be counted multiple times if they tried to cross more than once.
While the numbers are higher than during Trump’s presidency and represent the highest recorded under any US administration, they still don’t match Trump’s claims.
Migrant numbers at the US-Mexico border
Total number of encounters by US border patrols, per month
The data doesn’t support the claim that “millions” are coming every month either. In July, US Border Patrol agents caught about 57,000 migrants at the southern border—the lowest number since September 2020.
This is a significant drop from the peak in December 2022 under President Biden, when around 250,000 migrants were apprehended crossing the border.
Is bacon five times more expensive?
Claim: “I think we have the worst inflation in 100 years… bacon costs four or five times more than it did a few years ago.”
Reality: This claim is false. Inflation under President Biden peaked at 9.1%, the highest in 41 years, not 100. Bacon prices have increased by 17% since Trump left office, not four or five times.
Inflation did rise significantly during Biden’s first two years, reaching its highest level since 1981. This was similar to many other Western countries, where inflation surged due to global supply chain issues from COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine. Some economists also point to Biden’s $1.9 trillion spending plan in 2021 as a contributing factor.
However, US inflation has been decreasing since mid-2022, with the latest figure at 3% as of June. As for bacon, the price for a pound was $5.83 in January 2021 when Trump left office and is now $6.83.
Did Trump build hundreds of miles of border wall?
Claim: “I built hundreds of miles of wall” to protect the southern border.
Reality: This claim is mostly accurate. The exact length of the border wall built during Trump’s presidency varies depending on what is counted. If you include new sections, as well as parts that were replaced or reinforced, more than 450 miles of wall were constructed.
A report by US Customs and Border Protection states that a total of 458 miles of border wall were built under Trump. However, only 85 miles were entirely new sections, with the rest being replacements or reinforcements of existing barriers.
When President Biden took office, he suspended construction, but last year his administration approved building a 20-mile section of wall in southern Texas to help address rising levels of immigration.
Published: 13th Aug 2024
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