Trump's chat with Musk on X fact-checked

[Sid Bishop]

In a two-hour discussion with Elon Musk, on the billionaire's platform X, Donald Trump made a number of questionable and false claims - which went largely unchallenged. The Republican presidential candidate returned to some familiar campaign themes, such as illegal immigration and rising prices, but he also talked about climate change.

BBC Verify has been checking some of his claims.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0jpn2q76n1o

[Sid Bishop]

How fast are sea levels set to rise?
CLAIM: “The biggest threat is not global warming, where the ocean is going to rise one eighth of an inch over the next 400 years.”

VERDICT: According to climate projections, Trump is vastly underestimating the rise in sea levels.
In the decade 2014-2023, global average sea levels rose by an average of nearly 4.8mm per year (0.19in), according to the World Meteorological Organization., external That increase is already greater than the one eighth of an inch (0.13in) that Mr Trump predicts will happen over the next 400 years. The magnitude of future rises is difficult to predict, because it is uncertain how quickly ice-sheets will melt, and future warming will depend on greenhouse gas emissions from human activities. The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has estimated, external a likely range of 0.28 to 1.01m of global sea-level rise by 2100 - although higher rises can’t be ruled out.
A sea-level rise of one metre would put hundreds of millions of people at risk, external of more regular coastal flooding, as well as submerging parts of low-lying countries such as the Maldives.

[Sid Bishop]

Have 20 million crossed the border?
CLAIM: “I think 20 million people have come across the border... I think millions are coming every month.”

VERDICT: It isn’t possible to know exactly how many illegal immigrants have entered the US across its southern border during President Biden’s time in office. Official data suggests it did hit record levels but not the kinds of numbers Trump claims. Since January 2021, the US Customs and Border Protection agency says, external there have been 10.1m encounters of illegal migrants by enforcement officers in the US, with more than 8m of those coming over the southern border.

These figures don’t necessarily mean all these people successfully entered the US - some may have been sent back and the same person could be “encountered” trying to cross the border multiple times. The official figures do represent a significant increase on the four years under Trump, and it is also the highest figure recorded under any US administration.

[Sid Bishop]

What a porky pie here by Trump !!

Is bacon five times more expensive?
CLAIM: “I think we have the worst inflation we've had in 100 years... bacon costing four or five times more than it did a few years ago”.

VERDICT: This is false. Inflation peaked at 9.1% under President Biden - the highest in 41 years, not 100. The price of bacon is up 17% since Trump left office, not four or five times. Inflation rose significantly during the first two years of the Biden administration, reaching the highest level since 1981.
This was comparable with many other Western countries, which experienced high inflation rates in 2021 and 2022, as global supply chain issues as a consequence of Covid and the war in Ukraine contributed to rising prices. Some economists say Mr Biden’s $1.9tn (£1.5tn) spending plan in 2021 was a factor as well. Since mid 2022, US inflation has fallen, with the latest monthly figure at 3% as of June, external. In terms of bacon - the average price for a pound of sliced bacon was $5.83 in January 2021 when Trump left office, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, external. It now costs $6.83.

[RedDwarf 1881]

How fast are sea levels set to rise?
CLAIM: “The biggest threat is not global warming, where the ocean is going to rise one eighth of an inch over the next 400 years.”

VERDICT: According to climate projections, Trump is vastly underestimating the rise in sea levels.
In the decade 2014-2023, global average sea levels rose by an average of nearly 4.8mm per year (0.19in), according to the World Meteorological Organization., external That increase is already greater than the one eighth of an inch (0.13in) that Mr Trump predicts will happen over the next 400 years. The magnitude of future rises is difficult to predict, because it is uncertain how quickly ice-sheets will melt, and future warming will depend on greenhouse gas emissions from human activities. The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has estimated, external a likely range of 0.28 to 1.01m of global sea-level rise by 2100 - although higher rises can’t be ruled out.
A sea-level rise of one metre would put hundreds of millions of people at risk, external of more regular coastal flooding, as well as submerging parts of low-lying countries such as the Maldives.

Mammoth tusk's have been pulled up from the seabed in the North Sea . How did they get there in the first place . ? Just wondering .

[CEB2ElectricBoogaloo]

You really are deeply unserious

[Sid Bishop]

How fast are sea levels set to rise?
CLAIM: “The biggest threat is not global warming, where the ocean is going to rise one eighth of an inch over the next 400 years.”

VERDICT: According to climate projections, Trump is vastly underestimating the rise in sea levels.
In the decade 2014-2023, global average sea levels rose by an average of nearly 4.8mm per year (0.19in), according to the World Meteorological Organization., external That increase is already greater than the one eighth of an inch (0.13in) that Mr Trump predicts will happen over the next 400 years. The magnitude of future rises is difficult to predict, because it is uncertain how quickly ice-sheets will melt, and future warming will depend on greenhouse gas emissions from human activities. The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has estimated, external a likely range of 0.28 to 1.01m of global sea-level rise by 2100 - although higher rises can’t be ruled out.
A sea-level rise of one metre would put hundreds of millions of people at risk, external of more regular coastal flooding, as well as submerging parts of low-lying countries such as the Maldives.

Mammoth tusk's have been pulled up from the seabed in the North Sea . How did they get there in the first place . ? Just wondering .

The fact that lower North Sea was once (until about 7,500 years ago) a land bridge between Britain and the continent is well enough known and the area now covered by the North Sea was not just a barren "land bridge". It was for tens of thousands of years a teeming plain of Ice Age wildlife, equivalent to the richest game reserves of Africa.

[Sid Bishop]

You really are deeply unserious

Fact of the matter is that Trump lies near enough every time he opens his mouth and he continues to admire and praise Dictators such as ''Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un - all authoritarian strongmen''

[Proposition Joe]

Just wondering .

MattLeTissierface.jpeg

[Dunners]

Makes you think, huh?

[The Mindsweep]

Because it was filmed and only audio is available, Trump didn't put his teeth in. I think he got away with it.

[Rich Tea Wellin]

Fact is most morons don’t care about the facts. Trump, and musk know that if they spout what people want to hear and dig into their fears, they win votes. Unfortunately the gullible fall for it.

[CEB2ElectricBoogaloo]

You’re definitely not immune from “not caring about the facts” and settling comfortably into what’s more aligned with what you’d like to be the case.
You certainly don’t approach every topic on which you have an opinion from the perspective of “I want to be as well informed as possible”

[Celtient]

Fact is most morons don’t care about the facts. Trump, and musk know that if they spout what people want to hear and dig into their fears, they win votes. Unfortunately the gullible fall for it.

I have fact checked your fact about facts and find, infact, that your fact is a fact.

[Rich Tea Wellin]

You’re definitely not immune from “not caring about the facts” and settling comfortably into what’s more aligned with what you’d like to be the case.
You certainly don’t approach every topic on which you have an opinion from the perspective of “I want to be as well informed as possible”

I fear you are right.

And right back at ya

[Constanza]

Fact is most morons don’t care about the facts. Trump, and musk know that if they spout what people want to hear and dig into their fears, they win votes. Unfortunately the gullible fall for it.

To make matters worse the word gullible is not even in the dictionary.

[CEB2ElectricBoogaloo]

You’re definitely not immune from “not caring about the facts” and settling comfortably into what’s more aligned with what you’d like to be the case.
You certainly don’t approach every topic on which you have an opinion from the perspective of “I want to be as well informed as possible”

I fear you are right.

And right back at ya

^ exactly my point.

[The Mindsweep]

One thing Trump did point out was that with rising sea levels there will be more opportunities for beach from real estate.

[Adz]

When trump was in power he made 50 false or misleading claims a day according to the Washington post!