Donald Trump’s speeches are always entertaining and a dream come true for fact-checkers.
On Tuesday, Trump delivered his first State of the Union address of his second term. In a surprising move, he abandoned his teleprompter, leading to a speech filled with bizarre and questionable statements—some of which were funny, while others raised concerns.
His remarks were so chaotic that Democratic lawmaker Al Green couldn’t take it anymore. He stood up to express his frustration and was quickly escorted out of the chamber. Despite the serious nature of the event, Trump once again provided the internet with a fresh batch of viral moments.
One of the strangest claims from his speech was about “transgender mice.” About twenty minutes into his address, Trump stated that the Biden administration had spent $8 million on turning mice transgender. The audience erupted in laughter, but Trump insisted that his claim was true.
CNN’s Van Jones immediately dismissed it, saying, “That’s not even real.” However, a report later confirmed that taxpayer money had indeed been spent on scientific research involving hormone therapy in lab animals.
Though Trump’s wording made it sound absurd, there was some truth to the story. The likely source of his claim was a congressional hearing titled “Transgender Lab Rats and Poisoned Puppies: Oversight of Taxpayer-Funded Animal Cruelty,” which took place last month. It was led by Republican Representative Nancy Mace.
A watchdog group called the White Coat Waste Project, which tracks government spending on animal testing, published a report revealing that over $10 million in taxpayer funds had been used for studies involving hormone therapy in mice, rats, and monkeys. These studies, funded by the National Institutes of Health, aimed to understand how hormone treatments affect healing and other medical conditions—particularly for transgender individuals.
For example, one study looked at how testosterone and estrogen influence wound healing. While the research was primarily focused on medical care for transgender people, it also had broader applications, such as helping burn victims and accident survivors.
It’s highly likely that Trump saw a headline about the study and misinterpreted it. Instead of understanding that the research was about hormone therapy and genetics, he turned it into a sensational claim about mice being turned transgender.
Making matters worse, his son, Donald Trump Jr., weighed in on social media, calling the situation proof of yet another “conspiracy theory” being exposed, adding, “These people are sick and evil.”
In reality, the studies had nothing to do with changing the gender of mice. The research involved gene therapy, where scientists introduced human disease-related cells, such as those linked to Alzheimer’s, into mice to study potential treatments.
Trump’s statement was not only inaccurate but also misleading. The hormonal therapies given to lab mice in these studies had no connection to gender identity. Scientists were not attempting to “turn mice transgender,” nor would such an experiment serve any scientific purpose.
This entire incident raises an important question: does Donald Trump actually read and understand the reports he refers to, or does he simply skim through headlines and jump to wild conclusions?
