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Donald Trump and Twitter

Ceci Freed / Media Matters | Gage Skidmore via Creative Commons

Mainstream media organizations repeat Trump’s lie justifying new tariffs

Other reports debunk Trump’s claim that governments of Argentina and Brazil devalued their currencies

Written by Zachary Pleat

Published 12/02/19 12:36 PM EST

President Donald Trump on Monday announced on Twitter new tariffs targeting steel and aluminum shipments from Argentina and Brazil, claiming the countries “have been presiding over a massive devaluation of their currencies.” Twitter accounts of NBC News, CBS News, PBS, and CNN uncritically repeated Trump’s claim, even though other reporting contradicts it.

Trump’s announcement has not yet turned into formal policy and reportedly surprised Brazil’s president. Just as Trump’s invocation of national security to justify earlier tariffs was bogus, his latest claim also appears contrary to the facts. According to Axios’ coverage of the announcement, both countries’ currencies “are freely traded and have been for years” and “have weakened because of political upheavals and dwindling growth forecasts in the two countries — not government intervention.” The Washington Post’s article on Trump’s announcement pointed to the latest biannual Treasury Department report on currency manipulation that “did not allege Brazil or Argentina had done anything improper in handling their currencies.”

Yet tweets from four broadcast and cable news networks passed on Trump’s lie justifying his action, continuing a pattern of major news outlets repeating Trump’s misinformation to their audiences:

The Latest

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    Video & Audio 02/09/26 7:33 PM EST

  2. Jesse Watters says Super Bowl halftime show made him scared the left, corporations, and foreign people will “take our culture away from us”

    Video & Audio 02/09/26 6:27 PM EST

  3. Greg Gutfeld launches incoherent rant about a Jewish halftime show with “dancing accountants” and “men slinging pastrami”

    Video & Audio 02/09/26 6:24 PM EST

  4. Daily Wire's Matt Walsh attacks Sen. Tim Scott and Sen. Katie Britt for condemning Trump's racist post depicting the Obamas as apes

    Video & Audio 02/09/26 4:24 PM EST

  5. Daily Wire host: “Latin Americans have nothing to do with the NFL. Historically, they've contributed nothing to the NFL.”

    Video & Audio 02/09/26 4:15 PM EST

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In This Article

  • Donald Trump

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  • Tariffs / Trade

Related

  1. Media Matters weekly newsletter, February 27

    Narrative/Timeline 02/27/26 11:11 AM EST

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  3. PBD Podcast panelist tells his mother to “never vote again” after she criticized Trump's State of the Union address

    Video & Audio 02/25/26 11:55 AM EST

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