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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 04/23/25 7:27 PM EDT

  2. Greg Gutfeld launches weird, transphobic attack on podcast host Jennifer Welch

    Video & Audio 04/23/25 7:21 PM EDT

  3. Sean Hannity downplays risks of the US striking Iran

    Video & Audio 04/23/25 5:30 PM EDT

  4. Flagrant podcast host on tariff relief for big tech, but not small businesses: “Now you’re disproportionately punishing the people that are actually doing the right thing for the country”

    Video & Audio 04/23/25 5:07 PM EDT

  5. Fox host on Trump’s claim Russia-Ukraine war wouldn’t have started if he was president: “I think that’s true”

    Video & Audio 04/23/25 3:25 PM EDT

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In This Article

  • Donald Trump

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  • Tariffs / Trade

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