PolitiFact is reporting that President Donald Trump misled on the Iran war and artificial intelligence in his Sept. 22 address to the United Nations General Assembly. It said Trump defended U.S. military force in Iran, Venezuela and elsewhere, saying the U.S. is "settling years of unfinished business," and brushed off concerns about rapid AI advances, saying the U.S. "totally rejects any attempt to construct a globalist scheme to control artificial intelligence." PolitiFact said members of the Cuban and Iranian delegations walked out during the speech, and that Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian was traveling to address the General Assembly on Sept. 23.
PolitiFact said Trump's claim that the U.S. is "leading now over China by a lot" in AI is partly accurate. It said the U.S. leads in model capability, but industry leaders and experts say China is only a few months behind, and that the gap could shrink if U.S. development slows. PolitiFact also said Trump's call to rename AI "superintelligence" is not an accurate description of current systems, which experts describe as "jagged across tasks and contexts."
PolitiFact said Trump's claim that the U.S. has "more munitions than we could ever possibly even think of using" is misleading. It said several news and expert reports found U.S. weapons stockpiles are rapidly decreasing as the Iran war continues, and that a May analysis by the Center for Strategic and International Studies projected certain heavily used munitions would take about three to four years to replenish. It said NBC News reported in July that the U.S. military was rationing munitions and allowing some Iranian attacks.
PolitiFact said Trump's claim that U.S. strikes on cartel drug boats destroyed "97% of the drugs coming into the ocean and sea" is false. It said air and marine drug seizures have dropped since the strikes began in September 2025, but the administration has not provided a clear link, and that seizures show how many drugs are stopped, not how many are sent.
Separately, PolitiFact is reporting on a Florida governor's race dispute over homeowners insurance. It said Republican U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds aired an ad claiming Democratic rival David Jolly's plan would impose a $1,000 "hurricane tax" on Florida families. PolitiFact said the ad oversimplifies a recent study that did not evaluate Jolly's plan but instead looked at a 2024 Florida House proposal. It said the $1,000 figure comes from a specific scenario involving emergency fees if a catastrophic storm wiped out a state insurer's reserves, and that insurance experts question whether Jolly's proposal would redistribute rather than reduce costs.