President Donald Trump basked in the support of MAGA loyalists on Friday night, holding court before a friendly crowd in deep-red Mobile, Alabama. But even the president's University of Alabama refuge in Mobile could not shield him from a punishing volley of corrections from the local newspaper.

On Saturday morning, AL.com published a sweeping fact-check of the speech less than a day after the rally ended. "Like many of his freewheeling rally speeches, Trump's remarks in Mobile included embellished claims, contradictions, and several assertions that conflict with available evidence," the outlet reported.

The fact-check immediately took aim at Trump's claim that he had secured $3 billion for Alabama's I-10 bridge project. AL.com rated the assertion "mostly false," noting that the Trump administration did not provide "a single $3 billion grant or federal appropriation for the Interstate 10 Mobile River Bridge and Bayway project."

The largest federal grant for the project was a $550 million award through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law — legislation signed by former President Joe Biden. According to the newspaper, Trump's contribution was limited to helping push the project forward and allowing construction to begin on the first phase. There is no indication Biden was incapable of doing the same. The second phase of the project, moreover, remains unfunded and has no construction timetable.

"Trump tied the project's groundbreaking on Friday to '$3 billion' in administration funding," AL.com reported. "Much of the project's financing, however, is tied to a federal Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) loan that must be repaid through toll revenue." Unlike an outright grant, TIFIA financing is federal credit assistance that is repaid over time — in this case through tolls — rather than money appropriated directly to the project.

Trump also fumbled smaller details, claiming that Wesley Britt — the husband of U.S. Sen. Katie Britt and Executive Vice President of 68 Ventures — played 11 years as a tackle in the National Football League with the New England Patriots. In fact, Britt played three seasons, from 2006 to 2008. AL.com treated those slip-ups as minor, however, compared with the president's larger claims.

Among the most significant was Trump's repeated Friday-night assertion that if Republicans retain control of the House and Senate, every adult U.S. citizen would receive $5,000 through what he calls the "Trump Dividend." AL.com found the claim unsupported: such a payment would require congressional approval, and even some Republicans have expressed reservations, citing concerns about the national debt, inflation, and the legality of tying government payments to election outcomes. For now, the $5,000 payment exists only as a proposal, not as enacted policy.

The fact-check also addressed Trump's claims that he "achieved the largest drop in violent crime ever" and that "the murder rate is at the lowest level in 125 years, since the year 1900." AL.com rated those statements partly true — crime did drop, but the decline began during the Biden administration.

"He also cited declines in murders of 44 percent in Birmingham, 91 percent in Washington, D.C., and 83 percent in New Orleans," AL.com noted. While "nationally, homicides have fallen to their lowest levels in decades," the paper added that "violent crime has generally been declining since 2022 following a pandemic-era spike."

AL.com, backed by PolitiFact — the fact-checking outlet whose reporters rate political claims against documented evidence — likewise rated as "False" Trump's claims that the Biden administration "gave 25 million illegal aliens amnesty" and that "they wanted to give amnesty to everyone who came into the country illegally." The undocumented population during the Biden era ranged between 11 million and 12 million, and there is no evidence the administration granted blanket amnesty to everyone who entered the country unlawfully.

The newspaper also dismantled Trump's claim of having drawn $21 trillion in investment to the United States through new manufacturers, farmers, American exports, and more. That figure, AL.com reported, includes multiyear commitments, announced projects, and future investments that have not yet happened.

The outlet reserved particular force for Trump's Friday-night declaration that "We've done nothing but bring prices down."

"Gasoline prices, for instance, were more than 40 percent higher than in January 2025 amid market disruptions tied to the Iran conflict. Diesel prices reached record highs last month," AL.com reported, adding that "overall consumer prices have increased about 4.7 percent since Trump returned to office."

Inflation and consumer prices, the outlet noted, have become a key Democratic line of attack heading into the midterms.

This article is based on reporting by Alternet.