Trump Action Archive

Supporting reports

• CBS News hires Trump loyalist Kenneth Weinstein as ombudsman to review news coverage — CBS News appointed Kenneth R. Weinstein, former president of the Hudson Institute and a Trump supporter with no news experience, as ombudsman to evaluate complaints of bias at the network. Weinstein will report to Jeff Shell, president of Paramount (CBS's parent company). The appointment was made as part of Paramount's efforts to secure Trump administration approval for its $8 billion merger with Skydance. Weinstein has a documented record of praising Trump's policies and criticizing Trump's political opponents in public statements dating back to 2018.

Supporting reports

• Paramount considers acquiring Bari Weiss's The Free Press and hiring Weiss for editorial role — Paramount is reportedly considering purchasing Bari Weiss's right-leaning publication The Free Press and positioning Weiss for a CBS News role tasked with "guiding the editorial direction of the division." The Free Press frequently publishes pieces criticizing progressive causes including diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. This move is part of Paramount's broader effort to align its editorial direction with Trump administration preferences.

Supporting reports

• DNI Gabbard directs NSA to recall classified Venezuela report — Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard directed the NSA to recall a classified report about Venezuela despite agency staff affirming it was accurate and complied with all NSA policies. The report related to Trump special envoy Richard Grenell and included conversations Grenell had with Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, as well as NSA-collected information about Grenell. An unclassified addendum directed staff to remove the original report from all manual and computer files.

Supporting reports

• CBS News changes "Face the Nation" editing policy after Trump administration pressure — CBS News announced it will change the editing policy for its program "Face the Nation" to air only live or unedited interviews, following criticism from the Trump administration. The change came after Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem targeted the program, claiming an interview she gave was deceptively edited. Noem objected to CBS cutting a segment in which she made unsubstantiated claims about a deportee; the claims were denied by the subject and were not part of criminal charges against him.

Supporting reports

• White House Press Secretary falsely attributed signature analysis article to Daily Signal — White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed that the Daily Signal had published an article with "three separate signature analysts" concluding the letter's signature was not authentic. The Daily Signal published no such article. The Daily Wire, a different conservative outlet, published an article claiming "3 forensic analyses" but actually only ran the letter through AI models, which falsely claimed Trump had never used words like "enigma" that appear in the letter. Expert Thomas W. Vastrick, president of the American Society of Questioned Document Examiners, told the Washington Post the signature was "very consistent" with Trump's known signatures.

Supporting reports

• Rightwing influencer accompanies ICE agents during enforcement raids in Chicago — Ben Bergquam, a far-right internet personality, accompanied Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents during raids in Chicago on Sunday, filming content and confronting local residents. ICE arrested four people on the city's southwest side. Bergquam, who has a history of spreading false claims about migrants and federal agencies, was present in vehicles with agents and later yelled at protesters that they were "the enemy within." The Department of Homeland Security did not confirm whether Bergquam was authorized to participate in enforcement operations.

Supporting reports

• Trump's message in Epstein birthday book published; White House denies signature authenticity — On September 8, 2025, a 238-page scrapbook given to Epstein for his 50th birthday was made public, containing a message bearing Trump's signature. The message depicted an imagined conversation between Trump and Epstein, concluding "Happy birthday – and may every day be another wonderful secret." The White House claimed the signature was not Trump's, despite it appearing identical to numerous public examples of his signature.
• White House denies Trump's signature on suggestive Epstein birthday note; claims forgery — White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt denied that President Trump signed or wrote a sexually suggestive letter to convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein that was released by the House oversight committee on Monday. The letter, part of Epstein's 2003 birthday book, included a drawing of a naked woman's torso and an imagined conversation between Trump and Epstein. Leavitt stated that three signature analysts concluded the signature was not authentic and that Trump's external legal team is pursuing litigation against the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the letter's existence in July.
• Trump's legal team pursues litigation against Wall Street Journal over Epstein letter reporting — Trump's external legal team is pursuing litigation against the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the existence of the suggestive letter to Epstein in July 2025. The White House press secretary cited this litigation as part of the administration's effort to challenge the authenticity of the signature on the letter and discredit the reporting.

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• Oversight Democrats released Trump's birthday card to Jeffrey Epstein — House Oversight Democrats released a photograph of a birthday card to Jeffrey Epstein signed by Trump, which Trump and Vice President Vance had previously stated did not exist. The card contains a message referencing a "wonderful secret" shared between the two men. Trump's legal team announced plans to pursue litigation against the Wall Street Journal and its parent company News Corp, claiming defamation. Trump supporters disputed the signature's authenticity on social media, while reporters noted Trump frequently signed only his first name during the same era and that the card had been stored in Epstein's estate papers for over 20 years.

Supporting reports

• White House Press Secretary denied authenticity of Epstein birthday card — White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt issued a statement claiming the birthday card story is false and asserting that President Trump did not draw or sign the picture. She announced that Trump's legal team would "aggressively pursue litigation" against the Wall Street Journal and News Corp.
• White House Press Secretary falsely attributed signature analysis article to Daily Signal — White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed that the Daily Signal had published an article with "three separate signature analysts" concluding the letter's signature was not authentic. The Daily Signal published no such article. The Daily Wire, a different conservative outlet, published an article claiming "3 forensic analyses" but actually only ran the letter through AI models, which falsely claimed Trump had never used words like "enigma" that appear in the letter. Expert Thomas W. Vastrick, president of the American Society of Questioned Document Examiners, told the Washington Post the signature was "very consistent" with Trump's known signatures.

Supporting reports

• USTA requested broadcasters censor Trump protests at US Open — The U.S. Tennis Association sent an internal email to US Open broadcasters requesting that they censor any protests or negative crowd reactions to President Trump's attendance at Sunday's men's final between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. The email stated: "We ask all broadcasters to refrain from showcasing any disruptions or reactions in response to the President's attendance in any capacity." Trump was planning to attend as a "sponsor guest" of Rolex.

Supporting reports

• Department of Defense falsely claimed Pete Hegseth received valor medal — The Department of Defense posted a video claiming Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth was the "recipient of the bronze star medal for valor." Pentagon reporter Konstantin Toropin fact-checked the claim, noting that public records show Hegseth received two Bronze Stars but neither was "for valor"—a specific distinction requiring special devices. The DOD later deleted the video.

Supporting reports

• DOJ delays FOIA response on Epstein to November 2027 — In response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed in January 2025, the Justice Department informed Marsh Law Firm (representing survivor Maria Farmer) that it would not respond until November 2027—nearly three years later. Attorney Jennifer Freeman characterized this delay as "abysmal and completely unacceptable" and part of a pattern of obstruction.

Supporting reports

• DOJ denies release of additional Epstein files and claims client list does not exist — In July 2025, Attorney General Pamela Bondi announced that the Justice Department and FBI would not release additional Epstein files and claimed that a purported Epstein client list does not exist. This announcement contradicted earlier public commitments to transparency and provoked significant controversy, particularly after reporting revealed that Trump's name appeared multiple times in the Epstein files.

Supporting reports

• PBS laid off 34 employees due to Trump defunding — PBS laid off 34 employees due to Trump's defunding of the public broadcaster.

Supporting reports

• Rep. Massie introduced discharge petition to force Epstein files release vote — Republican Rep. Thomas Massie introduced what's known as a discharge petition in an effort to force a vote on the release of the Epstein files. The measure must receive 218 signatures to succeed. A White House official later told NBC News in an email that Republicans deciding to sign on to the "attention-seeking" petition "would be viewed as a very hostile act to the administration."

Supporting reports

• Trump fired previous director of Bureau of Labor Statistics — Trump fired the previous director of the Bureau of Labor Statistics after accusing her of rigging the numbers for political reasons. The firing occurred before the release of the August jobs report, which showed the U.S. added only 22,000 jobs—far below the expected 75,000—and revised downward June and July figures by 21,000 jobs.
• Trump administration fires BLS director and replaces with partisan operative — Following weak August jobs numbers, the Trump administration removed the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics and replaced her with a partisan operative described as having little economic expertise. The move signals intent to alter official economic data reporting. This follows a pattern of replacing career officials with loyalists in positions responsible for collecting and publishing key economic statistics.

Supporting reports

• DOJ official caught on hidden camera discussing Epstein file redactions — The acting deputy chief of a Justice Department unit was caught on a hidden camera by the far-right O'Keefe Media Group saying that the government will "redact every Republican" from a list of Epstein associates and "leave all the liberal, Democratic people in those files." He also said Ghislaine Maxwell was transferred to a minimum-security prison in an effort to offer "her something to keep her mouth shut." In a statement, the official said his comments were based on "what I've learned in the media and not from anything I've done at or learned via work." On Twitter, a DOJ spokesperson said the official's comments "have absolutely zero bearing with reality and reflect a total lack of knowledge of the DOJ's review process."

Supporting reports

• House Oversight Committee released 33,000 Epstein documents with minimal new information — The House Oversight Committee "released" more than 33,000 documents from the Epstein files, but they appeared to contain information already in the public domain, with Democrats saying 97% of them weren't new. The release fell short of transparency expectations.

Supporting reports

• Media coverage reinforces false crime narrative despite contradictory data — ABC News published an article on Tuesday with the headline "58 shot over Labor Day weekend in Chicago as governor rejects Trump threat to send National Guard," which reinforces Trump's misleading crime characterization. The article does not mention until the 35th paragraph that violent crime in Chicago has dropped significantly in the first half of 2025. The underlying assumption—that military deployment reduces crime—goes unscrutinized, despite research showing police militarization does not reduce crime and may diminish police reputation in communities of color.

Supporting reports

• Trump dismissed video of object thrown from White House window as AI-generated — When asked by Fox News correspondent Pete Doocy about a viral video showing someone throwing a large bag from an upper-floor window of the White House, Trump claimed the video was AI-generated and stated that White House windows are "heavily armored and bulletproof" and cannot be opened. A White House spokesperson subsequently issued a statement confirming the video was authentic, stating it showed "a contractor doing regular maintenance while the president was gone."

Supporting reports

• White House issues fact sheet claiming labor market gains and worker-focused policies — The White House published a fact sheet on Labor Day asserting that President Trump has created over half a million private-sector jobs, driven native-born employment gains of 2.4+ million, reduced regulations, achieved trade deals covering over half global GDP, issued guidance restricting illegal immigrants' access to federal workforce development resources, signed an executive order modernizing workforce programs, and enacted tax legislation the administration characterizes as delivering over $10,000 in annual take-home pay increases for typical families and creating nearly one million jobs.
• White House issued promotional release on tariffs, border enforcement, and federal workforce policy — The White House published a promotional release claiming record tariff revenues ($31 billion in August, $158 billion year-to-date), citing a Congressional Budget Office projection of $4 trillion deficit reduction over ten years. The release also claims a federal return-to-office order increased in-office work by 30 percentage points, reports a 97% decline in northward migration from Central America and 93% decline in unaccompanied migrant crossings, and announces a partnership between D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and the Trump Administration on crime reduction.

Supporting reports

• DOJ announces it will not release additional Epstein files despite campaign promises — Over the summer, the Trump administration's justice department announced it would not release any additional files related to Jeffrey Epstein, despite Trump's campaign promises to do so. The decision sparked bipartisan outrage and accusations of a "cover-up" from both sides of the political aisle. The announcement contradicted Trump's pre-election commitments on transparency regarding the Epstein case.

Supporting reports

• Trump Truth Social account posts misleading statement on India trade — Trump's Truth Social account posted a statement claiming India does "very little business" with the United States while selling "massive amounts of goods" to America, and asserting India "buys most of its oil and military products from Russia, very little from the US." The bulletin notes the statement was posted by someone on Trump's account, not written by Trump himself, and characterizes it as an attempt to reframe the India tariff dispute.

Supporting reports

• White House claims tariffs generated $8 trillion in revenue — The White House issued a Labor Day statement asserting that Trump's tariffs have brought in $8 trillion in revenue. Economist Justin Wolfers and European economist Anders Aslund disputed the claim; Aslund stated the actual tariff revenue was approximately $115 billion, not $8 trillion, and characterized Trump's statement as a lie exceeding the dishonesty of authoritarian leaders.

Supporting reports

• Disney suspended Jimmy Kimmel's late-night show following FCC pressure — In September 2025, Disney suspended Jimmy Kimmel's late-night talk show on ABC following pressure from Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr over Kimmel's comments made after the murder of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk. The suspension triggered significant subscriber cancellations: Disney+ lost approximately three million subscribers and Hulu lost 4.1 million in September, compared to previous monthly averages of 1.2 million and 1.9 million respectively. Kimmel returned to the air after five days.
• FCC Chairman Carr threatened ABC over Kimmel's commentary on Charlie Kirk — In September 2025, FCC Chairman Carr appeared on a podcast with MAGA influencer Benny Johnson and implied that ABC could face punishment after Jimmy Kimmel made a comment about the murder of Charlie Kirk. Carr stated, "These companies can find ways to change conduct and take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there's going to be additional work for the FCC ahead." Within hours, ABC suspended Kimmel; the suspension was reinstated about a week later.