President Donald Trump is a known liar. In fact, he’s a pathological liar with a history of lying and then just nonchalantly acting as if what he’s doing isn’t lying.
During one stretch from Jan 21. to Feb. 27, the New York Times found that the president lied publicly some 38 times. He lied about not being a fan of the Iraq War, which he totally was. He lied about how many times he appeared on Time magazine’s cover; he claimed that he’d been on the cover more than anyone else, but turns out he’d been on the cover 15 times and former President Richard Nixon had appeared 55 times. He even lied about about two people getting shot in Chicago the same day President Barack Obama was in town making a speech; reports confirmed that no one was shot the day Obama delivered his speech.
Trump lies; it’s just what he does. While his lies are easily disproved, it’s rare that he will readily admit that he lied, much less admit it to another world leader. The Washington Post got its hands on a fundraising speech Trump made Wednesday in which he openly admitted to making up claims during his meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. He just randomly spouted that the United States runs a trade deficit with Canada without even knowing whether that was true.
Here’s how the Post breaks down the audio of Trump speaking during a private event:
“Trudeau came to see me. He’s a good guy, Justin. He said, ‘No, no, we have no trade deficit with you, we have none. Donald, please,’ ” Trump said, mimicking Trudeau. [...] “Nice guy, good-looking guy, comes in — ‘Donald, we have no trade deficit.’ He’s very proud because everybody else, you know, we’re getting killed.
“ ... So, he’s proud. I said, ‘Wrong, Justin, you do.’ I didn’t even know. ... I had no idea. I just said, ‘You’re wrong.’ You know why? Because we’re so stupid. … And I thought they were smart. I said, ‘You’re wrong, Justin.’ He said, ‘Nope, we have no trade deficit.’ I said, ‘Well, in that case, I feel differently,’ I said, ‘but I don’t believe it.’ I sent one of our guys out, his guy, my guy, they went out, I said, ‘Check, because I can’t believe it.’
‘Well, sir, you’re actually right. We have no deficit, but that doesn’t include energy and timber. … And when you do, we lose $17 billion a year.’ It’s incredible.”
The Office of the United States Trade Representative says the United States has a trade surplus with Canada. It reports that in 2016, the United States exported $12.5 billion more in goods and services than it imported from Canada, leading to a trade surplus, not a deficit.
Because Trump’s a notorious liar who actually believes his own lies, he took to Twitter on Thursday to double down on his totally false and made-up accusation.
Bruce Heyman, the U.S. ambassador to Canada from 2014 to 2017, blasted Trump over his remarks, tweeting that the president was “creating a crisis where none existed,” USA Today reports: “Lying to your friends only hurts the relationship. Canada has been there for us thru thick and thin. How can you casually damage this realtionship [sic]? Shame on you!”
According to the tape obtained by the Post, Trump attacked the North American Free Trade Agreement, reached by the U.S., Canada and Mexico, which is currently being renegotiated. And he openly mocked other politicians for wanting to keep NAFTA. He called Mexico “spoiled” and added that Canada had outsmarted the United States. “The best deal is to terminate it and make a new deal,” he said, according to USA Today.
Clearly, Trump doesn’t understand how any of this works. Still feeling good about that vote against your self-interests, 53 percent of white women who voted for this dumbass?
