Donald Trump should be cautious about lying
The more a leader deceives the public, the more he weakens institutions and creates damaging precedents
By June 1 of this year, US President Donald Trump had made 3,259 false or misleading claims, according to The Washington Post Fact Checker’s database, which tracks every suspect statement uttered by the president. That’s an average of more than 6.5 false claims a day, up from a daily average of 4.9 in his first 100 days.
Trump’s supporters justify his mendacity on the grounds that “all politicians lie.” But the amount and type of lying make a difference. Some are self-serving: a president may lie to cover his tracks or harm a rival.
In some circumstances, historians even applaud the fact that a president decided to deceive the public for what he considered a larger good. John F Kennedy misled the public about the role of American missiles in Turkey in the deal that ended the Cuban missile crisis in 1962; but that was certainly better for their interests than a high risk of nuclear war.
Machiavellian deception is often part of a strategy in bargaining to get a deal, and Trump claims to be a master of that art. Perhaps that explains his lies about North Korean weapons, European tariffs, and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s interference in the 2016 US presidential election. But his dishonesty concerning the size of the crowd at his inauguration, the payment of hush money to women, or his reasons for firing former FBI Director James Comey has nothing to do with statecraft. It is purely self-serving manipulation of others and the public.
Even when a president’s motives are not self-serving, he should be cautious about choosing to lie. The more a leader deceives the public, the more he, weakens institutions and creates damaging precedents. Roosevelt’ s lies in 1941 were intended to awaken the American people, but he also set a precedent that Lyndon B Johnson could use in 1964 to win congressional support for the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which led to an escalation of the Vietnam War. Leaders tell themselves they are lying for the public good when they are doing so for political or personal gain.
Richard Nixon lied about the Vietnam War and his role in the cover-up of the break-in at the Democratic Party’ s headquarters, carried out at the behest of his administration. When this was revealed by the Watergate tape recordings, Nixon resigned the presidency in 1974 to avoid impeachment.The damage that Johnson and Nixon did wasn’t only to their presidencies but also to public trust.
Trump has eroded the credibility of institutions such as the press, the intelligence agencies, and the US Department of Justice.
Can a post-Trump America recover? It is worth remembering that Johnson and Nixon were succeeded by Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter, who were notably more honest, and that public trust in government rose somewhat under Ronald Reagan in the 1980s. But as the sheer number of lies indicates, the US has never seen a president like Donald Trump.