Fox News, the only network that chose to air some of the White House’s provided graphics during President Donald Trump’s 18-minute-long address on Wednesday night, accidentally disproved one of the president’s claims in the process.
It was first reported by CNN’s Brian Stelter that NBC, CNN, ABC, and CBS all declined to air the graphics alongside the president’s address, with sources telling him that one of the main reasons was that the graphics lacked clear sourcing information. The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
During his speech, Trump claimed that, “Gasoline is now under $2.50 a gallon in much of the country. In some states, by the way, it just hit $1.99 a gallon.”
Not only does AAA disprove the president’s claim, with its website showing that the national average gas price on Wednesday was $2.91/gallon, but the White House graphic aired by Fox News also proves the president wrong.
According to the graphic, which Fox News clearly labeled as being provided by the White House, gas prices have largely hovered around or above $3 per gallon throughout Trump’s second term so far.
Fox News aired seven of the White House’s graphics during his speech, including one showing a purported increase in the "native-born employment level" and another that showed the cost of several everyday food items decreasing under Trump. Several of the slides then appeared on air again during Hannity later in the hour, including the inaccurate gas prices graphic.
In reality, according to Trump’s own Department of Agriculture, food prices have increased by 3.2 percent since August 2024—and are rising faster than overall inflation.
Trump’s address was so riddled with errors and inaccuracies that both CNN’s Harry Enten and MS NOW’s Jen Psaki began fact-checking it as soon as the president finished speaking.
Other inaccurate claims featured in Trump’s address included his claim that he has lowered drug prices by 600 percent, a mathematical impossibility, and that he has brought in $18 trillion in investments, contradicting the White House’s own figure of $9.6 trillion.
The president also claimed that more Americans are working than ever before, when in reality, the national unemployment rate reached a four-year high in November, with more than 700,000 more people unemployed that month than before Trump’s inauguration.
Trump, who spent much of the 18-minute address raising his voice and speaking at a much faster rate than normal, ended his speech with a brusque holiday greeting for the nation. Displaying no emotion and not pausing for breath, the president told his fellow Americans, “To each and every one of you, have a merry Christmas and a happy new year. God bless you all.”
