“Classified documents "become automatically declassified when I took them" after leaving the White House.”
Donald Trump
former president. a CNN town hall in New Hampshire. Claim dated 11 May 2023.
PolitiFact rated thisThat's not how it works
What PolitiFact found
Presidents have an unusual degree of authority to declassify documents. But there’s judicial precedent that counters Trump’s belief in what might be called "in-brain declassification."
Their words, from the summary they publish with the rating.
In short
Donald Trump (former president) made this claim around 11 May 2023. PolitiFact (United States) looked into it and published its finding on 11 May 2023. Its rating was “That's not how it works”.
Donald Trump has 1,168 checked claims in this archive. Fact-checking organisations rated 663 of them false or fake, 375 misleading or mixed and 13 true.
This check was done by PolitiFact, not by DoesItStand. We list it so you can find it. Their full evidence and reasoning are in their article.