The Trumpiest thing Trump has done this week

Making up the fact the U.S. has a trade deficit with Canada demeaned the presidential office, writes Jennifer Rubin

President Donald Trump’s firing — by tweet — of his secretary of state was true to form, as was hiring a TV commentator for his chief economic adviser (while telling him he looked “handsome” on TV). It was very Trump-like to suffer an apparent loss in a deep-red congressional district and then lie by saying Democrat Conor Lamb supported Trump’s policies. (He did not — on guns, health care, taxes, abortion, etc.)

The Trumpiest moment came, however, when he bragged at a fundraiser about misleading a close ally, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau — and then doubled down on the fabrication in a tweet. The Post explains:

“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, according to audio of the private event in Missouri obtained by The Washington Post. “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.’

In a tweet on Thursday, he repeated the falsehood that we have a trade deficit with Canada.

In fact, “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.”

To recap: He doesn’t even know whether we have a trade surplus at a time when he is imposing tariffs. He is willing to bluff/ mislead an ally.

He’s so proud of himself for bluffing that he repeats the story. Even when the bluff is exposed, he doubles down. And no one, but no one, in his administration is going to contradict him. The official policy of the United States is that we will trick our allies — and humiliate them for having fallen for our deception.

Consider if you are a country in the European Union deciding to go along with his gambit to change the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or a foreign intelligence service trying to decide whether the United States can be trusted with highly sensitive material, or a Baltic country leader trying to decide whether to cut a deal with Russia or rely on U.S. security promises.

What you are hearing — and what your domestic critics and doubters are hearing — is that the president of the United States will play you for a sucker, and then humiliate

I just said, ‘You’ re wrong.’ You know why? Because we’ re so stupid. . . . And I thought they were smart. Donald Trump

you by bragging that he has pulled the wool over your eyes.

This conduct might be expected of a New York real estate developer who’s willing to lie about anything to get his way, or of a mobster who intimidates people into accepting his lies as truth.

It is not, however, remotely acceptable for the U.S. president. It demeans his office, blemishes our international reputation and alienates allies.

It puts him on the same level as his idol Vladimir Putin and other autocrats who revel in their dishonesty as an instrument of power.

Trump is making us weaker and less trusted around the globe. Republicans who turn a blind eye or even applaud his antics are harming America. They are putting America last.