Five years ago, Senate Republicans laid the groundwork for Trump’s political comeback.
The Dispatch→ A $266,000 Steer and the Culture of Conflicts in Trump’s Washington
What a quarter-million dollar auction bid reveals about the lack of regard for even the appearance of propriety.
The Dispatch→ Lefty Kooks 1, Trump Gun Thugs 0
The perennial protest left wins the Battle of Minneapolis.
The Dispatch→ Will Trump’s Immigration Raids Cost Republicans the Senate?
One of the GOP’s best issues has become a liability, but Democrats still have an uphill climb.
The Dispatch→ Minneapolis and the Sanctuary City Blame Game
The administration has blamed violent outcomes on local governments that limit cooperation with the feds.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Streisand, Bon Jovi, Stevie Nicks, ‘Mr. Bean’ Did NOT All Say ‘You Are Not Creating Change, You Are Creating Noise’ To Elites — Copy-Paste Posts From Vietnam Fake News Factory
Did Rowan Atkinson, Barbra Streisand, Jon Bon Jovi and Stevie Nicks, and other celebrities all give the same speech to Mark Zuckerberg and a roomful of the rich and powerful on Dec. 20, 2025, saying "you are not creating change -- you are
The Dispatch→ Eating the Pieces
The ICE surge in Minneapolis was a needless political fiasco.
The Dispatch→ Perspectives on ‘Peak Population’
What revised global population projections mean for the future of energy consumption.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Image Of Donald Trump Jr. With Rifle Scope Mounted Backwards Has Been Digitally Edited
Does a real photo show Donald Trump Jr. at a shooting bench with the scope of his rifle mounted backwards? No, that's not true: This image has been digitally edited. An earlier copy of the image appears in a 2024 article with the scope mo
Full Fact→ How many immigrants have arrived in the UK in recent years?
The British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe has sparked debate after claiming in an interview that the UK was being “colonised by immigrants”.
Full Fact→ More fake IKEA ‘mystery box’ offers circulate on Facebook
Full Fact→ No, Primark isn’t giving away a ‘hamper of goodies’ to people who like a Facebook post
A spokesperson for Primark told Full Fact this is not a genuine promotion from the retailer.
PolitiFact→ Donald Trump – Is Donald Trump right that the U.S. crime rate is at its lowest in 125 years?
"The crime rate now is the lowest it's been since 1900. That's 125 years."
The Dispatch→ Inside The DHS Funding Fight
Plus: Congress votes to end the Canada “State of Emergency,” the BLS releases surprisingly positive January jobs data, and we believe in Rich Ruohonen.
The Dispatch→ Naw Dawg to the DOJ
The Trump administration's record number of grand jury rejections.
The Dispatch→ Letting the Nuclear Arms Deal With Russia Expire Makes the World Safer
Why the doomsayers are wrong to suggest we’d face an arms race.
The Dispatch→ How Will Trump Use His Massive War Chest in the Midterms?
The president controls $483 million. Republicans are unsure how much he will use to help preserve GOP control of Congress.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Three British Men NOT Jailed Longer Than ‘Illegal Migrant Rapist’ They Protested Against — Men Convicted For Violence, Migrant For Attempted Kissing, Touching Underage Girl, Not Rape
Does a viral post correctly describe two criminal cases when it claims "three British men" were jailed longer than an "illegal migrant rapist" asylum seeker they protested against? No, that's not true: According to court records, the men
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Fake Kristi Noem Quote About Super Bowl Halftime and Jesus Writing The Bible In English Originated From Satire Page
Did Kristi Noem say "If Jesus wanted America to speak Spanish and have the Super Bowl half time show in a foreign language, he would not have written the Bible in English."? No, that's not true: Noem did not say this. This fake quote came
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: 2026 Pizza Amore St. Thomas Website NOT Same As When Mentioned In 2015 Epstein Files Email — Internet Trolls Loaded Sam Hyde Meme On 2026 Version
Did the website pizzaamorestthomas.com that is mentioned in a 2015 email in the Epstein files look in February 2026 as it did in 2015 when the email was sent? No, that's not true: A prankster re-registered the expired domain name in 2026
The Dispatch→ The System Works, Sort Of
Were Tuesday’s setbacks for the president really setbacks?
The Dispatch→ Magical Promises and Enduring Principles
In praise of the merely remarkable over the extraordinary and supernatural.
FactCheck.org→ Trump Oversells Recent U.S. Economic Growth
In the second and third quarters of 2025, the U.S. economy grew at its fastest pace in two years. Those growth rates were not “numbers unheard of,” or figures the U.S. “never had” before, as President Donald Trump has claimed.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: R. Kelly Did NOT Escape From Prison — Still Locked Up
Did R. Kelly escape from prison in February 2026? No, that's not true: The account that made the claim is clearly labeled a "parody account." Robert Kelly was incarcerated at FCI Butner Medium in North Carolina, according to the Federal B
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: New Orleans Flight Restrictions NOT Associated With "Special Security Reasons" That Closed El Paso Airspace
Was the airspace around New Orleans also shut down in early February, 2026, along with El Paso's closure due to alleged national security concerns? No, that's not true: The Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) over New Orleans during Mardi
PolitiFact→ Casey DeSantis warns of ‘triple-digit levels’ of weed killer in bread. Should you be worried?
Fact-checking Casey DeSantis on weed killer in bread
Full Fact→ Poll quoted in Labour by-election ad doesn’t reliably show it’s the only party which can beat Reform
A bar chart shared by Labour is based on a very small sample size.
Full Fact→ Currys isn’t selling virtual reality headsets for £3 to those who complete surveys
False claims that Currys is selling the Meta Quest S3 at bargain prices have been shared online.
Full Fact→ Old video of Russian submarine test shared with false claim it shows Iran launching missiles
The clip being shared online dates back to 2018 and is not related to Iran.
Full Fact→ Wickes is not running a ‘special promotion’ selling ‘96 pack’ of fruit and veg seeds for £3
The retailer confirmed to Full Fact that this is not a genuine offer from the company.
The Dispatch→ Trump’s Hidden UAE Money Trail
Plus: The EPA deregulates greenhouse gases, more details emerge from the Fulton County election offices raid, and squirrel dress conference drama.
Full Fact→ Bunker busting bomb video shows US weapons test
Captions shared with footage of a bomb being dropped above a cave misleadingly imply it shows Iran deploying its own version of these munitions.
The Dispatch→ Black Box ‘Realism’ | Interview: Elliott Abrams
This is not Ross Douthat’s fancy podcast.
The Dispatch→ Voter ID Is Reasonable. It’s Also Popular.
Why are Democrats opposed to a simple safeguard after years of making voting easier?
The Dispatch→ Kyiv’s Darkest Winter Yet
Russian strikes on the capital's infrastructure have caused outages and rolling blackouts amid freezing temperatures.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Nancy Guthrie’s Daughter Annie Guthrie Was NOT Taken Into Police Custody In The Disappearance Of Her Mother — It’s Viet Spam
Did police arrest Annie Guthrie and seize her vehicle after finding something "deeply disturbing" in the investigation of her mother Nancy Guthrie's disappearance? No, that's not true: At the time of writing, there was no evidence that An
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Trump Did NOT Say ‘I Made A Mistake’ Nominating Kevin Warsh As Federal Reserve Chairman — Was Talking About Jerome Powell
Did President Donald Trump say "I made a mistake" about nominating Kevin Warsh as Federal Reserve chair? No, that's not true: Trump was referring to Jerome Powell, whom he previously nominated as chair and has sought to remove. His refere
The Dispatch→ The Accountability Gap
Why Europe is punishing Epstein’s friends but America isn’t.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: DOJ’s Released Epstein Files Do NOT Contain Document ‘DOJ-2024-EF-7721’ Discussing ‘PROJECT MEDBIRTH’ — Nor Does Any Released Document Mention ‘MedBeds’ Or ‘Medical Regeneration Technology’
Does the Department of Justice library of Epstein investigation documents include Document "DOJ-2024-EF-7721" or any documents discussing "Medical regeneration technology" or "MedBeds" or "PROJECT MEDBIRTH"? No, that's not true: The onlin
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Jeffrey Epstein Was NOT Photographed Recently In Tel Aviv, Israel — A Gemini AI Watermark Shows On The Uncropped Image
Was a bearded Jeffrey Epstein photographed walking in Tel Aviv, Israel in 2026? No, that's not true: Jeffrey Epstein died in 2019. The image is AI-generated. Some versions of the image circulating on social media have been cropped, but th