Tom Edgington, Jake Horton and Lucy GilderBBC Verify, London and Washington DC
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New plaques have appeared under the portraits of former US presidents at the White House.
Unlike Donald Trump’s previous statements about his predecessors, which have been delivered through speeches, interviews and social media posts, these plaques – installed outside the West Wing – represent a more permanent attempt to shape the long-term view of past presidents.
The text includes a series of claims and criticisms about past leaders, including Donald Trump’s immediate predecessors Joe Biden and Barack Obama.
The descriptions also underscore Trump’s willingness to get involved in details especially when it comes to how he and his political opponents are portrayed.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the plaques “are eloquently written descriptions of each president and the legacy they left behind”.
BBC Verify has taken a closer look at some of the claims on the so-called “Presidential Walk of Fame”.
Biden plaque: Won after ‘most corrupt’ election ever seen
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The portraits and plaques are displayed outside the West Wing
Biden plaque: 21 million people poured into the US
The plaque also claims that Biden “let 21 million people from all over the World pour into the US”.
The plaque does not say how these people allegedly entered the country under Biden, but Trump has used variations of the 21 million figure several times when talking about the previous administration’s record on the US border.
In a presidential address on Wednesday night, Trump said that under Biden “our border was open, and because of this, our country was being invaded by an army of 25 million people” and earlier this year he claimed Biden allowed 21 million “illegal aliens to invade our country”.
The number of migrant crossings at the US border did reach record highs under Biden but not to the level Trump – who has never provided a source for these claims – states.
US border officials record “encounters” with migrants – these include people who attempted to cross illegally and people who tried to enter legally but did not meet entry rules.
Biden was elected at the end of 2020 and during his four years in office there were about 10 million encounters of migrants at the border, with about eight million of those happening at the US southwestern border with Mexico.
These figures do not include people who may have crossed the border undetected.
Last year the US Department of Homeland Security estimated there were 11 million illegal migrants living in the US as of January 2022, with the majority arriving before 2010.
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The plaque was very critical of President Biden’s achievements in office
Biden plaque: Highest inflation ever recorded
Biden’s economic record also came under attack, with the plaque claiming his policies: “caused the highest inflation ever recorded”.
It is correct that inflation – the increase in the cost of living over time – rose significantly during Biden’s first two years in office, peaking at 9.1% in June 2022 shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
However, it’s not true inflation under Biden was the highest ever on record. This occurred in 1920, when inflation reached 23.7%. It was also higher at points in the 1970s and 80s.
Trump plaque: Inflation ‘defeated’
As well as former presidents, Trump also added a plaque for his current term.
It includes some bold claims about his record in office since January. For example, it claims Trump has delivered on “defeating inflation”.
While inflation is down from the 9.1% peak under Biden in 2022 – a time when many countries around the world experienced high inflation following the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – it has not been “defeated” altogether.
Inflation was still at 2.7% year-on-year in November 2025, according to the latest official figures. That’s down from 3% in September, when the last inflation update was published.
Average grocery prices in the US rose by 1.9% since the time of the election in November 2024.
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Among his achievements, Trump’s plaque claims the president defeated inflation and ended eight wars.
Trump plaque: ‘Ended eight wars’
Listing Trump’s achievements, the plaque also claims Trump ended “eight wars in his first eight months”.
However, some of the conflicts lasted just days and the level of influence Trump played in ending them is disputed.
At least one of the “wars” simply wasn’t a war. Egypt and Ethiopia have had some diplomatic tensions, particularly around a dam on the Nile, but there has in no sense been a war between them.
India’s defence ministry has also previously rejected Trump’s claim of ending its conflict with Pakistan, saying the country had not responded to pressure from anyone.
It is true that Trump has successfully helped broker some peace agreements for some long-standing conflicts, such as between Armenia and Azerbaijan. But it is also unclear whether some of the peace agreements will last, given fighting has broken out on the Thailand-Cambodia border and between Rwanda and the DRC again since.
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Former president Obama’s record was also criticised
Obama plaque: Economy ‘stagnant’
Former President Obama is also criticised with his plaque claiming the 44th president “presided over a stagnant economy”.
There is not an official definition for economic stagnation but it is usually considered as a period of slow or no growth.
Obama entered office shortly after the 2008 financial crisis when the US economy crashed. Working from the Bureau of Economic Analysis figures over his two terms, from 2009 to 2017, you reach an annual average for GDP growth of 1.7%.
Doing the same exercise for Trump’s first term in office, from the same data, suggests a broadly comparable average growth rate, albeit dragged down by the Covid year of 2020.
Other presidential plaques
The plaques do not attack Democrats alone. Former Republican president George W Bush, for example, is criticised over the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, whereas former Democrat president Jimmy Carter is praised for some of his achievements.
Neither former presidents Biden or Obama have commented on the installation of their plaques.
