WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's glowing account of progress under his watch Wednesday was out of tune with the experience of price-squeezed Americans and the story told by some of his government's own statistics.
In a speech from the White House, Trump assailed the record of his Democratic predecessor and boasted expansively about his record so far. Not all of those boasts were credible.
Among them:
TRUMP: He blamed Democrats for handing him an “inflation disaster,” “the worst in the history of our country,” and said that now, the prices of turkey and eggs have come down and "everything else is falling rapidly. And it’s not done yet. But boy, are we making progress.”
THE FACTS: His claim that prices are falling rapidly is not seen in the inflation numbers, which are about where they were when he took office, after having fallen significantly before the end of Joe Biden's presidency. Nor is it true that the Biden era gave the country its worst inflation ever.
The consumer price index was 3% in September, the same rate as in January, a tick up from 2.9% in December, Biden's last full month in office. In an AP-NORC poll this month, the vast majority of U.S. adults said they’ve noticed higher than usual prices for groceries, electricity and holiday gifts in recent months.
Biden-era inflation peaked at 9.1% in June 2022, a consequence of supply chain interruptions, potentially excessive amounts of government aid and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine driving up food and energy costs. Americans have known even worse and more sustained inflation than that: higher than 13% in 1980 during an extended period of price pain. By some estimates, inflation approached 20% during World War I.
Inflation had been falling during the first few months of Trump’s presidency, but it picked back up after the president announced his tariffs in April.
TRUMP: “I secured a record-breaking $18 trillion of investment into the United States.”
THE FACTS: Trump has presented no evidence that he’s secured this much domestic or foreign investment for the United States. Based on statements from various companies, foreign countries and the White House’s own website, that figure appears to be exaggerated, highly speculative and far higher than the actual sum.
Even the White House website offers a far lower number, $9.6 trillion, and that figure appears to include some investment commitments made during Biden’s presidency.
Trump has routinely claimed rosy investment numbers, without offering the details to support them. Trump nailed down some of the investment terms in an October trip to Japan and South Korea, but they’re over multiple years and it remains to be seen how ironclad those commitments and others will be.
TRUMP: “I was elected in a landslide, winning the popular vote and all seven swing states and everything else, with a mandate to take on a sick and corrupt system.”
THE FACTS: Trump won a decisive victory but hardly a landslide one, however you define a landslide. Trump, who became president with 312 electoral votes, won fewer than Democrats Barack Obama in 2008 (365) and 2012 (332) and Bill Clinton in 1992 (370) and 1996 (379).
The electoral performance of those men pales in comparison with the sweeps by Franklin Roosevelt in 1936 (523), Lyndon Johnson in 1964 (486), Richard Nixon in 1972 (520) and Ronald Reagan (525) in 1984.
Trump did win more popular votes than his Democratic opponent, Kamala Harris, but not quite a majority of them. His win in 2024 ranks among the more narrow.
Associated Press writers Josh Boak and Melissa Goldin contributed.
Find AP Fact Checks here: https://apnews.com/APFactCheck.
President Donald Trump speaks during an address to the nation from the Diplomatic Reception Room at the White House, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025, in Washington. (Doug Mills/The New York Times via AP, Pool)
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Authorities searching for a shooter who attacked students Saturday at Brown University are asking for tips from people who might have video of the shooter potentially casing the area the week before.
Authorities have released several videos from the day of the attack, which left two students dead and nine wounded, showing the person they're seeking on streets just off campus. The person is wearing a mask or has their head turned in the footage.
“I believe that this is probably the most intense investigation going on right now in this nation” Providence’s police chief, Col. Oscar Perez, said at a Wednesday news conference. He said witness accounts of the shooter match the person in the videos.
While Brown has 1,200 cameras on campus, the attack was in an older classroom that has “fewer, if any” cameras, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said. Investigators believe the shooter used a door that faces a residential street.
President Donald Trump accused the Ivy League school of being unprepared. He posted Wednesday on Truth Social: “Why did Brown University have so few Security Cameras? There can be no excuse for that. In the modern age, it just doesn’t get worse!!!”
Investigators have described the person they're seeking as about 5 feet, 8 inches (173 centimeters) tall and stocky, but they've given no indication that they are close to zeroing in on their identity.
Motive also remain a mystery, though Perez said investigators haven't found evidence to suggest someone was targeted.
Authorities have been canvassing nearby neighborhoods and have received hundreds of tips.
Providence police on Wednesday released a new photo of a separate individual who they said was in “proximity of the person of interest” and asked the public to help identify that person.
Felipe Rodriguez, a retired New York Police Department detective sergeant and adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said it is very rare for authorities to make this kind of plea during a criminal investigation.
“They are grasping at straws,” he said.
Neronha said it wouldn't help the investigation to release video of fleeing students and other footage from the attack.
Perez declined to say how many witnesses police had spoken to or how many people were in the classroom during the attack. He said his department is hoping more students with information will come forward.
But many students have already gone home. After the shooting, the remaining classes and exams before winter break were canceled.
Meanwhile, Boston-area police are searching for the person who killed a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor earlier this week. That professor was attacked at home, and the FBI said it had no reason to think the two attacks were linked.
Brown said early-decision admission offers that were delayed after the shooting will be released Wednesday evening.
The attack and shooter’s escape have raised questions about campus security.
Paxson said Brown has two security systems. One, which is activated in emergencies, sent out text messages, phone calls and emails that reached 20,000 people. The other features three sirens across the campus and was not activated Saturday. Paxson said doing so would have caused people to rush into buildings, including where the shooter was.
Brown's website says the sirens can be used when there is a shooter, but Paxson said it depends on circumstances such as location.
There have also been questions about the investigation and why no one is in custody.
Katherine Schweit, retired FBI agent and mass shooting expert, said typically in these types of targeted, public attacks, shooters kill themselves or authorities kill them or arrest them where they attack, but when shooters get away the search can take time. She pointed to the 2013 Boston Marathon bombers and the Army reservist who opened fire in Maine in 2023.
“The best they can do is what they do now, which is continue to press together all of the facts they have as fast as they can,” she said. "And really the best hope for solutions is going to come from the public.”
Rodriguez said it's clear shooters are learning from others who were caught.
“Most of the time an active shooter is going to go in, and he’s going to try to commit what we call maximum carnage, maximum damage,” he said. "And at this point, they’re actually trying to get away. And they’re actually evading police with an effective methodology, which I haven’t seen before.”
Providence remained tense Wednesday. Additional police were at schools to reassure worried parents. Some afterschool activities and field trips were canceled.
Hundreds of residents have signed up for a city text alert service since the shooting, officials said.
Brown cautioned people against accusing others online of having any link to the attack. Speculation led to a student's identifying information being posted online, the university said.
About 200 people honored the victims Tuesday at a campus church service.
The shooter killed Ella Cook, a 19-year-old sophomore from Alabama who was very involved in her church and served as vice president of the Brown College Republicans; and MukhammadAziz Umurzokov, an 18-year-old freshman from Virginia whose family immigrated to the U.S. from Uzbekistan and who hoped to go to medical school.
Mayor Brett Smiley said Wednesday that a third wounded student had been discharged, leaving five still hospitalized in stable condition and one in critical condition.
Associated Press journalists Jennifer McDermott, Matt O'Brien and Robert F. Bukaty in Providence; Patrick Whittle in Portland, Maine; Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire; Audrey McAvoy in Honolulu and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed to this report.
Flowers and candles surround photos of Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, an 18-year-old freshman from Brandermill, Va., and Ella Cook, a 19-year-old sophomore from a suburb of Birmingham, Ala., in front of a Brown University gate in Providence, R.I., on Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Leah Willingham)
The U.S. flag flies at half-staff on the Main Green in honor of the victims of the campus shooting at Brown University, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025, in Providence, R.I. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Photos of Brown University shooting victims Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, left, and Ella Cook, are seen amongst flowers at a makeshift memorial at the school's Van Wickle Gate, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025, in Providence, R.I. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
A snowman begins to sag on the usually-bustling Main Green at Brown University, where the fall semester was canceled a week early following the campus shooting, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025, in Providence, R.I. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
The U.S. flag flies at half-staff on the Main Green in honor of the victims of the campus shooting at Brown University, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025, in Providence, R.I. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
A poster seeking information about the campus shooting suspect is seen on the campus of Brown University, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025, in Providence, R.I. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Visitors kneel at a makeshift memorial for the shooting victims outside the Engineering Research Center at Brown University, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025, in Providence, R.I.(AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Brown University students Gloria Kuzmenko-Latimir, left, and Haleema Aslam walk by Manning Hall on their way to a makeshift memorial for the shooting victims, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025, in Providence, R.I. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
The choir enters St. Stephen's Church during a community service for the victims of the Brown University shooting, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Participants light candles at St. Stephen's Church during a community service for the victims of the Brown University shooting, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
This image taken from video provided by the FBI shows a person of interest in the investigation of the shooting that occurred at Brown University, in Providence, R.I., Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. (FBI via AP)
