CNN called out “a lot of lies” in President Donald Trump’s address to senior U.S. military leaders.
The litany of lies, fakes, and fantasies was all the more remarkable because the audience was a battalion of admirals and generals ordered to be there.
At the top of senior reporter Daniel Dale’s list was Trump’s claim during his speech that Joe Biden never says America has the strongest military.
Dale noted a quick Google search shows Biden has said exactly that—multiple times, including at the Air Force Academy in June 2023, when he described it as “the finest military in the history of the world.”
Trump also told the room how Biden wanted to terminate the Space Force. Dale noted there is no evidence Biden suggested that—and, in fact, the then president’s press secretary, Jen Psaki, explicitly affirmed the branch had the administration’s “full support” in February 2021.
On immigration, Trump’s oft-repeated line that Biden “let in 25 million migrants” is wildly inflated. Nonpartisan tallies show the figure isn’t close, even if you include people rapidly expelled under public-health authority during the pandemic.
Trump further asserted that Venezuela and the Democratic Republic of Congo “emptied their prisons” to flood the U.S.. Dale said there is no proof of any such policy.
Independent fact-checkers likewise reported no evidence—while noting some criminals undoubtedly migrate, organized prison “dumping” remains unsubstantiated.
The president also juiced the price tag of U.S. support for Kyiv, claiming Biden “provided $350 billion” to Ukraine. Multiple trackers and government sources put the broad total support far lower—roughly half that—depending on how you count appropriations, loans, and U.S. replenishment.
And the president’s boast that he “settled seven wars”? Well, that has been widely debunked in the past few months—even by Trump himself, as he cannot even remember which countries he‘s supposedly assisted in finding peace.
The fact-check came hours after the spectacle itself—a previously unheard-of and controversial in-person meeting of about 800 generals and admirals at Marine Corps University in Quantico, Virginia, engineered by self-styled ‘Secretary of War’ Pete Hegseth.
Hegseth used the stage to rail against “fat generals,” to ban “beardos,” and to vow sweeping culture-war reforms—moves that drew eye-rolls in the room and fury among defense officials, who blasted the address for politicizing the force.
However, Trump’s hallmark falsehoods—about 2020 being “rigged,” immigration “invasions,” and his own peacemaking prowess—are hardly new.
What was different was that the audience consisted of the nation’s top brass, who were ordered to attend. As Dale put it, there were “a lot of lies” aimed at America’s senior commanders.
The Daily Beast has contacted the Department of Defense and the White House for comment.
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