Unpresidential Behavior
Timeline
| 2015.06.17 | Donald Trump campaign offered actors $50 to cheer for him at Presidential announcement. hollywoodreporter.com |
| 2017.01.14 | Trump starts MLK weekend by attacking civil rights activist John Lewis, who challenged the legitimacy of Trump's election win. theguardian.com (See also Black Americans, Feuds) |
| 2017.01.21 | Donald Trump lies about the number of people at his inauguration buzzfeed.com (See also False Statements) |
| 2017.01.21 | National Park Service ordered to shut down Twitter account over anti-Trump retweets. avclub.com |
| 2017.01.21 | Trump reportedly orders the National Park Service director to produce photos proving Trump's claims about the size of his inauguration crowd. washingtonpost.com (See also Presidential Activity, Assaults on Facts) |
| 2017.01.21 | Trump team tells a bakery to completely re-create Obama's inauguration cake. buzzfeed.com |
| 2017.01.23 | CBS News confirmed reports that President Donald Trump brought a studio audience to his visit with the CIA on Saturday. cbsnews.com |
| 2017.01.23 | Without evidence, Trump tells lawmakers 3-5 million illegal ballots cost him the popular vote. washingtonpost.com (See also 2016 Election, False Statements, Assaults on Facts) There is no evidence of widespread illegal voting in the 2016 election. |
| 2017.01.26 | Trump repeated his false claim that there was rampant voter fraud in the election washingtonpost.com (See also False Statements) There wasn't. |
| 2017.02.02 | European Union sees U.S. under Trump as world's gravest crisis. nytimes.com (See also Foreign Policy, Europe) |
| 2017.02.06 | TIME magazine outlines case for impeachment of Trump for violating emoluments clause of Constitution. time.com (See also Conflicts of Interest, Corruption) |
| 2017.02.09 | Nadler on House Judiciary Committee files a resolution of inquiry into Trump. countable.us (See also Conflicts of Interest) |
| 2017.02.13 | Person responsible for the nuclear "football" briefcase featured in casual photos posted on Facebook by Mar-a-Lago visitor. thehill.com (See also First 100 Days) |
| 2017.02.13 | Trump and his aides coordinated their response to North Korea’s missile test at his Florida club without retiring to a secure location. nytimes.com (See also Foreign Policy) President Trump and his aides coordinated their response to North Korea’s missile test at his Florida club without retiring to a secure location. |
| 2017.03.04 | Trump tweets: "Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my 'wires tapped' in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!" twitter.com |
| 2017.03.05 | Trump demands congressional inquiry into his unsubstantiated claim that Obama had his phones tapped to investigate Russia’s meddling in the election. nytimes.com (See also Assaults on Facts, Russian Meddling in Election) |
| 2017.03.20 | Trump brags he's made NFL coaches afraid to hire Black Lives Matter protestor Colin Kaepernick, a veteran quarterback. chicagotribune.com (See also Racism, Black Americans) |
| 2017.06.04 | While world leaders call for unity after London attack, Trump attacks and ridicules to attempt to score political points. washingtonpost.com (See also United Kingdom, Foreign Policy, Muslim Immigration Ban) |
| 2017.06.06 | Of all sources, Fox News host Neil Cavuto on Tuesday hit Trump for his criticism of media outlets' coverage of his Twitter habits, saying “Mr. President, it’s not the fake news media that’s your problem. It’s you." thehill.com (See also Attempts to Discredit Media) |
| 2017.06.06 | Trump shifted charitable donations for children with cancer into his businesses. forbes.com (See also Corruption, Eric Trump) The president directed hundreds of thousands of dollars from his son's kids-with-cancer foundation into his company coffers. |
| 2017.06.07 | Fired FBI Director James B. Comey said Trump told him at the White House “I need loyalty, I expect loyalty” during their private dinner conversation in January, according to written remarks from Comey offering a vivid preview of his testimony Thursday before the Senate Intelligence Committee. washingtonpost.com (See also Corruption, Feuds, Legal Activity, Russian Meddling in Election, Michael Flynn) |
| 2017.06.07 | In his 9 one-on-one conversations with Trump, former FBI chief, James B. Comey said Trump pressured him for loyalty, sought forbearance for Michael Flynn and asked him to lift the “cloud” of a Russia investigation hanging over the administration. bloomberg.com (See also Legal Activity, Michael Flynn, Russian Meddling in Election, Feuds, Corruption) |
| 2017.06.07 | Trump will nominate Christopher Wray as the next director of the FBI, which came as a surprise to powerful senators, including the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), and the committee’s ranking Democrat, California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who had not been given advance notification from the White House, even though their committee will handle his confirmation hearing. politico.com (See also Administration Errors) |
| 2017.06.08 | In the first hour of former FBI Director James Comey's testimony on Capitol Hill about the nature and details of his relationship with Trump, he called the president a liar twice, flashing anger at Trump's characterization that the bureau was disorganized and chaotic. cnn.com (See also Legal Activity, Michael Flynn, Corruption) |
| 2017.06.08 | James B. Comey, said under oath in an extraordinary Senate hearing that he believed President Trump had tried to derail an investigation into his national security adviser, and accused the president of lying and defaming him and the F.B.I. nytimes.com (See also Legal Activity, Michael Flynn, Russian Meddling in Election, Trump Relationship with Russia) |
| 2017.06.08 | Paul Ryan shrugged off the bombshell testimony of former FBI director James Comey with a mix of claimed ignorance and overwhelming sympathy toward President Donald Trump’s neophyte political status because the commander in chief is “new at this.” huffingtonpost.com (See also Corruption, Legal Activity) |
| 2017.06.08 | Philip Allen Lacovara, a former U.S. deputy solicitor general in the Justice Department, says James B. Comey placed President Trump in the sights of a federal criminal investigation, laying out evidence sufficient for a case of obstruction of justice. washingtonpost.com (See also Legal Activity, Corruption, Jeff Sessions, Jared Kushner, Russian Meddling in Election) |
| 2017.06.08 | White House deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Thursday that she has “no idea” whether there is a recording system in the Oval Office, suggesting they may have recordings of his conversations with then-FBI Director James Comey. huffingtonpost.com (See also Corruption, Legal Activity) |
| 2017.06.12 | Attorneys general for the District of Columbia and the state of Maryland sued Trump, alleging that he has violated anti-corruption clauses in the Constitution by accepting millions in payments and benefits from foreign governments since moving into the White House. washingtonpost.com (See also Corruption, Legal Activity) |
| 2017.06.13 | Since Trump won the Republican nomination, the majority of his companies' real estate sales are to secretive shell companies that obscure the buyers' identities. usatoday.com (See also Corruption, Donald Trump Jr, Eric Trump, Conflicts of Interest, Legal Activity) Profits from sales of those properties flow through a trust run by Trump's sons. Trump is the sole beneficiary of the trust and can withdraw cash at any time. |
| 2017.06.17 | Six members of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS have resigned, furious at the new administration's regressive health policies. buzzfeed.com (See also Health Care) "The Trump Administration has no strategy to address the on-going HIV/AIDS epidemic, seeks zero input from experts to formulate HIV policy, and —most concerning— pushes legislation that will harm people living with HIV and halt or reverse important gains made in the fight against this disease." |
| 2017.06.21 | The Trump International Hotel will be the location of a June 28 major-donor event, raising ethics questions as Turmp uses his presidency and candidacy to enrich himself. apnews.com (See also Conflicts of Interest) |
| 2017.06.22 | More than a month after suggesting he may have secretly recorded his meetings with FBI Director James Comey, Trump admitted that he has no such tapes. buzzfeed.com (See also Corruption, Legal Activity, Trump Relationship with Russia, Russian Meddling in Election, Michael Flynn) |
| 2017.06.22 | The Trump administration, ignoring the need for a free press, has announced that Thursday's press briefing may not be recorded by anyone, and then went further to say that the press also couldn't report that this meeting could not be recorded. slate.com (See also Attempts to Discredit Media, Censorship) |
| 2017.06.22 | Trump claimed Mexico is the second deadliest country in the world. It's not. buzzfeed.com (See also Mexico, Mexico Wall, False Statements) |
| 2017.06.23 | Trump appeared to acknowledge that his tweet hinting of taped conversations with James B. Comey was intended to influence the fired F.B.I. director’s testimony. nytimes.com (See also Legal Activity, Trump Relationship with Russia, Russian Meddling in Election, Corruption) |
| 2017.06.27 | A Time magazine with Trump on the cover hangs in his golf clubs. It’s fake news. washingtonpost.com (See also Administration Errors, Attempts to Discredit Media) |
| 2017.06.28 | In a nonsensical tweet, Donald Trump attacked The Washington Post and Amazon, complaining that the “fake news” newspaper was protecting the online retailer from something called "internet taxes" with its coverage. politico.com (See also Attempts to Discredit Media) |
| 2017.06.29 | Donald Trump lashed out at the hosts of MSNBC's “Morning Joe” in two vicious tweets, calling Mika Brzezinski “low I.Q. Crazy” and claiming that she had a facelift late last year. washingtonpost.com (See also Attempts to Discredit Media, Misogyny, Women) |
| 2017.06.29 | Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, "The president in no way, form or fashion has ever promoted or encouraged violence. If anything, quite the contrary." washingtonpost.com (See also Misogyny) She's laughably wrong, and lying. |
| 2017.07.02 | Trump tweeted a modified video of a wrestling match between himself and his media rival CNN. thehill.com (See also Attempts to Discredit Media, Unprecedented Actions) |
| 2017.07.18 | Trump has repeatedly told aides and advisers that he wants to end the subsidy payments supporting the Affordable Care Act, which would cause millions of vulnerable Americans to lose access to health coverage. politico.com (See also Affordable Care Act) |
| 2017.07.25 | Standing before 40,000 Boy Scouts, Trump bragged about the “record” crowd size, bashed President Barack Obama, criticized the “fake media," trashed Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, and threatened to fire his health and human services secretary if he couldn’t persuade members of Congress to vote for the Republican health-care bill. washingtonpost.com (See also Department of Health and Human Services, Tom Price) |
| 2017.07.25 | Trump falsely claimed that the crowd size at his Boy Scout Jamboree speech was "record-setting." buzzfeed.com (See also Narcissism, False Statements) The largest jamboree on record was in 1960, the Boy Scouts of America told BuzzFeed News. |
| 2017.07.25 | Trump launched another public assault on his own attorney general, Jeff Sessions, questioning why the Justice Department chief has not done more to investigate alleged “crimes” by Hillary Clinton. washingtonpost.com (See also Jeff Sessions, Department of Justice) |
| 2017.07.26 | In response to Senator Murkowski voting against the ACA repeal, Trump and his administration responded by tweeting at her and a phone call from Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke letting them know the vote had put Alaska's future with the administration in jeopardy. adn.com (See also Health Care, Affordable Care Act, Department of the Interior, Ryan Zinke) |
| 2017.07.27 | The White House has changed the transcript of Anthony Scaramucci's first press conference to say that Trump sinks "30-foot putts" instead of the "three foot putts" that he claimed at the time. dailydot.com (See also Attempts to Discredit Media, Administration Errors) |
| 2017.07.27 | There will be “no modifications” to the military’s transgender policy as a result of Trump’s declared ban on transgender men and women, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs said in a message to top military officers. politico.com (See also LGBTQIA) |
| 2017.07.27 | With a set of explicit tirades, the new White House communications director attacked Reince Priebus, Steve Bannon, and threatened to fire the entire communications staff. newyorker.com (See also Trump Cabinet, Attempts to Discredit Media) |
| 2017.07.29 | Trump on Saturday threatened to end key payments to insurance companies made under ObamaCare if a repeal-and-replace bill is not passed. thehill.com (See also Affordable Care Act) |
| 2017.08.01 | A lawsuit filed by a man named Rod Wheeler makes a remarkable claim: The Trump White House — or Trump personally — may have been aware of or involved in a discredited Fox News story about the killing of a Democratic National Committee staffer last July. washingtonpost.com (See also Attempts to Discredit Media) The suit claims that a wealthy Trump supporter asserted that the president reviewed a later-debunked Fox News story. |
| 2017.08.02 | Trump has told members of his New Jersey golf club that he spends so much time away from Washington because the White House is a "real dump." bloomberg.com |
| 2017.08.02 | Trump is apparently lying about two phone calls during which he claims officials called him to offer him praise - one from the President of Mexico about immigration, and another from the Boy Scouts. thinkprogress.org (See also Assaults on Facts, False Statements, Mexico, Immigration) |
| 2017.08.03 | The Washington Post on Thursday published transcripts of Trump’s January phone calls with the leaders of Mexico and Australia — and they include plenty of bizarre, surreal, and stunning moments. buzzfeed.com (See also Foreign Policy, Mexico Wall, Mexico, False Statements) |
| 2017.08.03 | Trump blamed Congress for the United States’ poor relationship with Russia, a day after he signed sanctions legislation that he said was flawed and unconstitutional. nytimes.com (See also Russia, Assaults on Government, Iran, North Korea, Russian Meddling in Election) |
| 2017.08.04 | Trump has let almost six months pass without holding a solo press conference, despite other presidents addressing the press before they leave for vacations. money.cnn.com (See also Attempts to Discredit Media) |
| 2017.08.07 | After Senator Richard Blumenthal voiced support on television for continuing the investigation into Russian meddling in last year's election, and expressed concern about the Justice Department’s increased focus on rooting out administration officials who leak information damaging to Trump, the President tweeted that the Senator was "a phony Vietnam con artist," and that "he cried like a baby." washingtonpost.com (See also Russian Meddling in Election, Fascism) |
| 2017.08.08 | Trump gets a folder full of positive news about himself twice a day. news.vice.com (See also Reince Priebus, Sean Spicer) The only feedback the White House communications shop has ever gotten in all these months is: “It needs to be more fucking positive,” so some in the White House ruefully refer to the packet as “the propaganda document.” |
| 2017.08.12 | While Guam is being threatened by nuclear attack from North Korea, Trump told their president that they don't need to worry, since their tourism will boost tenfold. nytimes.com (See also North Korea) Gov. Eddie Calvo uploaded a phone call with President Trump to social media in which Mr. Trump says, “We are with you 1,000 percent.” |
| 2017.08.15 | In a long, combative exchange with reporters at Trump Tower in Manhattan, the president repeatedly rejected a torrent of bipartisan criticism for waiting two days before naming the right-wing groups and placing blame on “many sides” for the violence in Charlottesville that ended with the death of a young woman after a car crashed into a crowd. nytimes.com (See also Racism, Nationalism, Anti-Semitism) |
| 2017.08.15 | Premiums for the most popular health insurance plans would shoot up 20 percent next year, and federal budget deficits would increase by $194 billion in the coming decade, if Trump carried out his threat to end certain subsidies paid to insurance companies under the Affordable Care Act. nytimes.com (See also Affordable Care Act, Health Care) |
| 2017.08.18 | House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi endorsed a call to censure Donald Trump for his response to the violent white supremacist march in Charlottesville, Virginia. politico.com (See also Unprecedented Actions, Anti-Semitism, Racism, Nationalism) |
| 2017.08.18 | The remaining members of a presidential arts and humanities panel resigned in yet another sign of growing national protest of Trump’s recent comments on the violence in Charlottesville. washingtonpost.com (See also Unprecedented Actions, Racism, Nationalism, Anti-Semitism) |
| 2017.08.20 | An expanding number of organizations that had planned to hold galas at the president’s Florida resort - Mar-a-Lago - are deciding to raise money elsewhere. nytimes.com (See also Conflicts of Interest, Racism, Nationalism, Anti-Semitism) |
| 2017.08.21 | Republican committees have paid nearly $1.3 million to Trump-owned entities this year. washingtonpost.com (See also Conflicts of Interest) |
| 2017.08.23 | Seven members of the National Infrastructure Advisory Council, which includes Obama appointees, resigned this week, citing Trump’s Charlottesville response and other actions which they say threaten Homeland Security. huffingtonpost.com (See also Nationalism, Racism, Anti-Semitism) |
| 2017.08.26 | Controversial former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio was pardoned by Donald Trump on Friday after being found guilty in July on criminal contempt charges stemming from his refusal to stop imprisoning suspected illegal immigrants. abcnews.go.com (See also Racism, Immigration, Immigrants) |
| 2017.08.28 | Donald Trump said he announced his pardon of former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio as Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas because he “assumed the ratings would be far higher.” thehill.com (See also Racism, Immigration, Legal Issues) |
| 2017.09.11 | Mexico withdrew its offer of aid to the US to help victims of Hurricane Harvey, after Trump did not acknowledge nor offer condolences to Mexico after their magnitude 8.1 earthquake where at least 95 people died. latimes.com (See also Mexico) |
| 2017.09.15 | British officials rebuked Donald Trump on Friday for claiming that the individuals responsible for setting off explosives in the London subway had been “in the sights of” law enforcement who failed to be “proactive.” politico.com (See also Foreign Policy) |
| 2017.09.19 | In a dark, terrorism-focused speech at the UN, Donald Trump said, "We will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea. Rocket Man" — his name for Kim Jong Un — "is on a suicide mission for himself and for his regime." buzzfeed.com (See also North Korea) |
| 2017.09.20 | Donald Trump blocked a Twitter account from a woman with stage 4 cancer who has spoken out about the dangers of Republican efforts to repeal Obamacare. thinkprogress.org (See also Affordable Care Act, Health Care) |
| 2017.09.22 | Senior aides to Donald Trump repeatedly warned him not to deliver a personal attack on North Korea’s leader at the United Nations this week, saying insulting the young despot in such a prominent venue could irreparably escalate tensions and shut off any chance for negotiations to defuse the nuclear crisis. latimes.com (See also North Korea, Foreign Policy) |
| 2017.09.23 | Donald Trump appeared at a campaign rally in Huntsville, Ala., veering off topic, and eventually landing on a few controversial points regarding the NFL and players peacefully protesting violence against African-Americans. washingtonpost.com (See also Racism, Black Americans, Nationalism) |
| 2017.09.23 | Donald Trump says Stephen Curry’s White House invitation has been ‘withdrawn,' ignoring that there had been no invitation yet, but the NBA champions were not welcome at the White House. washingtonpost.com (See also Racism) |
| 2017.09.26 | Donald Trump blamed Puerto Rico's humanitarian crisis from Hurricane Maria on "broken infrastructure" and "massive debt" that is "owed to Wall Street." splinternews.com |
| 2017.10.01 | Donald Trump undercut his own secretary of state, calling his effort to open lines of communication with North Korea a waste of time, and seeming to rule out a diplomatic resolution to the nuclear-edged confrontation with Pyongyang, just a day after Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson said he was reaching out in hopes of starting a new dialogue. nytimes.com (See also Rex Tillerson, Department of State, North Korea, Nuclear Weapons) |
| 2017.10.02 | Donald Trump spent Sunday afternoon attending a high-profile golf tournament, after he had scoffed at “politically motivated ingrates” who had questioned his administration’s commitment to rebuilding Puerto Rico, then dedicated a golf trophy to the hurricane victims. apnews.com (See also Hypocrisy, Domestic Policy) |
| 2017.10.03 | Donald Trump arrived in Puerto Rico and sat through a press conference, where he let them know what a strain all the death and destruction is putting on the U.S. budget, “You’ve thrown our budget out of whack,” Trump said. “We’ve spent a lot of money in Puerto Rico.” avclub.com |
| 2017.10.03 | Donald Trump visited Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria devastated the island, saying it wasn't a "real catastrophe" like Hurricane Katrina. buzzfeed.com (See also False Statements) |
| 2017.10.05 | Donald Trump issued an unprompted, cryptic message after meeting with military officials at the White House, saying about the gathering, “Maybe it’s the calm before the storm.” Pressed on what he meant, the president said, “You’ll find out.” politico.com |
| 2017.10.08 | Donald Trump today claims to have invented the word "fake," referring to it as “one of the greatest of all terms” that he’s come up with, and though acknowledged that “other people have used it, perhaps, over the years,” it’s not something he ever noticed. avclub.com (See also False Statements) |
| 2017.10.08 | Senator Bob Corker, the Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, charged in an interview on Sunday that President Trump was treating his office like “a reality show,” with reckless threats toward other countries that could set the nation “on the path to World War III.” nytimes.com (See also North Korea, Iran, False Statements, Rex Tillerson, James Mattis, John Kelly) |
| 2017.10.10 | As of his 264th day in office, Donald Trump has made 1,318 false claims, averaging five lies a day, even picking up pace since the six-month mark. washingtonpost.com (See also False Statements, Assaults on Facts, Fact-Checking Resources) |
| 2017.10.11 | Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened NBC over a news report he called "pure fiction," and he lashed out at the news media, threatening NBC's broadcast license. washingtonpost.com (See also Assaults on Civil Liberties, Rex Tillerson) |
| 2017.10.12 | Donald Trump ended subsidies to health insurance companies that help pay out-of-pocket costs of low-income people, after he ordered sweeping changes in the nation’s insurance system, which will send insurance premiums soaring, and insurance companies fleeing from the health law’s online marketplaces. nytimes.com (See also Unprecedented Actions, Health Care, Affordable Care Act) |
| 2017.10.12 | Donald Trump tweeted that he may pull back federal relief workers from Puerto Rico, effectively threatening to abandon the U.S. territory amid a staggering humanitarian crisis in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. washingtonpost.com (See also Unprecedented Actions) The island is still far from recovered. 83% of the island is still without power, 36% is without potable water, and 13% of grocery stores are still closed. |
| 2017.10.13 | Donald Trump on Friday became the first sitting US president to address the Values Voter Summit, an annual gathering of evangelical conservatives organized by a prominent anti-LGBT group, the Family Research Council, where guests were warned of the "hazards of homosexuality." buzzfeed.com (See also LGBTQIA) |
| 2017.10.16 | During a conversation with Mike Pence and a legal scholar about abortion and homosexuality, Trump motioned toward Pence and joked, “Don’t ask that guy—he wants to hang them all!” newyorker.com (See also LGBTQIA, Mike Pence) |
| 2017.10.16 | Four U.S. Special Forces soldiers were killed earlier this month while on patrol in Niger, yet Donald Trump’s silence on their deaths has been notable, as 10 days have passed without any comment from the White House — 10 days during which Trump visited his golf club in Sterling, Va., five times, until today when he claimed that Barack Obama didn't call families of the fallen either. washingtonpost.com (See also False Statements) |
| 2017.10.17 | A pair of leading Republican and Democratic senators reached an agreement Tuesday to fund key federal health-care subsidies that Donald Trump literally just ended days ago, and yet the president expressed support for the plan. washingtonpost.com (See also Health Care, Affordable Care Act) |
| 2017.10.18 | Chief of Staff John Kelly and much of the White House were caught off-guard by Trump's comments about whether Obama called him after his son's death, a story Kelly has tried to keep private, and used it to defend his handling of four soldiers killed in Niger. cnn.com (See also John Kelly) |
| 2017.10.18 | Donald Trump backed away from his endorsement of a bipartisan Senate proposal to stabilize health insurance markets, throwing the legislative effort into doubt even as the chief architect of the deal predicted that it would become law before the end of the year. nytimes.com (See also Health Care, Affordable Care Act) |
| 2017.10.18 | Donald Trump, in a personal phone call to a grieving military father, offered him $25,000 and said he would direct his staff to establish an online fundraiser for the family, but neither happened, the father said, until this was exposed in the media. washingtonpost.com (See also Unprecedented Actions, False Statements) |
| 2017.10.18 | The mother of a soldier killed in an ambush in Africa said Wednesday that Donald Trump “did disrespect my son” with remarks in a condolence telephone call, by saying he “must have known what he signed up for.” washingtonpost.com (See also False Statements) |
| 2017.10.19 | Donald Trump made several false statements to try and rebut a Florida congresswoman’s account of a call between him and the widow of a soldier killed in Niger, accusing her of listening in on the conversation and telling a “total lie” to the media. politico.com (See also Racism, False Statements) |
| 2017.10.19 | Donald Trump touted his administration’s response to Hurricane Maria, giving the federal relief effort a “10,” despite the fact that 80% of the island has no power and 30% has no fresh water. abcnews.go.com (See also False Statements) |
| 2017.10.21 | The Trump administration is scrambling to defend the president’s characterization of his communications with grieving military families, including rush-delivering letters from the president to the families of service members killed months ago, despite his false claim that he had called “virtually” all fallen service members’ families since his time in office. theatlantic.com (See also Unprecedented Actions, False Statements) |
| 2017.10.24 | Republican Senator Bob Corker, when asked in an interview if he should have backed Trump's presidential campaign, said he "would not do that again." He also said Trump has "great difficulty with the truth" and that "debasing" the US would be his prime legacy as President. cnn.com (See also Assaults on Facts, False Statements) |
| 2017.10.25 | Donald Trump said Wednesday he did not "specifically" order the military mission in Niger this month that left four American soldiers dead. nbcnews.com (See also Foreign Policy) |
| 2017.11.08 | Donald Trump promoted his New Jersey golf course during speech to South Korea parliament despite having been criticized for abusing his power to promote his personal business. washingtonpost.com (See also Conflicts of Interest) |
| 2017.11.1 | Donald Trump and some of his allies on the far right have incorrectly found a new culprit in Tuesday’s deadly terrorist attack in Manhattan: Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, as the New York Democrat was among a bipartisan group of lawmakers who sought to end the program back in 2013. washingtonpost.com (See also Administration Errors, Immigration, Muslim Immigration Ban) |
| 2017.11.12 | Former CIA Director John Brennan said he believed Donald Trump called him and two other top intelligence officials “political hacks” to “delegitimize” the U.S. intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election. wsj.com (See also Russian Meddling in Election, 2016 Campaign) |
| 2017.11.14 | In the past 35 days, Trump has averaged an astonishing nine false claims a day, adding to his total of 1,628 claims in 298 days, or an average of 5.5 claims a day, putting him on track to reach 2,000 by the end of his first year in office. washingtonpost.com (See also False Statements, Fact-Checking Resources, Assaults on Facts) |
| 2017.11.15 | The truth about Trump’s bizarre claim that Obama ‘never got to land’ in the Philippines. washingtonpost.com (See also Assaults on Facts, False Statements) He's lying. |
| 2017.11.19 | Donald Trump tweeted that he should have left three American citizens in jail after they were arrested for shoplifting in China. nytimes.com (See also Racism, China, Feuds) |
| 2017.11.21 | Donald Trump took to Twitter to criticize Oakland Raiders running back Marshawn Lynch. cnn.com (See also Racism, Feuds) |
| 2017.11.22 | Donald Trump's team insists he has a ‘full schedule’ an hour before he goes golfing. washingtonpost.com (See also False Statements) |
| 2017.11.27 | At an event honoring Navajo Code Talkers — Native Americans who served in World War II — President Trump used a racial slur when he said, "You were here long before any of us were here. Although we have a representative in Congress who they say was here a long time ago. They call her Pocahontas," referring to Senator Elizabeth Warren. axios.com (See also Racism) |
| 2017.11.29 | Donald Trump has retweeted three anti-Muslim videos posted by the deputy leader of the far-right British political party Britain First. buzzfeed.com (See also Muslim Immigration Ban, Immigration, Racism) |
| 2017.11.29 | Donald Trump lied when he said that he won't benefit from the proposed GOP tax plan, when in fact, Trump and his family could save more than $1 billion. nbcnews.com (See also False Statements, Conflicts of Interest) |
| 2017.11.29 | In a previously unreported comment to the now-defunct Maximum Golf magazine, Donald Trump singled out a “young socialite” at his club at Mar-a-Lago by telling a reporter, “there is nothing in the world like first-rate pussy.” thedailybeast.com (See also Women, Misogyny) |
| 2017.11.30 | Donald Trump attacked British Prime Minister Theresa May over her criticism of his racist, Islamophobic far-right retweets. theguardian.com (See also Unprecedented Actions, Racism, Belief in Conspiracy Theories, Nationalism) |
| 2017.11.30 | Donald Trump has told confidants that a government shutdown could be good for him politically. washingtonpost.com (See also Mexico Wall, Immigration) |
| 2017.12.03 | As the F.B.I.’s Russia investigation draws closer to him, President Trump on Sunday unleashed an extraordinary assault on the nation’s premier law enforcement agency, calling it a biased institution whose reputation for fairness was “in tatters.” nytimes.com (See also Unprecedented Actions, False Statements, Russian Meddling in Election, Michael Flynn) |
| 2017.12.03 | Despite apologizing over a year ago for bathroom talk, and Trump now saying that he didn't think it was his voice on the tape, Billy Bush clearly affirmed, "he said it. 'grab 'em by the pussy.'" nytimes.com (See also Women, Misogyny, False Statements) |
| 2017.12.04 | Donald Trump endorsed a Senate candidate accused of child molestation, as nine women have accused Judge Roy Moore of sexual harassment, including some who were teenagers at the time the misconduct took place. buzzfeed.com (See also Unprecedented Actions) |
| 2017.12.10 | Trump falsely stated that black home ownership has hit a record high under his stewardship, and made the dubious claim that he set Canada’s prime minister straight on the state of trade between the two countries, among many other false statements at a rally in Pensacola, Florida. apnews.com (See also False Statements, Assaults on Facts, Black Americans) |
| 2017.12.11 | Donald Trump is taking credit for killing hundreds of regulations that were already dead in the first place. bloomberg.com (See also False Statements, Assaults on Facts) |
| 2017.12.11 | More than 50 female Democratic lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives called on Monday for a congressional investigation into allegations by various women of sexual misconduct against Donald Trump. reuters.com (See also Women, Misogyny) |
| 2017.12.12 | After Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) called on Trump to resign over sexual harassment allegations, Trump attacked her in an early-morning Twitter missive filled with inappropriate sexual innuendo. washingtonpost.com (See also Women, Misogyny) |
| 2017.12.14 | Donald Trump called Rupert Murdoch on Thursday and congratulated him ahead of a deal for Walt Disney Co. to buy some of the entertainment assets of 21st Century Fox Inc., while also making sure that Fox News wasn’t part of the deal. bloomberg.com (See also Jobs) |
| 2017.12.15 | Before speaking at the FBI National Academy on Friday, Trump said it's "a shame what's happened" to the FBI, called the Russia probe a "Democrat hoax," opened the door to pardoning Michael Flynn, and claimed there was "no collusion." npr.org (See also Trump Relationship with Russia, Michael Flynn) |
| 2017.12.15 | Donald Trump hosted Wayne LaPierre, the controversial head of the NRA, at the White House on the same night that families and friends of the Sandy Hook elementary school gun massacre were remembering the victims of the horrific killing spree on its 5 year anniversary. shareblue.com |
| 2017.12.22 | While most presidents in modern times have chosen to hold a formal news conference in December to tout accomplishments, Donald Trump left the White House without doing so, the first time in 15 years that the president has opted not to. money.cnn.com (See also Attempts to Discredit Media) |
| 2017.12.24 | Donald Trump kicked off his holiday weekend at Mar-a-Lago Friday night at a dinner where he told friends, "You all just got a lot richer," referencing the sweeping tax overhaul he signed into law hours earlier. cbsnews.com (See also Conflicts of Interest, Trump Taxes) |
| 2017.12.25 | Donald Trump admitted that Republicans sabotaged the Affordable Care Act in their tax cut bill, and told people not to discuss the repeal to the media. mic.com (See also Affordable Care Act, Health Care) |
| 2017.12.26 | Donald Trump’s 60 worst tweets of 2017. thinkprogress.org (See also Fact-Checking Resources, False Statements) |
| 2017.12.27 | Trump falsely claimed he broke a legislative record, saying that he had signed more legislation than any of his predecessors, while he has actually signed the fewest number of bills into law of any first-year president dating back to Dwight Eisenhower. politico.com (See also False Statements) |
| 2018.01.02 | Donald Trump again raised the prospect of nuclear war with North Korea, boasting in playground terms that he commands a “much bigger” and “more powerful” arsenal of devastating weapons than the outlier government in Asia. nytimes.com (See also North Korea, National Defense, Nuclear Weapons) |
| 2018.01.02 | Donald Trump announced he would present “corrupt media awards” to the “fake news media” next week. thehill.com (See also Assaults on Civil Liberties) |
| 2018.01.06 | Mr. Trump, seeming to respond to revelations in a new book, issued an extraordinary defense of his fitness for office, saying he's a "very stable genius." nytimes.com (See also Unprecedented Actions) |
| 2018.01.10 | With just 10 days before he finishes his first year as president, Trump has made 2,001 false or misleading claims in 355 days - an average of more than 5.6 claims a day. washingtonpost.com (See also Fact-Checking Resources, False Statements, Assaults on Facts) |
| 2018.01.11 | Donald Trump has a habit of making offensive comments about nonwhite immigrants. washingtonpost.com (See also Racism, Immigration, Belief in Conspiracy Theories) |
| 2018.01.11 | Donald Trump in October promised to "liberate" Americans from the "scourge of addiction," officially declaring a 90-day public health emergency that would urgently mobilize the federal government to tackle the opioid epidemic, but that declaration runs out on Jan. 23, virtually nothing of consequence has been done. politico.com (See also Domestic Policy, False Statements) Trump has not formally proposed any new resources or spending, typically the starting point for any emergency response. |
| 2018.01.11 | President Trump insulted several countries while being briefed on a bipartisan immigration deal, saying, “Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?” referring to African countries and Haiti, then suggesting that the United States should instead bring more people from countries like Norway. washingtonpost.com (See also Racism, Immigration) |
| 2018.01.12 | A lawyer for President Donald Trump arranged a $130,000 payment to a former adult-film star a month before the 2016 election as part of an agreement that precluded her from publicly discussing an alleged sexual encounter with Mr. Trump. wsj.com (See also Women) |
| 2018.01.12 | After a career intelligence analyst who is an expert in hostage policy revealed that her parents are Korean, Donald Trump turned to an adviser in the room and seemed to suggest her ethnicity should determine her career path, asking why the "pretty Korean lady" isn't negotiating with North Korea on his administration's behalf. nbcnews.com (See also Racism, Women) |
| 2018.01.21 | In response to the government shutdown over a funding impasse, someone recorded an automated voice mail greeting on a public White House phone line that is overtly partisan and blames Democrats for “holding government funding, including funding for our troops and other national security priorities, hostage to an unrelated immigration debate.” splinternews.com (See also Immigration) |
| 2018.01.24 | Shortly after Donald Trump fired his FBI director in May, he summoned Andrew McCabe, the bureau’s acting director, and asked him who he voted for in the 2016 election. washingtonpost.com (See also Corruption, Legal Issues) |
| 2018.01.25 | Donald Trump ordered the firing last June of Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel overseeing the Russia investigation, but ultimately backed down after the White House counsel threatened to resign rather than carry out the directive. nytimes.com (See also Legal Issues, Trump Relationship with Russia, Reversals) |
| 2018.01.26 | Donald Trump pressed senior aides last June to devise and carry out a campaign to discredit senior FBI officials after learning that those specific employees were likely to be witnesses against him as part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. foreignpolicy.com (See also Trump Relationship with Russia, Legal Issues) |
| 2018.01.29 | Andrew G. McCabe abruptly stepped down on Monday as the F.B.I.’s deputy director after months of withering criticism from Donald Trump, telling friends he felt pressure from the head of the bureau to leave, adding to what has already been a chaotic upheaval at the F.B.I. under Mr. Trump, who has responded to an investigation into his campaign with broadside attacks against both the bureau and the Justice Department. nytimes.com (See also Unprecedented Actions, Corruption, Department of Justice, Jeff Sessions) |
| 2018.01.29 | Donald Trump is seeking to parlay his first State of the Union address on Tuesday into cash for his reelection campaign by offering supporters a chance to see their name flashed on the screen during a broadcast of the speech. washingtonpost.com (See also Conflicts of Interest, Corruption) |
| 2018.02.13 | Michael D. Cohen, Donald Trump’s longtime personal lawyer, said on Tuesday that he used his own funds to facilitate a payment of $130,000 to a pornographic-film actress who had once claimed to have had an affair with Mr. Trump. nytimes.com (See also Legal Issues, Women) |
| 2018.02.18 | Amid global anxiety about Donald Trump’s approach to world affairs, U.S. officials had a message for a gathering of Europe’s foreign policy elite this weekend: Pay no attention to the man tweeting behind the curtain. washingtonpost.com (See also H.R. McMaster, Russia, North Korea) |
| 2018.02.26 | Donald Trump's re-election campaign used a photo of a survivor of the Parkland, Florida, shooting in an email that asks its recipients to donate money to the campaign. cnn.com |
| 2018.03.01 | Donald Trump suggested using the death penalty on drug dealers to address the opioid epidemic, equating providing lethal drugs with murder. politico.com (See also Domestic Policy, Department of Justice, Jeff Sessions) |
| 2018.03.02 | Donald Trump dug into his protectionist trade position, arguing that trade wars are good and vowing to slap reciprocal tariffs on any goods even as his actions rattle markets and anger US allies, despite warnings from his own cabinet and Republicans in Congress. cnn.com (See also Economy) |
| 2018.03.06 | Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao admitted that Donald Trump personally asked House Speaker Paul Ryan to block funding for New York City's badly needed Gateway project. nymag.com (See also Conflicts of Interest, Department of Transportation, Elaine Chao) |
| 2018.03.09 | A judge recommended Thursday that Donald Trump mute rather than block some of his critics from following him on Twitter to resolve a First Amendment lawsuit. apnews.com (See also Legal Activity) |
| 2018.03.11 | There's a reason Donald Trump said hardly anything about Republican candidate Rick Saccone during a rally that was supposed to promote his candidacy - Trump thinks Saccone is a terrible, "weak" candidate. axios.com |
| 2018.03.12 | Donald Trump called Chuck Todd of NBC's Meet the Press a "sleepy son of a bitch" at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. politico.com (See also Assaults on Civil Liberties) |
| 2018.03.15 | Donald Trump boasted in a fundraising speech that he made up information in a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, that the United States runs a trade deficit with its neighbor to the north without knowing whether that was true. washingtonpost.com (See also Trade, False Statements, NAFTA) |
| 2018.03.16 | White House chief of staff John Kelly decided to share the story of a conversation with Rex Tillerson that Donald Trump would very soon fire him, while Tillerson was using the toilet, due to a food poisoning stomach bug. thedailybeast.com (See also John Kelly, Rex Tillerson, Department of State, unp) |
| 2018.03.20 | Donald Trump called on Tuesday to congratulate President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia on his re-election, but did not raise with him the lopsided nature of his victory, Russia’s meddling in the 2016 presidential election or Moscow’s role in a nerve agent attack on a former Russian spy and his daughter living in Britain. nytimes.com (See also Trump Relationship with Russia, 2016 Election) |
| 2018.03.20 | Donald Trump did not follow specific warnings from his national security advisers Tuesday when he congratulated Vladimir Putin on his reelection — including a section in his briefing materials in all-capital letters stating “DO NOT CONGRATULATE." washingtonpost.com (See also Trump Relationship with Russia, Russia) Trump also chose not to heed talking points from aides instructing him to condemn the recent poisoning of a former Russian spy in Britain with a powerful nerve agent, a case that both the British and U.S. governments have blamed on Moscow. |
| 2018.03.21 | A few months into his presidency, Donald Trump ordered Reince Priebus to make everyone on his staff sign a nondisclosure agreement - one which they knew couldn't be enforced and had no penalties, financial or otherwise. nytimes.com (See also Unprecedented Actions, Reince Priebus, Belief in Conspiracy Theories) |
| 2018.03.27 | Newly obtained FEMA records and interviews with more than 50 people involved with disaster response indicates that the Trump administration — and the president himself — responded far more aggressively to Texas than to Puerto Rico, in the wakes of Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Maria. politico.com (See also Administration Errors) |
| 2018.03.29 | A federal judge in Brooklyn said Donald Trump’s language had created a “plausible inference” that the decision to end DACA violated the equal protection clause of the Constitution, and that a lawsuit protecting these young undocumented immigrants from deportation could continue. nytimes.com (See also Immigration, Mexican Americans, Legal Activity) |
| 2018.03.29 | Donald Trump repeated a false claim that the border wall has started construction by posting pictures from a 2009 project which was designed to replace a 2.25 mile section in the existing California-Mexico wall. buzzfeed.com (See also False Statements, Mexico Wall, Immigration) |
| 2018.04.05 | Donald Trump ditched his “boring” prepared remarks at a tax roundtable in West Virginia, and instead repeated his claim that “millions” of people are voting illegally and boasted that he was right about the threat of Mexican rapists. politico.com (See also False Statements, Voter Fraud, Voter Suppression, Mexico) |
| 2018.04.11 | Donald Trump's tweet threatening a potential U.S. strike against Syria broke with national security procedures — as well as his own admonishments about tipping off enemies about attack plans. cnbc.com (See also Syria, Hypocrisy, Department of Defense) |
| 2018.04.23 | The Republican National Committee spent more than $224,000 at Donald Trump’s private Mar-a-Lago club in March, according to newly filed FEC reports - far and away the largest amount the RNC has spent there. thedailybeast.com (See also Corruption, Conflicts of Interest, Unprecedented Actions) |
| 2018.04.26 | Donald Trump warned other countries to not oppose the U.S.’s joint bid with Mexico and Canada to host the 2026 World Cup. thehill.com |
| 2018.04/28 Donald Trump called for the resignation of Senator Jon Tester and threatened to spread allegations about the Democratic lawmaker in retaliation for helping to thwart his effort to install the White House physician in the cabinet. nytimes.com (See also Belief in Conspiracy Theories, Resignations and Dismissals) | |
| 2018.05.02 | When Dr. Harold Bornstein described in hyperbolic prose then-candidate Donald Trump's health in 2015, it turns out that Donald Trump dictated the statement. cnn.com (See also False Statements, Unprecedented Actions, Reversals) |
| 2018.05.11 | The White House declined on Friday to renounce or apologize for an aide (Kelly Sadler) whose joke at a meeting that Senator John McCain was irrelevant because he would soon die went viral, outraging relatives, friends and admirers of the ailing lawmaker. nytimes.com |
| 2018.05.16 | Donald Trump acknowledged that he has repaid his lawyer Michael Cohen for expenses Cohen occurred during the 2016 presidential election, according to the release of his financial disclosure forms. cnn.com (See also False Statements, Reversals, Legal Issues) |
| 2018.05.16 | Donald Trump lashed out at undocumented immigrants during a White House meeting on Wednesday, warning in front of news cameras that dangerous people were clamoring to breach the country’s borders and branding such people “animals.” nytimes.com (See also Immigration, Nationalism, Mexico) |
| 2018.05.18 | President Trump has personally pushed U.S. Postmaster General Megan Brennan to double the rate the Postal Service charges Amazon.com and other firms to ship packages. washingtonpost.com (See also Conflicts of Interest, Fascism) Brennan has so far resisted Trump’s demand, explaining in multiple conversations occurring this year and last that these arrangements are bound by contracts and must be reviewed by a regulatory commission. She has told the president that the Amazon relationship is beneficial for the Postal Service and gave him a set of slides that showed the variety of companies, in addition to Amazon, that also partner for deliveries. |
| 2018.05.23 | Donald Trump warned that unaccompanied migrant children arriving at the southern border are exposing the nation to gang crime saying, "They look so innocent. They're not innocent." washingtonpost.com (See also Immigration, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Justice) |
| 2018.06.04 | Donald Trump uninvited the Philadelphia Eagles from an event at the White House, blasting the Super Bowl champions for not agreeing with his policy of standing for the national anthem. politico.com (See also Racism, Nationalism) |
| 2018.06.06 | Donald Trump and Justin Trudeau had a testy phone call over new tariffs imposed by the Trump administration targeting steel and aluminum imports coming from Canada, including one moment during the conversation in which Trump made an erroneous historical reference, with Trump asking Trudeau, "Didn't you guys burn down the White House?" referring to the War of 1812. edition.cnn.com (See also Administration Errors, Trade, NAFTA) |
| 2018.06.15 | Donald Trump has calculated that he will gain political leverage in congressional negotiations by separating immigrant parents from their young children at the southern border. washingtonpost.com (See also Immigration) |
| 2018.06.22 | Donald Trump’s call this week for a separate U.S. “space force” surprised many military officials, senior aerospace industry executives and lawmakers, and went against well-known opposition by Pentagon leaders to the idea of establishing a new branch of the U.S. armed forces. wsj.com (See also James Mattis, False Statements) |
| 2018.06.26 | Donald Trump made 103 false claims last week, shattering his dishonesty record. thestar.com (See also False Statements, Assaults on Facts) Trump’s previous one-week record was 60 false claims, which he had set in early March. |
| 2018.06.27 | Donald Trump never sold his companies or moved his assets into blind trusts or broadly held investments, unlike every President since Watergate, so this graphic explores how and when he makes money when groups pay his companies. projects.propublica.org (See also Fact-Checking Resources, Conflicts of Interest, Trump Business) |
| 2018.06.29 | The U.S. ambassador to Estonia, James D. Melville Jr., a career diplomat and member of the senior foreign service ranks, announced to friends Friday that he was resigning in disgust amid a string of controversial comments Donald Trump made about U.S. allies in Europe. foreignpolicy.com (See also Resignations and Dismissals, Foreign Policy, Department of State) |
| 2018.07.05 | Donald Trump lobbed personal and derogatory attacks at two Democratic senators, mocked the #MeToo movement and vouched for President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia rally ostensibly intended to solidify support for Montana’s Republican Senate candidate. nytimes.com (See also Trump Relationship with Russia, Women) |
| 2018.07.10 | Donald Trump pardoned a pair of Oregon cattle ranchers who had been serving out five-year sentences for arson on federal land — punishments that inspired the armed occupation of a wildlife refuge in 2016. nytimes.com (See also Ryan Zinke, Department of the Interior) |
| 2018.07.16 | Donald Trump stood next to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and publicly challenged the conclusion of his own intelligence agencies that Moscow interfered in the 2016 presidential election, an extraordinary show of trust for a leader accused of attacking American democracy, while also refusing to name a single action for which Mr. Putin should be held accountable. nytimes.com (See also Trump Relationship with Russia, Russian Meddling in Election) |
| 2018.07.22 | Donald Trump threatened Iran, warning of severe “consequences,” as rhetoric between the two countries’ presidents escalated dramatically through an all-caps message on Twitter addressed to President Hassan Rouhani of Iran. nytimes.com (See also Iran) |
| 2018.07.23 | Donald Trump is considering stripping a half-dozen former national security officials of their security clearances, an unprecedented use of presidential authority to punish political rivals. cnn.com (See also Unprecedented Actions, Fascism) |
| 2018.07.24 | Donald Trump claimed, without evidence, that the Kremlin will support Democrats in the November midterms, debuting a new line on Russian interference as the uproar over his shifting stances on the issue enters its second week. washingtonpost.com (See also Reversals, False Statements, Trump Relationship with Russia) |
| 2018.08.06 | Californians are stunned and confused at Donald Trump’s latest tweets on the state‘s catastrophic wildfires — and his insistence that the state is burning because leaders are letting too much fresh water flow into the Pacific Ocean. politico.com (See also False Statements, Climate Change, Environment) |