Donald J.Trump claims ICE removals far exceed Obama-era numbers
disputes comparisons to the Obama administration, alleging different counting methods inflate prior deportation figures by as much as 50 percent.
disputes comparisons to the Obama administration, alleging different counting methods inflate prior deportation figures by as much as 50 percent.
WHITE HOUSE — Donald J.Trump claimed his administration removed far more undocumented immigrants than the Obama-Biden era on a Truth Social post on June 26, 2026 at 9:56 AM EST.
Here is the full post (see truthsocial): “For all of those who like to say that Barack Hussein Obama, and his Vice President, Sleepy Joe Biden, did as many Criminal ICE removals as President Trump, the figures are just in. Number One, they included hundreds of thousands of people that never came close to getting into our Country, a difference of perhaps 50% in the numbers. We don’t include such categories but, even if we did, ICE and CBP removed many more Illegal Aliens under President Trump than under Obama — It’s not even close! Thank you for your attention to this matter. Donald J.Trump”
Trump alleged that Obama-era removal statistics counted hundreds of thousands of people who never entered the United States, inflating those figures by roughly 50 percent. He contended that even when those categories are included, ICE and CBP removed more people under his presidency than under Barack Obama.
The dispute centers on how federal agencies define and count immigration removals. The Department of Homeland Security has historically reported both “removals” and “returns” as separate categories, and critics of cross-administration comparisons have long noted that changes in classification can skew the numbers. Different presidential administrations have used varying methodologies for tallying enforcement actions, a practice that makes direct comparisons difficult without standardized definitions (see stackexchange.com).
Trump directed his remarks at those who argue that Obama and Joe Biden achieved comparable deportation totals. The post did not cite specific government data or name the source of what he called newly released figures. Independent verification of the claimed statistics was not available at the time of publication.
The post marks one of 7 times Trump addressed immigration among 612 Truth Social posts over the last 30 days, based on Zenger analysis of his posting activity.
Source: Zenger real-time database of all Truth Social posts.
Note: Chart generated on June 26, 2026 at 10:11 AM EST
Source: Zenger analysis
Note: Table generated by NewsFindr on June 26, 2026 at 10:11 AM EST