On Sept. 28, about five weeks before Election Day, President Donald Trump sat down for an interview with TIME in the White House. TIME has published the transcript of that conversation. Below is a review of some of Trump’s statements from the interview.
What Trump Said: “I won all seven swing states. They said if you won three swing states, I won all seven. It's very important, 86% popular vote.” The Facts: Trump did win the popular vote in the 2024 presidential election, and he did win all seven swing states, but he’s conflating two figures.
He won the popular vote by receiving 49.8% of the vote to Kamala Harris' 48.3%. He won the electoral college by 86 votes, 312 to Harris’s 226. He did not win all of the counties in the seven swing states, but he surprised many pundits by winning counties in the Detroit, Milwaukee and Philadelphia metro areas.
What Trump Said: “Their economy is gone. Their inflation is at 300% or something like that.” The Facts: At the end of August, Iran’s Central Bank reported inflation at 84%, according to The New York Times. The price of food in the country has skyrocketed, and Iran’s currency hit a record low, tumbling to 2.5 million rials to the U.S. dollar.
At the end of 2025, the exchange rate was 1.2 million rials to the dollar. What Trump Said: “I think the press fed it to them.” The Facts: Trump was responding to being asked why many thought the war in Iran would be over in four to six weeks. Operation Epic Fury launched Feb. 28.
In early March interviews, the President said the action would last four to five weeks. What Trump Said: “We had more barrels of oil come through last night than at any time in the history of the Strait.” The Facts: Various reports show about 20 million barrels of oil moving through the Strait of Hormuz daily before the war. On Sept. 26, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Fox News that there was a day last week “where over 20 million barrels of oil, more than pre-conflict levels, flowed out of the straits.
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