Tag: Snopes News

Claim:

The 119th Congress, which has been active between 2025 and 2026, is the most productive Congress in 80 years, as Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson claimed in September 2026.

Rating:

In September 2026, with the midterm elections only two months away, Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson appealed to voters that the GOP-led Congress gets things done.

For example, while speaking at the Republican Midterm Convention in Dallas on Sept. 10, Johnson claimed (archived) the 119th Congress — which is ongoing as of this writing and scheduled to end on Jan. 3, 2027 — has been “the most productive Congress in 80 years”:

The media won’t tell you this, but this has been one of the most productive congresses in the history of the institution since 1789. In the House, we passed over 900 pieces of legislation, and that includes the Save America Act four times. It’s been the most productive Congress in 80 years, and we’re not done yet.

Social media users who shared the clip (archived, archived) focused on Johnson’s “most productive Congress in 80 years” remark. Other videos of him making similar claims were shared on YouTube (archived).

Snopes contacted Johnson’s staff to ask what metric he used when calling the 119th Congress the most productive in 80 years. We had not received a reply prior to publication but will update this article if we hear back.

In the absence of a response, we used multiple potential metrics to compare the productivity of the 119th Congress, which has a Republican-led House and Senate, to that of the 118th Congress (Republican-led House, Democrat-led Senate through caucusing) and the 117th Congress (Democrat-led House and Senate, the latter through caucusing and the vice president’s tie-breaking votes).

Based on the metrics we used, the 119th Congress was not as productive as either of its two predecessors. Therefore, we’ve rated this claim false.

According to Congress.gov, the House of Representatives has passed or agreed upon 922 pieces of legislation as of Sept. 14, 2026 (though the 119th Congress is not complete until Jan. 3, 2027). During the 118th Congress, the House passed or agreed upon 995 pieces of Legislation. During the 117th Congress, the House passed or agreed upon 1,127.

It is possible the 119th Congress could surpass the 118th and 117th Congresses by its end. Even so, it would likely fall short of beating prior Congresses from the past 80 years, as measured by the number of bills passed or agreed upon by the House of Representatives. For example, there were 1,663 such bills in the 93rd Congress, which served between 1973 and 1974.

To measure Congress’ productivity as a whole, we can compare what each Congress has passed or agreed upon in both the House and Senate, as well as how many laws they were able to pass. A piece of legislation needs to pass in both chambers of Congress and then be signed by the president to become law.

Both chambers of the 119th Congress have passed or agreed upon 139 pieces of legislation as of this writing. That’s compared to 315 pieces of legislation from the 118th Congress and 397 pieces of legislation from the 117th Congress.

The 119th Congress has produced 110 new laws, whereas the 118th Congress made 274 and the 117th made 365.

GovTrack, which compiles statistics on legislative action in Congress, also measures total enacted legislation when including bills that ultimately passed by being included in another bill (via incorporation). This might include acts that were ultimately passed as part of an annual budget bill, for example. Even when including such legislation, the 119th Congress has so far enacted 429 pieces of legislation, according to GovTrack, as opposed to 619 pieces of legislation in the 118th Congress and 1,236 in the 117th Congress.

GovTrack also compiles a “Total” figure that includes: enacted legislation, enacted legislation (including via incorporation), passed resolutions, bills and resolutions that had a significant vote but weren’t passed or enacted, failed legislation, vetoed bills, and bills and resolutions that were introduced or reported but saw no further action. The 119th Congress’ total of 18,670 is bigger than the 117th’s of 17,817, but is smaller than the 118th’s of 19,315 and several of those in the 1970s, that ranged between 22,313 and 26,222.

In sum, based on every relevant metric Snopes could find, it is incorrect to call this Congress the most productive in the past 80 years — at least to date.

Claim:

Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, then-real estate developer Donald Trump said 40 Wall Street, a building he owns, was “the tallest” in downtown Manhattan or New York City.

Rating:

Context

Trump specifically called 40 Wall Street the tallest building on downtown Manhattan, not all of Manhattan or New York City. Whether Trump’s comments amounted to bragging, as some people online claimed, is open to interpretation.

Around the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, a claim (archived) circulated online that U.S. President Donald Trump, then a New York City real estate developer, said after the attacks that he now owned the tallest building in downtown Manhattan or New York City.

For example, one X user posted a clip from an alleged TV news interview with Trump captioned, “Here is Trump on 9/11 bragging that Trump Tower is now the tallest building in Manhattan.”

Here is Trump on 9/11 bragging that Trump Tower is now the tallest building in Manhattan pic.twitter.com/Fy5ZW85tZc

— FactPost (@factpostnews) September 11, 2026

Similar claims that Trump had said his building was the tallest in Manhattan or even New York City after the Twin Towers fell circulated on Facebook (archived), Instagram (archived), Threads (archived), and Reddit (archived). Snopes readers also contacted us to ask about the claim.

Trump did tell (time code 2:05, archived) a reporter soon after the 9/11 attacks that 40 Wall Street, which the Trump Organization still owns, was “the tallest” building in downtown Manhattan (not Manhattan as a whole or New York City). As such, we’ve rated this quote as correctly attributed to Trump.

Whether Trump’s comments amounted to bragging, as some people online claimed, is open to interpretation. 

Fox 5 New York posted a video of Trump’s phone interview with WWOR-TV reporter Alan Marcus on YouTube in 2016. Trump made the claim about owning the tallest building in downtown Manhattan after Marcus asked if 40 Wall Street had sustained any damage during the attacks. The exchange went as follows (at 1:43 — emphasis ours):

MARCUS: Donald, you have one of the landmark buildings down in the financial district, 40 Wall Street, did you have any damage or did you know what’s happened down there?

TRUMP: Well, it was an amazing phone call I made. 40 Wall Street actually was the second-tallest building in downtown Manhattan. And it was, actually before the World Trade Center, was the tallest. And then when they built the World Trade Center, it became known as the second-tallest. And now it’s the tallest.

During the 2001 interview, Marcus also asked Trump how he would have handled 9/11 if he were president given that he had considered running for the office the year before (at 4:14). Trump said he would have taken a “very, very tough line” against “the group of people that did this.”

In an interview with Politico in 2016, Marcus reportedly said that Trump’s remark about 40 Wall Street was “Donald being Donald.” Marcus added, “He is the brand manager of Trump, and he is going to tout that brand, and he does it reflexively.”

Trump’s claim that 40 Wall Street was the tallest building in downtown Manhattan following the attacks was incorrect. The nearby 952-foot tall 70 Pine Street skyscraper, which was also part of the Manhattan skyline in 2001, is 26 feet taller than 40 Wall Street.

For further reading, Snopes previously investigated whether Trump attacked the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in New York for telling him he would not be allowed to speak at its 25th-anniversary commemoration. 

Snopes’ archives contributed to this report.

Sources

After the U.S. commemorated the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, a claim (archived) circulated online that the Flight 93 National Memorial changed the time of its 9/11 observance to accommodate a visit from U.S. President Donald Trump or Vice President JD Vance but neither showed up.

United Airlines Flight 93 was one of four planes hijacked on 9/11. It was the only one that did not hit a building, instead crashing in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers attempted to retake control of the plane from the hijackers.

In sharing the claim about Trump and Vance, one X user wrote: “The 9/11 Flight 93 Memorial reportedly changed the time of their ceremony to accommodate a visit from Trump or Vance, but neither of them showed up. Trump traveled to a golf tournament instead.”

The 9/11 Flight 93 Memorial reportedly changed the time of their ceremony to accommodate a visit from Trump or Vance, but neither of them showed up.

Trump traveled to a golf tournament instead. pic.twitter.com/SVhVbLaY6s

— Headquarters (@HQNewsNow) September 14, 2026

The claim also circulated on Facebook (archived). Snopes readers contacted us about the claim.

The claim is unproven. Though event pages for 9/11 observances at the Flight 93 National Memorial from 2020 to 2026 showed the 2026 event started around an hour and 15 minutes earlier than previous ceremonies, the program (archived) also was longer than in previous years. 

We found no evidence that Trump or Vance were supposed to attend the event at the memorial but did not show. Trump attended a commemoration ceremony at the Pentagon with military leaders on Sept. 11, 2026, while Vance attended a commemoration event in New York City at the site of the former Twin Towers. Trump travelled to Dublin, Ireland, in the evening for a two-day visit that included attending the Irish Open at his Doonbeg golf club on Sept. 13.

We contacted the National Park Service, which manages the Flight 93 National Memorial, to ask why the 2026 observance started earlier than in previous years. We also asked the White House press office whether Trump or Vance were supposed to attend the Flight 93 National Memorial observance and await replies to our queries.

In the meantime, because the NPS had not confirmed why the 2026 event had a different start time than previous years, we leave this claim unrated.

Longer 2026 event also memorialized other 9/11 flights

According to event programs for the 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 events, previous 9/11 observances at the Flight 93 National Memorial started at either 9:45 or 9:50 a.m., which could be in order to coincide with the exact time Flight 93 crashed near Shanksville, at 10:03 a.m. Sept. 11, 2001. The 2026 event started at 8:30 a.m.

The event programs from 2021 to 2024 generally started with welcome remarks, the Pledge of Allegiance or national anthem, followed by a reading of the names of the 40 passengers and crew on board Flight 93 who died when the plane crashed.

The event programs then listed bells of remembrance, a moment of reflection and conclusion and a wreath-laying. Some events also featured speakers such as former President George W. Bush and then-Vice President Kamala Harris in 2021 and then-first lady Jill Biden in 2022. Trump attended a smaller, live-streamed ceremony during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

The 2026 program appeared longer than in previous years, and included remembrances for the three other hijacked flights on 9/11 that struck the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The 2026 program added musical selections and also included bell tollings and wreath-layings for American Airlines Flight 11, which hit the North Tower on 8:46 a.m., United Airlines Flight 175, which hit the South Tower at 9:03 a.m., and American Airlines Flight 77, which hit the Pentagon at 9:37 a.m. 

If the 2026 event intended to honor the other three flights at the times they crashed, it would have needed to start earlier than the previous 9:45 or 9:50 a.m. start times.

For further reading, Snopes has investigated a series of other rumors about where Trump was or what he was doing on or around Sept. 11, 2001.

Sources

Claim:

The Chinese government issued a nationwide alert telling people not to communicate with aliens and to contact the United Nations if extraterrestrial life reaches out to them.

Rating:

Context

In June 2026, numerous Chinese news media outlets reported on updated international guidelines advising researchers not to independently respond to extraterrestrial signals. English-language news outlets also reported on these updated guidelines, which came from an international scientific organization. It was not possible to find any evidence of the Chinese government sending a nationwide alert telling people not to communicate with aliens, nor of the existence of a U.N. “alien hotline.”

In September 2026, a rumor circulated online that the Chinese government broadcast a warning to the country’s population of roughly 1.4 billion people, instructing them not to communicate with aliens and to instead contact the United Nations if extraterrestrial life reaches out to them.

For example, one Instagram user posted a video making the claim (archived), during which the user said the alleged warning was distributed through several channels:

Broadcast was made as if it were a giant emergency. They did it through the radio, they did it like the way that you get Amber Alerts on your phone, they did a television broadcast and they had messengers going into rural communities to tell people this and give them this information.

The supposed announcement said, “If you are contacted by aliens, do not attempt to communicate with them. Call this phone number, which will send you to the United Nations desk of the alien communications specialist, and they will take care of it for you.” The Instagram user later referred to the supposed number as an “alien hotline” and said similar messages circulated in Japan and South Korea.

The claim spread spread elsewhere on Instagram as well as on Reddit and Facebook. Readers also contacted Snopes to ask whether it was true.

In short, it was not possible to find any evidence the Chinese government issued the nationwide warning described in the posts, and a spokesperson for China’s embassy in Washington, D.C., said no Chinese government agency issued such a warning. The real guidance behind the rumor also did not instruct ordinary people to call a U.N. “alien communications specialist” if extraterrestrials contacted them. As such, we have rated the claim as false.

Warning did appear in Chinese media

There is a real story behind the rumor. On June 1, 2026, the International Academy of Astronautics, a Paris-based nongovernmental scientific organization, published updated guidelines for people and organizations involved in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, or SETI. The document says possible signals should be independently verified and that researchers should not send a reply before international consultation.

These guidelines did receive attention in China. For instance, on June 7, IT Home, a Chinese technology news website, published an article titled (translated using Google Translate) “Do not respond to aliens without authorization! The International Academy of Astronautics updates eight guidelines.” China Science Daily, Shanghai-based digital newspaper The Paper and national television broadcaster CCTV News also reported on the updated declaration.

The article on The Paper’s website appeared in its “Government Affairs” section, which could make it seem like an official government message.

English-language news media outlets similarly reported on the IAA’s updated guidelines.

Graphic may explain how rumor spread

A blue graphic with yellow text in Chinese circulated alongside the rumor in some social media posts. Jingchu Network (荆楚网) — which is part of CnHubei, a news website in Hubei province — posted the graphic on its Douyin account (shown below). The message, translated using Google Translate, reads:

Do not reply to extraterrestrials on your own initiative; the International Academy of Astronautics recommends immediately notifying the United Nations upon the discovery of extraterrestrial life.

(Jingchu Network Douyin account)

The Douyin post cites Red Star News as its source and explains that the message concerned the IAA’s guidelines. On June 7, Red Star News published an article about the IAA update.

Jingchu Network is a state-backed news outlet. According to its website, it is supervised by the Hubei Provincial Party Committee Propaganda Department and the Hubei Provincial Cyberspace Administration. “It is the only national key provincial news website in Hubei Province approved by the State Council Information Office,” the website reads.

The graphic later circulated on English-language social media platforms, where users described it as an announcement posted in China. This may have contributed to claims that the Chinese government itself issued the warning.

Government website also links to the story

The story also indirectly appeared on at least one official Chinese government website.

On June 10, Fushun Municipal Science and Technology Bureau — a government department of the city of Fushun, in Liaoning province — listed (as shown below) a webpage titled, “Do not respond to aliens without authorization! Why did the International Academy of Astronautics call for a halt?” in the “Science and Technology Work Updates” section of its website.

(fskjj.fushun.gov.cn)

However, that webpage originated from outside the department’s website. It was not presenting the message as a new government policy or warning.

Liu Chang, a spokesperson for China’s embassy in Washington, D.C. said via email that the Chinese government issued no such warning:

Based on publicly available information to my knowledge, no Chinese government agency issued such a warning, distributed it through national alert channels, or instructed the public to contact the U.N. about extraterrestrial contact.

The claim may stem from confusion over a revised SETI protocol issued by the International Academy of Astronautics and reported by Chinese media. It was not a Chinese government notice.

Snopes also contacted the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs for comment. We will update this article if we receive a response.

Guidance is for researchers, not ordinary people

The IAA document explicitly says it was written for people and organizations taking part in scientific SETI research. It does not tell ordinary people what to do if an alien personally contacts them.

The declaration says that after a confirmed detection, researchers should take part in international consultations over whether a response should be sent. Until those talks are finished, “no reply should be sent.” It also says those discussions should include the United Nations and other international bodies.

Chinese Science Daily interviewed Zhang Tongjie, a Beijing Normal University professor who took part in discussions about the revised declaration. He reportedly said the cautious approach was based on uncertainty about whether an extraterrestrial civilization would be friendly, hostile or neutral. He was also quoted as saying the declaration was not legally binding. 

There is no UN ‘alien hotline’

Social media posts also claimed Chinese citizens were given a phone number for a U.N. “alien communications specialist,” but no such a number is in the IAA declaration. The document directs questions about its principles to the IAA itself.

Searching Google for a United Nations “alien communications specialist” returned no results (archived) suggesting that such a role exists.

Though the declaration says consultations about whether to respond to confirmed extraterrestrial intelligence should involve the United Nations and other international bodies, it also says the specific procedures for such consultations still need to be established in a separate agreement or arrangement.

The idea of an official U.N. representative for alien contact has appeared before. In 2010, a report in British newspaper The Times claimed astrophysicist Mazlan Othman, then-director of the U.N. Office for Outer Space Affairs, was appointed as Earth’s contact person for extraterrestrials. Othman denied this and said no specific U.N. response role had been decided, while further action would be up to member states.

Therefore, the IAA declaration’s reference to international consultation through the United Nations does not mean there is a U.N. “alien hotline.”

Snopes has contacted the U.N. and, specifically, its Office for Outer Space Affairs to ask whether such a hotline exists. We will update this article if we receive any responses.

Bottom line

All in all, there is a kernel of truth behind the story. In June 2026, Chinese news media outlets did publish messages saying people should not “respond to aliens” without authorization, and an official municipal government website did link to a webpage on the topic.

However, that information came from guidelines for SETI researchers issued by the International Academy of Astronautics. The guidelines say a possible extraterrestrial signal should first be verified and that no response should be sent before international consultation.

Finally, it was not possible to find any evidence that China sent a nationwide emergency alert or gave people a phone number for a U.N. “alien communications specialist.”

In summer 2026, many people scrutinized White House aide Natalie Harp following news reports of what appeared to be an unusually close relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump.

In September, following a Trump visit to Ireland during which he took time to golf at his Trump Organization-owned course, people started sharing multiple versions of an image that appeared to show Trump kissing Harp, whose back is turned toward the camera, while on the golf course.

For example, one X post (archived) shared a low-resolution version of the image. Another popular X post (archived) shared a higher resolution version with crisper colors.

Users also widely posted the image on Threads (archived) and Instagram (archived). Snopes readers emailed us to ask whether the image was real.

Snopes could find no credible evidence or source supporting the authenticity of the image, but we were able to find multiple red flags indicating the higher-resolution version was generated or edited with artificial intelligence tools. The lower-resolution version did not have those same red flags, in part because of its poor quality. Therefore, we’ve left this claim unrated until more evidence comes to light.

We used Google Lens to run a reverse image search on both versions of the image. The oldest example that turned up was a thumbnail image for a Sept. 14 YouTube video uploaded by political commentator Keith Edwards. We’ve fact-checked images originating from Edwards’ thumbnails twice before. In one of those fact checks, Edwards confirmed he had used an AI tool to generate the image.

Snopes reached out to Edwards by email to confirm the origin of the image of Trump kissing Harp. He responded: 

My thumbnail team found the image online. We did not create or alter the underlying image, but we also did not independently verify its original source or that the woman pictured is Natalie Harp. Given that only the back of her head is visible, I don’t think her identity can be confirmed from this image alone.

Following this, Snopes used the thumbnail to conduct another reverse image search. While it failed to unearth any older versions of the image, the results (archived) included a wider shot of the subjects than any other we could find. That version, which included the “wtf” text on Edwards’ thumbnail, linked to the same Edwards video.

None of the reverse image searches turned up links to credible news sources or even less-credible tabloids sharing the image. Considering the reporting already scrutinizing Trump’s relationship with Harp, it’s unlikely, if the image were real, that not a single credible news source would report on it. The image also did not appear among photos kept by credible photo repositories, such as Getty Images and The Associated Press.

Although there was no photographer, date or location listed for any version of the image, the timing of its spread suggested it was likely meant to depict something that took place while Trump was visiting his golf course in Ireland on Sept. 13, an activity listed on his calendar as “Executive Time.” Photos of that golf course and Google Maps satellite view don’t show any trees, in contrast to the image of Trump and Harp kissing.

Snopes reached out to the White House by email to ask if any photos of Trump and/or Harp at the golf course over the weekend exist in order to compare what either was wearing in those images with what they supposedly wore in the image of the kiss. The White House did not send or confirm the requested images, but a White House official said the image shared online was “clearly a fake photo.”

While many of those who spread the photo presumed the woman was Harp, there’s no way to confirm that considering the subject’s face isn’t visible.

Some people online claimed the image was actually a 2017 photo of Trump exchanging a cheek-kiss with Norwegian golfer Suzann Pettersen as a greeting. This is false. That kiss was not actually on the golf course, Pettersen was in a different outfit than that of the woman in the recent image and Trump was also dressed differently, as shown in images capturing the moment from 2017.

AI evidence

A tool by OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, detected a watermark in the higher-resolution version image consistent with those generated or edited using the company’s AI tools. Moreover, the image depicts Harp holding her golf club with six fingers.

The lower-resolution version of the image was too blurry to clearly identify AI tells such as an excessive number of fingers on either person’s hands. While OpenAI’s tool didn’t identify a watermark within the lower-resolution image shared across X and Threads, the tool did detect OpenAI watermarks on the thumbnail for Edwards’ video.

Separately, Snopes tested what the tool would find on a real photo where a small portion had then been edited by AI. OpenAI’s tool detected the watermark on such an image, even when the photo was cropped to remove the part that had been edited.

Hany Farid, co-founder of deepfake detection company GetReal and a professor at Drexel University, told Snopes over email that “the high-resolution version was clearly derived from the lower-resolution version and has a SynthID watermark. As for the lower-resolution version, there is not a lot to go on here given the quality and resolution.”

“While there are no obvious visual anomalies, the low quality/resolution is a bit of a red flag. In particular, given the apparent narrow depth of focus, this does not appear to photographed with a mobile device and is more likely taken with a DSLR that would afford this type of narrow depth of focus,” Farid continued. “Assuming this to be the case, I would expect the image quality to be better. At this point, I’d say the authenticity is inconclusive.”

Claim:

U.S. President Donald Trump helped a farmer’s widow clear her debts to keep her farm in Georgia after her husband committed suicide to stop it being auctioned off.

Rating:

In September 2026, a claim (archived) circulated online that U.S. President Donald Trump helped a farmer’s widow clear her debts to keep her farm in Georgia after her husband died by suicide.

A long text about the alleged act of kindness circulated on Facebook. It began:

On a February morning in 1986, a Georgia farmer named Leonard Hill walked out of his house twenty minutes before the bank was set to auction off his land. He never came back inside.

He took his own life that morning, believing his life insurance policy would cover the debts that had buried his family. It did not come close.

Leonard left behind a widow.

Annabel Hill was 66 years old, and the farm her husband died trying to save had been in her family for five generations.

Years of drought had wiped out the crops and the income that came with them. By the time Leonard died, the family owed the bank more than $300,000. His death did nothing to change that number.

The auction was still coming, and Annabel was now facing it alone.

That fall, an Atlanta businessman named Frank Argenbright heard what had happened to the Hills. He did not know the family. He simply decided that a widow in her sixties should not lose five generations of land because it stopped raining. So he started making phone calls, looking for anyone with the money and the will to step in.

Those calls eventually reached a New York developer whose name the Hill family had never heard. Donald Trump was 40 years old and building his reputation in Manhattan real estate.

The same text and claim also circulated elsewhere on Facebook (archived), Instagram (archived) and X (archived). Snopes readers contacted us asking whether Trump really saved a Georgia farm.

The claim was true. According to reports at the time in reputable news outlets such as The Associated Press, Trump helped fundraise for Annabell Hill, a farmer’s widow whose husband, Leonard Dozier Hill III, died by suicide in 1986 trying to save his fifth-generation farm through his life insurance payments. 

Some details, like exactly how much money the Hill family owed, the exact size of the farm and how much money the fundraiser collected varied between reports, but what appeared consistent was that Trump and a Texas farmer named Tom McKamy contributed a vital final portion of the fundraiser, allowing most of the land to stay with Hill’s family.

None of the parties to the story have publicly refuted the reported account of Trump helping to save the Hill farm. Trump and Hill’s daughter, Betsy Sharp, shared the story during a campaign rally in 2016.

Snopes attempted to reach the McKamy family and Sharp to confirm the unclear details of the story and await replies to our queries.

Trump, Texas farmer provided vital funding

News outlets including The Associated Press and Time magazine reported in September 1986 that the Hill family farm was due to be sold at auction on Feb. 4, 1986. However, 20 minutes before the auction was scheduled to start, Leonard Hill fatally shot himself, hoping his life insurance payment would be enough to cover the farm’s $300,000 debt and keep it in the family’s ownership. The payments were not enough, and the bank collecting Hill’s debt scheduled another auction for Sept. 2.

However, the AP reported that Trump spokesperson Norma Foerderer told the outlet that Trump stopped that second auction by offering Hill $20,000 up front and pledged to help fundraise the remaining $173,000 needed for the family to keep the 705-acre farm. 

By mid-September 1986, Time reported that Trump, working with Frank Argenbright Jr., a Georgia businessman who helped Hill bring her cause to the public, had raised about $77,000 and hoped to raise about $100,000 more.

The AP reported in December 1986, that the fundraiser ultimately reached $187,000. The news agency United Press International reported, citing a Trump spokesperson, that Trump had contributed $39,000, which was half of the $78,000 in missing funding after public donations, and McKamy had contributed the other half.

The New York Times reported a year later, citing Hill and Foerderer, that the auction had ultimately saved 715 acres of farmland. According to that article, the fundraiser reached $180,000 with an additional $5,000 raised in legal fees. Trump reportedly contributed $46,000.

Snopes contacted the White House Press Office and the Trump Organization to confirm the correct fundraising figures and await replies to our queries.

Trump’s own account

Trump included his account of helping save Hill’s farm in his memoir/business advice book “The Art of the Deal,” published in 1987. Trump wrote that he had seen Hill’s story on the news and “was moved.” He said he contacted the bank that held Hill’s mortgage which told him it was “too late” to save the farm. Trump wrote (pages 4-5): 

That really got me going. I said to the guy, “You listen to me. If you do foreclose, I’ll personally bring a lawsuit for murder against you and your bank, on the grounds that you harassed Mrs. Hill’s husband to his death.” All of a sudden the bank officer sounded very nervous and said he’d get right back to me.

Sometimes it pays to be a little wild. An hour later I got a call back from the banker, and he said, “Don’t worry, we’re going to work it out, Mr. Trump.” Mrs. Hill and Frank Argenbright told the media, and the next thing I knew, it was the lead story on the network news.

By the end of the week, we’d raised $40,000. [Radio personality Don] Imus alone raised almost $20,000 by appealing to his listeners. As a Christmas present to Mrs. Hill and her family, we’ve scheduled a mortgage-burning ceremony for Christmas Eve in the atrium of Trump Tower. By then, I’m confident, we’ll have raised all the money. I’ve promised Mrs. Hill that if we haven’t, I’ll make up any difference.

Trump made good on his promise to carry out a “mortgage-burning ceremony” by Christmas 1986. AP photographer Richard Drew captured Trump and Hill holding a burning piece of paper aloft in front of a Christmas tree on Dec. 23, 1986.

Trump showed another photo from the 1986 “mortgage-burning ceremony” to attendees at a campaign rally in Augusta, South Carolina, on Feb. 16, 2016, before bringing Hill’s daughter Betsy Sharp on stage. Sharp praised Trump’s generosity, who described (at 16:15) his fundraising as: “I paid off her mortgage, big deal, right.”

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s political columnist Jim Galloway wrote in 2015 that Hill’s son, Leonard Dozier Hill IV, “still lives on the farm that Donald Trump saved.” Snopes asked Sharp whether anyone from the family still lived on or worked the farm at the time of this writing and await a reply to our query.

For further reading, Snopes previously investigated a number of acts of kindness that Trump reportedly carried out.

Claim:

A screenshot shared online in September 2026 authentically shows a 2012 tweet from U.S. President Donald Trump, reading, “Don’t let Obama buy the election by handing out unlimited free money to states.”

Rating:

In early September 2026, people shared an alleged screenshot of an X post from the platform’s Twitter era purportedly showing U.S. President Donald Trump posting on his @realDonaldTrump account, “Don’t let Obama buy the election by handing out unlimited free money to states.”

Users shared the image after Trump’s pledge to give $5,000 to every U.S. adult should the Republican Party win the 2026 midterm elections. The president announced the pledge during the GOP midterm convention in Dallas on Sept. 10, calling the payments a “Trump dividend.”

The screenshot of the alleged tweet spread on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X and other platforms.

(Thomas Mohr accessed via Bluesky)

Some users drew direct comparisons between Trump’s alleged remark in 2012 and the news of his $5,000 pledge. Others referred to the “dividend” as bribery and socialism.

(@mandyarthur accessed via X)

In sum, the 2012 Trump post is real. He tweeted (archived) it on Oct. 30 of that year, one week before the Nov. 6 elections.

Don’t let Obama buy the election by handing out unlimited free money to states.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 30, 2012

Snopes emailed the White House for its response to users comparing the 2012 post to the “Trump dividend.” We will update this article if we receive further information.

The 2012 elections concluded with former President Barack Obama winning a second term. The Democratic Party picked up two seats to continue maintaining a majority in the Senate. Republicans lost eight House seats but continued their control of the legislative chamber.

For further reading, we previously published a collection of 24 things Trump actually posted on Truth Social, including, for example, an Easter Sunday post threatening Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz or be “living in hell,” as well as a Memorial Day message addressing “scum” that spent years “trying to destroy our country.”

Sources

Claim:

Ahead of the November 2026 U.S. midterm elections, Postmaster General David Steiner said there are ways he’d block mail-in ballots. As a result, voters should skip the mail and instead deliver completed ballots in designated drop boxes.

Rating:

What’s True

During a June 2026 congressional hearing, Steiner said a proposed rule would mean the Postal Service would not mail out ballots in states that failed to hand their absentee voter lists to the federal government. The service created the rule to comply with an executive order President Donald Trump signed in March, supposedly to ensure “citizenship verification and integrity in federal elections.” Stipulations in the order included the use of secure envelopes with barcodes and a demand that states send their voter rolls to the service for eligibility verification purposes. However …

What’s False

… The Postal Service confirmed the new rule pertained only to determining voter eligibility in the mailing out of blank ballots, not returning completed ballots. Also, Steiner didn’t appear to provide multiple “ways” (plural) to block the delivery of mail-in ballots, as users alleged.

What’s Undetermined

As of this writing, the rule was in legal limbo, meaning its effectiveness and implementation was still in question for the upcoming elections.

In early September 2026, people alleged the U.S. postmaster general, David Steiner, said there were ways he’d block mail-in ballots for the upcoming midterm elections. As a result, posts sharing the claim said voters should skip the mail and instead deliver completed ballots to designated drop boxes.

Snopes readers emailed us to ask about this rumor, with some of them attaching a screenshot of a Threads post. The screenshot, showing a partial profile image, read:

Postmaster General has already said there are ways he WILL block mail-in ballots, so… The minute you get your ballot, fill it our and take it to the nearest drop box, usually near libraries. Do NOT mail your ballot through USPS!

Find a BALLOT DROP BOX only !!!!

Please copy this and share on your feed.

(Received via Snopes reader email)

A reverse image search for the same screenshot located users sharing the same image on Facebook, Threads and X.

A Threads search found the original post (archived) matching the partial profile image from the above screenshot. That user presented the claim and the advice to avoid mailing completed ballots on Sept. 2:

(@kirkanthonyb2020 via Threads)

A search on X for similar text located a popular post (archived) from June 25 that contained a version of the claim about the postmaster general, without the advice to use designated drop boxes. That post read, “JUST IN: U.S. Postmaster General CONFIRMS he’ll BLOCK mail-in ballots to states refusing to share citizenship and voter data with the Trump administration”:

(@jackunheard via X)

On June 24, one day before that X post, Steiner was a witness in a televised hearing before the Senate Homeland Security Committee. During the hearing, Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., asked Steiner, “Yes or no: If a state refuses to turn their absentee voter list over to the federal government, will the Postal Service still mail their ballots under this proposed rule?”

Steiner answered, in part, “Under our proposed regulation, no.” (The full hearing is available on YouTube, with pertinent remarks beginning at the 30:37 mark.)

In sum, this rumor about the postmaster general’s alleged statements and guidance on voters delivering their completed ballots mixed truth and falsehood, as well as undetermined elements.

It’s true that, during the June hearing, Steiner confirmed one way the Postal Service might block, or decline, the delivery of mail-in ballots. At the time, Steiner was referencing a proposed rule. The rule was supposed to take effect in August, but legal challenges have kept it from going into effect as of this writing.

That rule, which may restrict mail-in voting, stemmed from an executive order President Donald Trump — who has repeatedly promoted false claims of massive voter fraud — signed in March. Part of that order mentions of the use of secure envelopes with barcodes. It also stipulates that states that intend to use the Postal Service to deliver mail-in or absentee ballots should send their voter rolls to the service so that it can verify voters’ citizenship and eligibility to vote in federal elections.

However, the claim that voters should avoid mailing their completed ballots through the Postal Service and instead directly deposit them into designated ballot drop boxes doesn’t accurately reflect what the new rule means in practice. The Postal Service confirmed the new rule pertained only to determining voter eligibility before mailing out blank ballots — not when completed ballots are mailed back in — meaning that while there’s nothing wrong with using drop boxes to ensure delivery of completed ballots, the reason some users recommended them was not reflected in the rule. 

Additionally, Steiner didn’t appear to provide multiple “ways” (plural) to block delivery of ballots, as users alleged.

As of this writing, ongoing court matters involving rulings from judges and the Supreme Court, as well as Trump administration appeals and a whistleblower complaint, indicated the effectiveness and implementation of Trump’s executive order via the Postal Service rule was still in question for the upcoming elections.

Snopes contacted the Postal Service to request comment about the rumor, and spokesperson Nikolaj Hagen shared the following statement in an email:

The Postal Service is committed to fulfilling our role in the electoral process when public policy makers choose to utilize us as a part of their election system. We rely on longstanding, robust and tested policies and procedures, which have proven successful in the secure and timely delivery of Election Mail. Through August 28, the Postal Service has delivered 233.3 million pieces of Election Mail nationwide during Fiscal Year 2026, with an on-time score of 97.94%. 

White House spokesperson Kush Desai said via email of the rumor, “This is untrue,” without providing further explanation.

‘Misinformation and speculation’

In a Sept. 4 news release, Steiner addressed what he called “misinformation and speculation” about the issuance of the Postal Service rule and defended the service’s duty to comply with Trump’s executive order.

The release also featured a recent whistleblower complaint that warned of “potentially catastrophic problems in the development of the United States Postal Service’s new system for handling federal election ballot mail.” The complaint specifically referenced the service’s new rule establishing a voter verification system that officials would use to determine which voters receive blank ballots via mail.

One part of the complaint alleged that if one barcode on a single ballot in a bulk mailing of 10,000 blank ballots failed to properly scan during the verification process, the entire batch would be rejected and sent back to the state, meaning none of those voters would receive their ballots.

Steiner said the Postal Service “takes these concerns seriously,” as well as that, “Regardless of political party or perspective, we share a common goal: ensuring that Americans can have confidence that their election mail will be handled securely and delivered reliably should their election officials choose to use the mail for ballot delivery.”

For further reading, we previously reported about the many details of the new Postal Service rule, Trump’s executive order and the beginning of the many legal challenges associated with the matter.

Sources

Claim:

An image authentically shows an interview with a man with a massive face tattoo of U.S. President Donald Trump, claiming he was rejected for a job because of his red MAGA hat.

Rating:

In September 2026, an image spread online of what appears to be a screen capture of a man with a large face tattoo of U.S. President Donald Trump being interviewed on TV wearing a red MAGA hat. 

A chyron near the bottom of the image stated, “Man said he was rejected for a position after interviewer saw his MAGA hat.” It continued with a purported quote from the man: “I was wearing it outside the building.”  

(X user @Miketrenchezs)

The image spread across social media, with many online taking it (archived) it as real, and Snopes readers asked us to verify its authenticity. 

(DONG PAC Satire)

The above image is fake. It originated with a satirical source, as evidenced by the logo at the bottom right that says “DONG PAC Satire” (though in many posts the logo and satire label were edited out, obscuring their origin). The image also features several signs that it was generated by artificial intelligence.

In the background, there appear to be two identical framed posters with a red heart underneath illegible wording hung side-by-side at the top right of the image. Second, the man’s cheek and ear appear unnaturally widened. The Trump tattoo also appears superimposed over the face as it does not account for the slight bump that is natural over a jawline. We also noted an odd discoloration along the man’s chin.

We ran the image through OpenAI’s research tool that can determine whether an image was generated by OpenAI. The tool found “a SynthID watermark that originated from OpenAI.” 

Snopes also searched online for evidence that an actual TV interview with this man took place. We looked up examples of people allegedly losing jobs for supporting Trump and this man’s story and face tattoo was not featured in any publicly reported cases. 

We found a website at the URL dongpac.com featuring the same logo as the bottom right corner of the image, though the website didn’t appear to have this exact meme on its page. The site describes its content as “satirical.” 

Snopes has covered numerous examples of satirical content, including other fake images of men in MAGA hats. Read more about why we report on satirical content on our site. 

Sources

AI Detector: Free AI Checker for ChatGPT, Claude & Gemini | Pangram. https://www.pangram.com. Accessed 14 Sept. 2026.

“Donald Trump in 1987, Flying Aboard His Puma Helicopter from NYC To…” Getty Images, 28 Oct. 2020, https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/donald-trump-in-1987-flying-aboard-his-puma-helicopter-from-news-photo/1282707151.

Eder, Steve, et al. “What to Know About the Origins of Jeffrey Epstein’s Wealth.” New York Times, 16 Dec. 2025, https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/16/magazine/jeffrey-epstein-wealth-origins-investigation-takeaways.html.

Google Images. https://images.google.com/. Accessed 14 Sept. 2026.

“Hive Moderation.” Moderation, https://www.hivemoderation.com/. Accessed 14 Sept. 2026.

News, Sports, Entertainment Photos, Celebrity Photos – Getty Images. https://www.gettyimages.com/editorial-images. Accessed 14 Sept. 2026.

Pandell, Lexi. “Pangram Has Emerged as the Gold Standard of AI Detection. Should You Trust It?” Wired, 2 Sept. 2026. www.wired.com, https://www.wired.com/story/pangram-has-emerged-as-the-gold-standard-of-ai-detection/.

“Verify OpenAI-Generated Content.” OpenAI, https://openai.com/research/verify/. Accessed 14 Sept. 2026.