When President Donald Trump claimed to NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Llamas in a Wednesday interview that “I’m getting – starting to get great polls on the economy,” Llamas shortly pushed again by noting that Trump’s polling on the economy is “not great.”
Trump instantly backed off his assertion, retreating to a declare that his economy-related polling “should be great.”
That was a textbook second in political interviewing – nevertheless it was one of many solely instances within the interview that Llamas challenged considered one of Trump’s false claims. Over and over, when the president repeated lies that had been debunked months or years in the past, Llamas responded simply “right” or “yeah” – or didn’t acknowledge them in any respect.
Trump’s rapid-fire dishonesty is troublesome for any interviewer to deal with, particularly given the restricted time they’re given by the White House, and it’s not unusual for them to largely ignore the serial inaccuracy to be able to get to the matters they’ve deliberate to deal with. Llamas actually requested the president varied skeptical and essential questions, together with some sharp follow-ups. And NBC published a fact check of a few of the false claims in a Wednesday article on its web site.
But Llamas’ hands-off method to the president’s falsehoods left folks watching the interview on tv and thru social media clips with out speedy corrective data on quite a lot of urgent topics. An change about inflation, for instance, was affected by a bunch of inaccurate Trump figures and assertions that Llamas let go by with the phrase “right.” And in a single case, when Trump claimed it’s solely “very few” product costs which have stubbornly refused to fall throughout this presidency, Llamas initially responded with a remark that made it sound like he was endorsing the false declare: “Yeah, very few. I get it.”
Here is a NCS reality verify of a few of Trump’s remarks within the interview. An NBC spokesperson declined to remark.
Inflation and the financial system
Prices throughout this presidency
Trump’s declare: Llamas informed Trump, “Talking about the economy, you’ve brought a lot of prices down, as we said. Some are still stubborn.” Trump responded, “Very few.”
Fact verify: It’s not “very few” costs which might be stubbornly refusing to say no. Overall costs have elevated throughout this presidency, Consumer Price Index data shows – in December 2025, common shopper costs were 2.7% higher than they were in December 2024 – and far more products have gotten more expensive since Trump’s January 2025 inauguration than have gotten cheaper.
Llamas’ response to Trump’s declare: Llamas echoed Trump’s false declare, saying, “But – but when – yeah, very few. I get it.” He then proceeded to ask Trump, “When you talk to Americans, though, do you have to get them to understand that the prices are not gonna come back down to your first term because we had a pandemic and we had record inflation?”
The inflation Trump inherited
Trump’s declare: Trump claimed, “I inherited the worst inflation in the history of our country. It was through the roof. Now, you will say it wasn’t in history, it was 48 years. You know there’s a theory. There was – I say it was the worst. But whether it’s 48 years or what, I inherited the worst inflation in the history of our country.”
Fact verify: Trump didn’t inherit the worst inflation in US historical past. The year-over-year inflation price in Biden’s final full month in workplace, December 2024, was 2.9%, and the speed within the month by which Trump took over partway by means of, January 2025, was 3.0%; these figures are solely barely increased than the newest price, 2.7% in December 2025. The price did hit a 40-year excessive, 9.1%, in June 2022, however that was not a 48-year excessive, and it was removed from the all-time high of 23.7%, which was set in 1920. Regardless, the speed then fell sharply over Biden’s final two-and-a-half years in workplace.
Llamas’ response to Trump’s declare: He mentioned “right” twice throughout these Trump feedback.
Inflation at the moment
Trump’s declare: “And now we have almost no inflation. Think of it. You know what it was for the last three months? 1.2%.” He repeated moments later, “For the last three months it’s at 1.2%. You know that.”
Fact verify: The most up-to-date year-over-year inflation price, 2.7% in December 2025, will not be “almost no inflation” by any cheap definition of that obscure phrase. And inflation wasn’t “1.2%” for the final three months; the year-over-year price was 2.7% in November 2025 and 3% in September 2025. (The authorities couldn’t calculate the October price due to data-collection points attributable to a authorities shutdown.)
Trump claimed in a newspaper op-ed final week “annual core inflation for the past three months has dropped to just 1.4%,” however: Trump used “1.2%” within the NBC interview; the maths behind even the 1.4% determine will not be clear (NCS received a results of 1.6% when utilizing a standard method of “annualizing” data); the White House ignored NCS’s requests this week for an in depth rationalization of the 1.4% determine; and Trump didn’t say within the interview that he was referring to “core” inflation, which excludes meals and vitality costs, or utilizing annualized information.
Llamas’ response to Trump’s declare: Llamas mentioned “right” when Trump claimed we now have nearly no inflation. He did interject with the present inflation price after Trump first made his “1.2%” declare; Llamas mentioned, “Inflation is down – 2.7 right now.” But when Trump repeated the “1.2%” determine and insisted “you know that,” Llamas mentioned, “Yeah. But the last – okay.” He then moved on to a different topic.
Gas costs
Trump’s declare: Trump mentioned, “You saw gasoline this last week at $1.99 a gallon. It used to be, it was $4-and-a-half, $5 a gallon – (now) $1.99 a gallon of gasoline.”
Fact verify: The nationwide common for a gallon of standard gasoline on Wednesday was about $2.89, per data published by AAA – down from about $3.12 on his inauguration day in January 2025 – and the common was $2.86 or increased each day because the begin of final week; a tiny variety of stations had been promoting fuel for $1.99 or much less throughout that interval. Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum evaluation for GasBuddy, informed NCS that every day from January 26 by means of February 2, GasBuddy discovered simply 18 to 34 fuel stations across the nation, out of about 150,000 stations GasBuddy tracks, providing fuel for underneath $2 other than particular reductions.
“An average over those dates would be 28 stations over the course of the week, or 0.018% of all U.S. stations. I think I’d rather find the needle in the haystack at that point,” De Haan mentioned in a Thursday e-mail.
Llamas’ response to Trump’s declare: None; he mentioned “yeah” moments later.
Investment within the US
Trump’s declare: Trump claimed, “I have $18 trillion being invested into the country.”
Fact verify: The $18 trillion quantity is fiction. The White House’s own website mentioned on the time of the interview that the determine for “major investment announcements” throughout this Trump time period is $9.6 trillion, and even that may be a main exaggeration; a detailed NCS review final fall discovered the White House was counting trillions of {dollars} in obscure funding pledges, pledges that had been about “bilateral trade” or “economic exchange” relatively than funding within the US, and obscure statements that didn’t even rise to the extent of pledges.
Llamas’ response to Trump’s declare: Llamas requested a follow-up query that accepted Trump’s false premise: “But when can Americans expect to feel that?”
China and tariffs
Trump’s declare: Trump mentioned of China: “Well, they’re paying a lot of tariffs, as you know. China’s paying a lot of tariffs.”
Fact verify: Tariff funds are made by importers within the US, not China and different overseas international locations, and people importers typically go on a few of their prices to customers. While overseas exporters might typically drop their costs to attempt to hold their merchandise aggressive, various analyses have found that the overwhelming majority of the prices of the tariffs Trump imposed in 2025 are being coated by a mix of US companies and US customers.
Llamas’ response to Trump’s declare: None; he mentioned “yeah” moments later.
The 2020 election
Trump’s declare: Trump lied twice concerning the 2020 election in speedy succession, saying, “I won three times.”
Fact verify: He gained twice, in 2016 and 2024, and misplaced honest and sq. in 2020.
Llamas’ response to Trump’s declare: None; he continued to ask questions concerning the topic he was making an attempt to get Trump to speak about, the likelihood that Trump can have the federal authorities pay him billions in taxpayer cash to settle a lawsuit he filed in his personal capacity, not in his official capability as president, over an unauthorized leak of his tax returns throughout his first presidency.
What Trump mentioned about elections in one other interview this week
Trump’s declare: Llamas requested, “You’ve recently suggested nationalizing elections. What do you mean by that?” Trump responded, “When – and I didn’t say national(ize) – I said there are some areas in our country that are extremely corrupt.”
Fact verify: As Llamas initially informed him, Trump did say he needed to nationalize elections; it’s not true that Trump merely mentioned some components of the nation are corrupt. Specifically, in an interview that aired Monday, Trump said: “The Republicans should say, we want to take over, we should take over the voting, the voting in at least many, 15 places. The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting.”
Llamas’ response to Trump’s declare: None; Trump shortly proceeded to make one other false declare about elections.
Elections in Detroit, Philadelphia and Atlanta
Trump’s declare: Trump, speaking concerning the interview that aired Monday, mentioned this: “I said there are some areas in our country that are extremely corrupt. They have very corrupt elections. Take a look at Detroit. Take a look at Philadelphia. Take a look at Atlanta.”
Fact verify: There is not any proof that elections in any of those cities are “extremely corrupt.” Trump has claimed for years that Democratic-dominated city areas are rife with corruption in presidential elections, however he has introduced no proof.
Llamas’ response to Trump’s declare: Llamas mentioned, “Yeah.”
The 2020 election in Fulton County, Georgia
Trump’s declare: Llamas requested Trump what he’s doing within the Georgia county by which most of Atlanta is situated, Fulton – the place FBI brokers in late January searched an elections office and seized hundreds of boxes of materials. Trump responded, “I’m not doing anything, but the FBI went in because it’s been under – under – I guess review for years, the cheating that took place in Fulton County.”
Fact verify: There is not any proof of elections dishonest in Fulton County in 2020. Trump has for years made false claims concerning the county’s dealing with of the 2020 election, which have been repeatedly debunked – together with in feedback made on to Trump, greater than 5 years in the past, by Georgia’s Republican elections chief and by a top Trump administration appointee in his first-term Justice Department.
Llamas’ response to Trump’s declare: None. Instead, he requested Trump what the FBI brokers are in search of.
Foreign affairs and immigration
Trump’s strikes on alleged drug boats
Trump’s declare: Touting his navy strikes on alleged drug-trafficking boats within the Caribbean and Pacific, Trump mentioned, “Each boat that we knock out we save 25,000 American lives.”
Fact verify: This “25,000” quantity clearly doesn’t make sense – even other than the truth that the Trump administration has not introduced public proof for his repeated claims that the boats carried fentanyl, the drug concerned in probably the most overdose deaths. The whole variety of US overdose deaths from all medication in 2024 was about 82,000, in response to provisional federal data. The president’s determine is “absurd,” Carl Latkin, a professor on the Johns Hopkins University faculty of public well being with a joint appointment at its medical faculty, mentioned in October. You can learn an extended reality verify here.
Llamas’ response to Trump’s declare: None; Trump shortly pivoted to an anecdote concerning the president of China.
Foreign governments, jails and migration
Trump’s declare: Trump claimed, “You know, jails have been emptied into our country from all over the world.” He then added, “But from Venezuela, from the Congo in Africa, from all over the world, jails, the jail population, was emptied into our country.”
Fact verify: Trump has by no means confirmed these claims about Venezuela, “the Congo,” or international locations “all over the world.” Experts on Venezuela, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the neighboring Republic of Congo said in the course of the Biden administration that they’d seen no foundation for Trump’s tales, the governments of each of the Congo international locations told NCS the stories are false, and an skilled on the worldwide jail inhabitants has told NCS that she has seen “absolutely no evidence” of any nation emptying jails to one way or the other launch prisoners into the US throughout both the Biden administration or this Trump administration. (Trump was barely vaguer than typical right here, however he has typically claimed that overseas governments have intentionally emptied prisons and psychological well being amenities to one way or the other ship undesirable residents to the US as migrants.)
Llamas’ response to Trump’s declare: Llamas mentioned “mmhmm,” “right” and “yeah” throughout these Trump remarks.
Migration underneath Biden
Trump’s declare: Trump claimed that, underneath Biden, “We allowed in our country, I say, 25 million people.”
Fact verify: The “25 million” determine is fake; even Trump’s earlier “21 million” determine was a wild exaggeration. Through December 2024, the final full month underneath the Biden administration, the federal authorities had recorded underneath 11 million nationwide “encounters” with migrants throughout that administration, together with thousands and thousands who had been quickly expelled from the nation. Even including within the so-called gotaways who evaded detection, estimated by House Republicans as being roughly 2.2 million, there’s no method the full was even near what Trump has mentioned.
Llamas’ response to Trump’s declare: None; he mentioned “yeah” moments later after some extra Trump feedback about immigration.
Biden, migration and murderers
Trump’s declare: “We have 11,888 murderers that Biden and his group let into our country. We’ve captured a lot of them. We’ve brought some of ’em back. A lot of ’em we don’t wanna bring back, because we don’t trust the country that they’re not sent back again.” He repeated the “11,888 murderers” declare moments later.
Fact verify: Trump was inaccurately describing federal information. The Department of Homeland Security and impartial consultants have noted that the determine it seems Trump is referring to when he makes use of the “11,888” quantity is about non-citizens who entered the US not just below Biden however over the course of a number of many years, together with throughout Trump’s personal first administration. They had been convicted of murder in some unspecified time in the future, normally within the US after their arrival, and are nonetheless within the US whereas being listed on Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s “non-detained docket” – which incorporates people who find themselves presently serving their jail sentences, not roaming free as Trump has additionally claimed.
Llamas’ response to Trump’s declare: Llamas mentioned “yeah” after each Trump’s first quote and second quote.
Russia and elections
Trump’s declare: Talking about overseas interference in US elections, Trump mentioned, “And everybody knows that Russia – they talked about Russia, turned out to be a hoax. It was – Hunter Biden. It wasn’t Russia.”
Fact verify: Russian interference within the 2016 election didn’t develop into a hoax. It occurred. An investigation led by particular counsel Robert Mueller concluded that “the Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election in sweeping and systematic fashion” and that it did so with the intention of serving to Trump beat Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
“First, a Russian entity carried out a social media campaign that favored presidential candidate Donald J. Trump and disparaged presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Second, a Russian intelligence service conducted computer-intrusion operations against entities, employees, and volunteers working on the Clinton Campaign and then released stolen documents,” the Mueller report mentioned.
Trump has typically seized on the truth that the Mueller report mentioned the investigation “did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities” to declare that claims about him or his marketing campaign having colluded with Russia had been a “hoax.” But Mueller discovered proof the Trump marketing campaign felt it could profit from these interference actions and that there have been “numerous links between individuals with ties to the Russian government and individuals associated with the Trump Campaign,” although “the evidence was not sufficient to support criminal charges.”
Regardless, the Russian interference itself was clearly actual.
Trump’s complicated remark about Hunter Biden, son of former president Joe Biden, might have been a reference to how some social media firms briefly suppressed a damaging information story concerning the youthful Biden late within the 2020 election marketing campaign, by which Trump ran towards the elder Biden. That has nothing to do with the very fact of Russian interference within the 2016 marketing campaign, by which Trump ran towards Clinton.
Llamas’ response to Trump’s declare: He mentioned “yeah” moments after Trump’s comment.
NCS’s Alicia Wallace and Marshall Cohen contributed to this text