I would frame it as an assertion or claim. "Trump claims x" is fine. "We find it hard to believe, but Trump claims x" I can even get behind. But, "Trump falsely claims x" is a problem. The first two make no factually framed claims, but the third does. Even, "Trump truthfully claims x" is a problem if they don't have some sort of evidence to back it up. We can't so much prove something is false, we can only prove things as true. Btw, I'm enjoying these absurd situations, they're fun and illustrate points well. ^-^