Can a statement be a lie if it turns out to be true?

Yes, a statement can be considered a lie even if it turns out to be factually true. According to the paradigmatic analysis of lying, the core requirement is not the objective falsity of the statement, but the speaker's belief and intent.

If a person believes a statement is false and makes that statement with the specific intention of causing another person to accept it as true, it qualifies as a lie in this view. For example, if someone falsely believes that a specific fact is untrue but tells another person it is true to deceive them, that act is considered a lie, regardless of whether the information happens to be factually correct.1

Some philosophical perspectives argue that the moral wrongness of lying is inherent to the act of deception itself, rather than the truth value of the content. Therefore, the intent to mislead remains the defining characteristic of a lie.1