Trump demeans presidency with lies

What would Canadians do if we had a prime minister who was a blatant liar? The American people are in this distressing position. Their 45th president has lied constantly since appearing on the world stage — petty lies and malicious lies, possibly classifiable as criminal.

He has demeaned his presidency so terribly, in less than 100 days, that other countries have begun to look upon the White House crew as a farce, or worse, as a fumbling mess threatening the stability of the planet.

In one day last week, U.S. President Donald Trump managed to annoy two major allies: The U.K., by saying that former president Barack Obama had asked its spy network to look at Trump’s campaign; and Germany, by declaring that it was millions in debt to NATO.

Lies in both cases. And vehemently denied by both the U.K. and German governments. How can America be great again behaving in this irresponsible way internationally?

Why does Trump lie? Some excuse him by saying he simply does not pay attention to sources and he, quite innocently, invents numbers and facts to suit his fancy at the time. But surely his vicious early-morning tweets accusing Obama of a federal crime are neither simple lies nor in any way excusable.

They are an attempt to deny Obama the popularity he had as president and retains still — a popularity and a pleasant reputation of the sort that Trump can only envy and dream of and lie about. William Emigh Victoria