{"id":634916,"date":"2018-03-30T07:43:28","date_gmt":"2018-03-30T04:43:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/tr\/content\/?p=634916"},"modified":"2023-04-27T13:57:36","modified_gmt":"2023-04-27T10:57:36","slug":"trump-the-un-american-president","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/2018\/03\/30\/trump-the-un-american-president\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump: The Un-American President"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

President Trump with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada at the White House last year.<\/span>Credit<\/span>Doug Mills The New York Times<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\"Charles<\/div>
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n
\n

By Charles M. Blow<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n

\n
\n

\u201cI said, \u2018Wrong, Justin, you do.\u2019 I didn\u2019t even know \u2026 I had no idea. I just said, \u2018You\u2019re wrong.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

That, as reported by The Washington Post, was Donald Trump boasting during a private fund-raising dinner about lying to Justin Trudeau, prime minister of Canada, our northern neighbor and closest ally.<\/p>\n

When caught in the lie, Trump did what Trump does: Repeats the lie, louder, stronger, and more stridently.<\/p>\n

After the lie was reported, Trump tweeted:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do have a Trade Deficit with Canada, as we do with almost all countries (some of them massive). P.M. Justin Trudeau of Canada, a very good guy, doesn\u2019t like saying that Canada has a Surplus vs. the U.S. (negotiating), but they do \u2026 they almost all do \u2026 and that\u2019s how I know!\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

By the way, here is PolitiFact\u2019s fact-check of Trump\u2019s claim:<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2017, the United States had a $23.2 billion deficit with Canada in goods. In other words, the United States in 2017 bought more goods from Canada than Canada bought from the United States.<\/p>\n

However, the United States had a $25.9 billion surplus with Canada in services \u2014 and that was enough to overcome that deficit and turn the overall balance of trade into a $2.8 billion surplus for the United States in 2017. The same pattern occurred in 2016.\u201d<\/p>\n

It bears repeating that Donald Trump is a pathological, unrepentant liar. We must state this truth for as long as he revels in untruth.<\/p>\n

But there is something about the nakedness of this confession, the brazenness of it, the cavalier-ness, that still has the ability to shock.<\/p>\n

First, why does the president of the United States not know whether we have a trade surplus or deficit with Canada? A pillar of his campaign was to renegotiate Nafta. Surely he understood the basic fundamentals before making wild accusations and unrealistic promises, right? Wrong.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

Trump\u2019s recalling of the story suggested that he was somehow overpowering and outmaneuvering Trudeau, free to best him because he was unencumbered by an allegiance to the truth.<\/p>\n

But in fact, the story makes Trump look small and ignorant and unprincipled.<\/p>\n

Lying to your friends and then bragging behind their backs that you lied to them is the quickest way to poison a friendship.<\/p>\n

This is lying for sport, for the thrill of it, because you can and feel that there is no penalty for it.<\/p>\n

Our relationship with our allies around the world depends on some degree of mutual trust and respect. What must they think when they watch Trump demolish those diplomatic tenets? How are international agreements supposed to be negotiated when one party is a proven, prolific liar?<\/p>\n

We have no idea just how damaged the American brand has become under Trump.<\/p>\n

As a June 2017 Pew Research Center report pointed out:<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough he has only been in office a few months, Donald Trump\u2019s presidency has had a major impact on how the world sees the United States. Trump and many of his key policies are broadly unpopular around the globe, and ratings for the U.S. have declined steeply in many nations.\u201d<\/p>\n

The report continued:<\/p>\n

\u201cAccording to a new Pew Research Center survey spanning 37 nations, a median of just 22 percent has confidence in Trump to do the right thing when it comes to international affairs. This stands in contrast to the final years of Barack Obama\u2019s presidency, when a median of 64 percent expressed confidence in Trump\u2019s predecessor to direct America\u2019s role in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Surely, some may think this lie to Trudeau is a small matter, particularly in light of the waves of Trump chaos and scandal that wash over us several times a day.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n