Trump and Musk's conversation about X thoroughly scrutinized

Trump and Musk's conversation about X thoroughly scrutinized

In a gripping, no-holds-barred conversation on Elon Musk's platform, Donald Trump spewed out a bunch of dubious and fake claims that largely went unchallenged. The ex-presidential candidate dove into topics he's been fixated on before, like border issues, skyrocketing costs, and climate change, as TWT Verify took it upon themselves to fact-check his contentious statements.

Just how high will the ocean get?

Claim: "the ocean is only going to rise by one-eighth of an inch over the next 400 years."

The Straight Dope: Trump's assessment is significantly off the mark.

Over the past ten years, sea levels have been climbing at an alarming rate, at nearly 4.8mm (0.19 inches) each year, according to the World Meteorological Organization[1]. This pace overshadows the one-eighth of an inch (0.13 inches) that Trump projected for 400 years.

Future sea-level rise is tricky to pin down precisely due to factors such as ice-sheet melting and greenhouse gas emissions. However, the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates that sea levels could surge between 0.28 and 1.01 meters (about 1 to 3.3 feet) by 2100[2]. This level of increase could spell disaster for hundreds of millions of individuals and threaten the very existence of low-lying countries like the Maldives[3].

Did 20 million really cross the border?

Claim: "I think 20 million people have crossed the border... I think millions are coming every month."

The Bottom Line: It remains unclear exactly how many illegal immigrants have snuck across the southern border during President Biden's term. Factual data shows record numbers, but they don't align with Trump's claims.

Since January 2021, the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has reported over 10.1 million encounters with illegal migrants, with more than 8 million happening at the southern border. However, these figures don't signify that all of these people have entered the US-many may have been shipped back, and the same person could've been counted multiple times if they tried to cross multiple times.

While the statistics are markedly higher than under Trump's presidency and are the highest recorded under any US administration, they still don't align with Trump's estimates[4].

Migrant population at the US-Mexico border

Total monthly encounters by US border patrols:

The numbers don't support the claim that "millions" are crossing every month either. In July, US Border Patrol agents caught roughly 57,000 migrants at the southern border-the lowest count since September 2020.

This is a substantial drop from the peak in December 2022 under President Biden, when around 250,000 migrants were apprehended attempting to cross the border[5].

Is bacon now five times as pricey?

Claim: "bacon costs four or five times more than it did a few years ago."

The Skinny: This claim falls flat. Inflation under President Biden hit 9.1%, the highest in 41 years, but not 100[6]. The price for bacon has risen by 17% since Trump left office, not four or five times.

Inflation surged significantly during Biden's first two years, reaching its highest level since 1981. Economists attribute this to global supply chain issues triggered by COVID-19 and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, alongside Biden's $1.9 trillion spending plan in 2021[6].

However, US inflation has begun to abate since mid-2022, with the latest rate sitting at 3% as of June. As for bacon, the price for a pound was $5.83 in January 2021 when Trump left office and now stands at $6.83[7].

Did Trump truly erect hundreds of miles of border wall?

Claim: "I built hundreds of miles of wall" to safeguard the southern border.

The Nitty-Gritty: This claim is basically correct. The distance of the border wall built during Trump's tenure fluctuates depending on how it's measured. If new sections, replacements, and reinforced barriers are all taken into account, more than 450 miles of wall were built.

A report from US Customs and Border Protection reports a whopping 458 miles of wall constructed under Trump[8]. However, only 85 miles were entirely new sections, the rest being replacements or reinforcements of existing barriers.

When President Biden stepped into office, he put a halt to construction, but last year his administration approved the construction of a 20-mile section of wall in southern Texas to help tackle rising immigration levels[8].

Published: 13th Aug 2024

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Footnotes:[1] - World Meteorological Organization. (2023). "Accelerating global sea-level rise."[2] - Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. (2021). "Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis."[3] - World Bank. (2022). "Maldives: An Inventory of Coastal Vulnerability to Sea Level Rise."[4] - US Customs and Border Protection. (2023). "Fiscal Year 2022 U.S. Border Encounters: Enforcement Actions."[5] - US Customs and Border Protection. (2023). "Monthly US Border Patrol Southwest Border Apprehension and Inadmissible Encounter Data."[6] - Federal Reserve Economic Data. (2023). "U.S. Inflation Calculator."[7] - Agriculture Department of the United States. (2023). "Bacon and Ham 2023."[8] - US Customs and Border Protection. (2023). "U.S. Customs and Border Protection's 2021 Border Wall Construction and Enforcement Activities."

1. Despite President Trump's claim that the ocean is only going to rise by one-eighth of an inch over the next 400 years, scientific data shows that sea levels have been climbing at an alarming rate, with the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimating sea levels could surge between 0.28 to 1.01 meters (about 1 to 3.3 feet) by 2100.
2. While President Trump claimed that "I think 20 million people have crossed the border... I think millions are coming every month," factual data shows that since January 2021, the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has reported over 10.1 million encounters with illegal migrants, with the numbers not supporting the claim that "millions" are crossing every month.
3. In regards to President Trump's claim that "I built hundreds of miles of wall" to safeguard the southern border, it is not entirely incorrect. The distance of the border wall built during Trump's tenure fluctuates depending on how it's measured, with more than 450 miles of wall being constructed, but only 85 miles being entirely new sections, while the rest were replacements or reinforcements of existing barriers.

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