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Trump admin & UK trade deal, RFK Jr. on autistic children & Blue Origin

Trump admin & UK trade deal, RFK Jr. on autistic children & Blue Origin

Plus: Family of 17-year-old stabbing suspect Karmelo Anthony did not buy house, car with donated funds

Izz LaMagdeleine
April 19, 2025

SATURDAY EDITION

Snopes Debunker

Several men sit in chairs and couches in a room, looking at one white man wearing a blue suit speaking. You can see oher people standing crowded together on the far right side.

What we know about claims Trump admin wanted UK to remove LGBTQ+ protections before trade deal

In mid-April, claims spread online that President Donald Trump would require the U.K. to get rid of laws protecting LGBTQ+ people before agreeing to a trade deal.

The claim came from a report by the British online newspaper The Independent that relied on an unnamed "Washington source." Snopes does not rely on anonymous sources, and it was not possible to independently verify The Independent's source. It was unclear whether the source specifically said protections for LGBTQ+ people had to be removed, or whether that was The Independent's reporting. Reporter Laerke Christensen has the details.

A white man wearing a blue suit speaks at a microphone.

Yes, RFK Jr. said autistic children will never pay taxes, hold a job, play baseball or write a poem

The U.S. health secretary was giving a press briefing about CDC findings on the growing number of autism diagnoses, calling them "preventable."

Support Snopes with our monthly membership

Snopes has been busy fact-checking political claims, including the rumor that the Trump administration wanted the U.K. to remove LGBTQ+ protections before agreeing to a trade deal, which we featured at the top of this newsletter. We need your help to keep doing this far-ranging work. By building our membership, we will be able to continue cutting straight to the facts on any subject our readers are interested in. We appreciate any support you can give.

A white woman speaking into a microphone is pictured. Next to it, black text says, "This administration is not simply "a different ideology." It is a coordinated, authoritarian machine with the Supreme Court, the House, the Senate, and the executive pen all under its control" and "You keep sending emails begging for $15, while we're watching fascism consolidate power in real time." A blue box highlights both "coordinated, authoritarian machine" and "emails begging for $15."

Liz Cheney didn't write letter urging Democratic Party to fight Trump's 'authoritarian machine'

A Facebook user claimed credit for the post and shared it in a group titled "Liz Cheney/Adam Kinzinger Against Trump."

A white man stands in front of a rocket capsule's hatch. A person stands behind him.

Unpacking claims Jeff Bezos opening the Blue Origin capsule hatch was staged

Blue Origin's footage clearly shows the capsule's hatch briefly opening from the inside before Bezos appears to open it with a tool.

A photo shows rows of men stripped of most clothing except for their underwear and tied together in a prison.

Real photo shows tied-up, stripped men in Salvadoran prison — just not the one receiving US deportees in 2025

Trump has sent alleged gang members to a prison in El Salvador.

Staff Pick

A fundraiser is shown with a Black teenager pictured. The fundraiser is titled "Help Karmelo Official Fund."

No, family of 17-year-old stabbing suspect Karmelo Anthony did not buy house, car with donated funds

GiveSendGo, the donation platform used by the Anthony family, confirmed that no funds had been withdrawn from the family's fundraiser yet.