A rumor that U.S. President Donald Trump proposed that the Department of Transportation introduce a 15-year car loan circulated online in November 2025. For example, a post on X posted shared an graphic that looked like an official White House announcement on Nov. 10 (archived):
The text on the graphic read:
THE WHITE HOUSE
PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP
As he continues to work hard to make the American Dream accessible to everyone, President Trump today has asked the Departments of Transportation and Commerce to make vehicle ownership for all a reality by introducing 15 year car loans! Secretaries Duffy and Lutnick are already working on it!
Delivering for America!
The same graphic also appeared in other posts on X and Facebook.
Some readers seemed to interpret the rumor as a factual recounting of real-life events. However, there was no evidence of Trump ever asking the Department of Transportation to allow 15-year car loans.
The claim was satirical. It originated with @TheRealThelmaJ1 — an X account that describes its output as being humorous or satirical in nature. Its bio states: “My son says I’m a parody.”
The Phoenix New Times, an independent news outlet, named @TheRealThelmaJ1 the “Best Political Parody Twitter” in 2023 (Twitter is the former name of X). Many of the account’s other posts appeared to be satirical in nature.
The fictional story spread after Trump proposed 50-year home loans (currently the longest available home loans in the U.S. have 40-year terms, though banks more commonly offer 30-year mortgages).
Snopes has addressed similar satirical claims stemming from this account, including a rumor that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said “babies absorb Tylenol residue from the esophagus.”
For background, here is why we alert readers to rumors created by sources that call their output humorous or satirical.
