Trump says he purged homeless from DC streets so foreign dignitaries wouldn't see them

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Washington, D.C., officials are pushing back against an unsubstantiated claim by President Donald Trump that he orchestrated a purge of homeless people to shield visiting foreign dignitaries from having to see them.

It was among a series of falsehoods leveled by Trump in recent days as he has seized on the homeless epidemic. He has also claimed it's a phenomenon that started just two years ago. And he has suggested that local and state officials have deliberately exacerbated the problem for political gain.

While homelessness is indeed on the decline in the nation's capital, there is no evidence Trump had anything to do with it, and thousands still sleep on the streets of the nation's capital and in its shelters.