Trump Claimed, Without Evidence, That 2+2 Makes 4. Not So Fast, Experts Say

The Bee ^ | February 21, 2025 | Staff

[Navy Patriot]

WASHINGTON, D.C. — During a morning press conference about the state of the war in Ukraine, President Donald Trump suddenly claimed that 2 and 2 added together equaled 4, despite having no evidence whatsoever to back it up. Experts sounded the alarm on the president's bold statement.

"You can't just go around claiming to have the answer to complex math equations without demonstrating how you came to that conclusion," said former CNN Chief Media Analyst Brian Stelter. "It is very irresponsible for a commander-in-chief to throw numbers around willy-nilly like this."

Mathematicians said while there are indeed edge cases in which 2 + 2 = 4, making a blanket statement to that effect was irresponsible because it ignores the world of modular arithmetic and abstract algebra where "2" can be whatever you want.

"If you decide that 2 is actually 947, then 2 cannot possibly be added to itself to equal 4," said respected Harvard mathematician Ivan Schaefer. "The president is way off base here if he thinks he can simply assert that 2 + 2 = 4 without evidence."

Leading philosopher and actor Terrance Howard, who famously lost his role as War Machine in Iron Man 2 due to incorrect math, argued that all conventional math is wrong and can mean whatever anyone wants it to mean, which makes Trump not merely incorrect but a dangerous liar. Howard, a self-perceived expert in the fields of arithmetic, philosophy, and biology has gone so far as to argue that Trump may not even exist.

"I've never met Trump," Howard said while appearing as a guest on The Joe Rogan Experience. "So how am I supposed to take him seriously when he says 2 + 2 = 4 if he won't even meet with me and prove that he's real?"

[Navy Patriot]

I used to think that the media were just using his full name when they said: Trump Claimed Without Evidence

It did seem like a funny name...

[Mlheureux]

Definitely wouldn’t want this math idiot determining a flight plan.

[dfwgator]

2 + 2 = 5 - Radiohead

[Verse 1]
Are you such a dreamer
To put the world to rights?
I’ll stay home forever
Where two and two always makes a five

[Verse 2]
I’ll lay down the tracks
Sandbag and hide
January has April showers
And two and two always makes a five

[Bridge]
It’s the devil’s way now
There is no way out
You can scream and you can shout
It is too late now
Because

[Chorus]
You have not been
Paying attention
Paying attention
Paying attention
Paying attention
You have not been
Paying attention
Paying attention
Paying attention
Paying attention
You have not been
Paying attention
Paying attention
Paying attention
Paying attention
You have not been
Paying attention
Paying attention
Paying attention
Paying attention

[Outro]
I try to sing along
But I get it all wrong
‘Cause I’m not, ‘cause I’m not
I swat ‘em like flies
But like flies, the bugs keep coming back
Not, but I’m not
All hail to the thief
All hail to the thief
But I’m not, but I’m not
But I’m not, but I’m not
Don’t question my authority or put me in a box
‘Cause I’m not, ‘cause I’m not
Oh, go and tell the king
That the sky is falling in
But it’s not, but it’s not, but it’s not
Maybe not, maybe not

[Rio]

Apparently there IS some debate about this...

https://babylonbee.com/news/2-2-4-insists-close-minded-bigot

[Sir Bangaz Cracka]

Then Brian Stelter is wise beyond his years. It is simply irresponsible to make such bold statements unless you are a genuine academician educated in the correct discipline. Not too long, displaying an immense amount of wisdom, a very wise Supreme Court candidate schooled a lesser on how not to make a complete idiot of yourself by trying to answer “what is a woman”? How could she possibly know, how could anyone know the answer without having the proper credentials? Certainly, Trump was irresponsible in making a wild guess as to 2+2=4. How utterly non-Presidential.

[Lovely-Day-For-A-Guinness]

"Hail to the Thief" should have been the official album of the White House's previous occupant.

It would have been fitting if they recorded it in 2021.

[dfwgator]

Yep, would have fit perfectly.

They are big-time lefties, but I give them credit for playing in Israel, and telling all the people against them playing there to shove it.

[Ronaldus Magnus III]

I will never forget when I was a high school sophomore (MANY, MANY moons ago). The math class textbook had the title:

The New Math

My immediate reaction was ‘what was wrong with the math before today?’

Fortunately, back then, no matter what the textbook might proselytize, the teachers still taught us appropriately.

Many years later, I was assigned as a long-term substitute in middle school math. When I demonstrated what my teachers had taught me, some of the students asked “why doesn’t everyone teach this way.” I remember using that question/moment to state something like ‘you and I cannot control what other people do; we can control what each of us do.’

PS Yes, middle school students are basically aliens, but they are a gas to inspire and teach.

[pepsi_junkie]

the “new math” is nothing compared to common core math, which is so convoluted that well educate mathematically literate parents don’t understand it.

[17th Miss Regt]

For details about how 2 + 2 = 0, see modular math addition table for n=4.

For details about how 2 + 2 = 1, see modular math addition table for n=3.

For n > 4, 2 + 2 = 4.

Oh, yes. For n > 4, math is racist.

[oldbill]

Actually, 2 + 2 can equal 5 for large values of 2.

[oldbill]

It has been proven by official government reports that 11 million illegal aliens in 2005 added to 10 million more illegals in 2024 equals 11 million illegals in 2025.

[Peter ODonnell]

Yet another baseless claim by this man, everyone knows 2 + 2 is any integer a woman or person of color says it is.