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Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.

Yes.

Former President Donald Trump said in a TV interview he would withhold federal funding from schools based on how they teach history.

Repeating a pledge he made campaigning, Trump told “Fox & Friends” he would close the U.S. Education Department.

Host Brian Kilmeade asked: “So, let’s say you have a liberal city … and they just decide, ‘Oh, we’re going to get rid of that history. We have new history. This is America built off the backs of slaves on stolen land.’ And that curriculum comes in.”

Trump replied: “Then we don’t send them money. We would save half of our budget.”

Democratic Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers made the claim about what Trump said in an interview about the Nov. 5 election.

About 14% of the $857 billion in fiscal 2022 public K-12 school funding was federal, according to an August 2024 report from the Peter G. Peterson Foundation.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

Forbes Breaking News: Trump: ‘I’m Going To Close The Department Of Education And Move Education Back To The States’

Fox News: Trump says he was ‘surprised’ Kamala Harris skipped Al Smith dinner: ‘Terrible’

Roll Call: Donald Trump “Fox & Friends” interview

101.7 The Truth: Tony Evers interview

Peter G. Peterson Foundation: How Is K-12 Education Funded?

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Did Donald Trump threaten to withhold funding to schools based on how they teach history?

by Tom Kertscher / Wisconsin Watch, Wisconsin Watch
October 29, 2024

<h1>Did Donald Trump threaten to withhold funding to schools based on how they teach history?</h1>
<p class="byline">by Tom Kertscher / Wisconsin Watch, Wisconsin Watch <br />October 29, 2024</p>

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<p><em><em><a href="https://www.wisconsinwatch.org/">Wisconsin Watch</a></em> partners with&nbsp;<a href="https://gigafact.org/">Gigafact</a>&nbsp;to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. <a href="https://wisconsinwatch.org/2023/05/how-wisconsin-watch-checks-claims-for-its-gigafact-fact-briefs/">Read our methodology</a> to learn how we check claims.</em></p>
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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Yes.</h2>
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<p>Former President Donald Trump said in a TV interview he would withhold federal funding from schools based on how they teach history.</p>
<p>Repeating a&nbsp;pledge&nbsp;he made campaigning, Trump&nbsp;told&nbsp;"Fox &amp; Friends" he would close the U.S. Education Department.</p>
<p>Host Brian Kilmeade asked: "So, let's say you have a liberal city ... and they just decide, 'Oh, we're going to get rid of that history. We have new history. This is America built off the backs of slaves on stolen land.' And that curriculum comes in."</p>
<p>Trump replied: “Then we don't send them money. We would save half of our budget.”</p>
<p>Democratic Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers made the&nbsp;claim&nbsp;about what Trump said in an interview about the Nov. 5 election.</p>
<p>About 14% of the $857 billion in&nbsp;fiscal 2022&nbsp;public K-12 school funding was federal,&nbsp;according&nbsp;to an August 2024 report from the Peter G. Peterson Foundation.</p>
<p><em>This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKzo0hTJXB4&amp;t=1809s" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">this one</a>.</em></p>
<p><strong>Sources</strong></p>
<p>Forbes Breaking News:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sv6U79i48jM" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Trump: 'I'm Going To Close The Department Of Education And Move Education Back To The States'</a></p>
<p>Fox News:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKzo0hTJXB4&amp;t=1809s" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Trump says he was 'surprised' Kamala Harris skipped Al Smith dinner: 'Terrible'</a></p>
<p>Roll Call:&nbsp;<a href="https://rollcall.com/factbase/trump/transcript/donald-trump-interview-fox-and-friends-new-york-october-18-2024/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Donald Trump "Fox &amp; Friends" interview</a></p>
<p>101.7 The Truth:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USQozBR6AnM&amp;t=3354s" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Tony Evers interview</a></p>
<p>Peter G. Peterson Foundation:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pgpf.org/budget-basics/how-is-k-12-education-funded" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">How Is K-12 Education Funded?</a></p>
</p></div>
<p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://wisconsinwatch.org/2024/10/trump-school-funding-history-teaching-education-wisconsin-evers/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://wisconsinwatch.org&quot;&gt;Wisconsin Watch&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i0.wp.com/wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/cropped-WCIJ_IconOnly_FullColor_RGB-1.png?fit=150%2C150&amp;amp;quality=100&amp;amp;ssl=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;</p>
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Did Donald Trump threaten to withhold funding to schools based on how they teach history?

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