CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale ripped apart several claims President Donald Trump made during his Tuesday address to the United Nations — including his dismissal of warnings that the United States faces a munitions shortage.
“The cowards and traitors would love to say the United States is low on munitions, but that’s not true,” Trump declared.
But Dale noted that a Pentagon inspector general reported “strategic inventory shortfalls,” while the Congressional Budget Office found a shortage of missile-defense interceptors. The CBO estimated that the U.S. has used between one-half and two-thirds of its inventory since June 2025 and could need at least five years to rebuild it, he said.
“It’s not clear who Trump is calling ‘cowards and traitors,’” Dale wrote Tuesday. “But it’s not just CNN and other media outlets that have reported that the war with Iran has depleted at least some US munitions levels.”
Dale also targeted Trump’s claim that he secured $21 trillion in investment commitments, writing that the figure has “no apparent basis.” The White House’s own website lists $11.2 trillion in announcements.
Dale also poured cold water on Trump’s claim that he settled eight wars, calling it “a clear exaggeration," and found “at least four things wrong” with the president's global-warming remarks.
Finally, Trump’s claim that Washington, D.C., crime had fallen 87% “isn’t close to accurate,” Dale concluded. Police data, he said, showed a roughly 23% decline from the same point in 2024.
"Not the 80-plus percent Trump has repeatedly claimed," Dale noted.
