Lieu: Trump ‘intentionally lying,’ unfit for office

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) on Thursday blasted President Trump’s apparent acknowledgement that he made up information about the U.S.-Canada trade relationship in a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, calling it “more evidence that Trump is unfit” for office.

“At this point, @realDonaldTrump is no longer making stuff up, he is intentionally lying. 2 + 2 does not equal 5 no matter how much @POTUS lies,” Lieu tweeted. “This is more evidence that Trump is unfit for the revered office in which he sits.”

At this point, @realDonaldTrump is no longer making stuff up, he is intentionally lying. 2 + 2 does not equal 5 no matter how much @POTUS lies.

This is more evidence that Trump is unfit for the revered office in which he sits. #ThursdayThoughts https://t.co/smYz7xNMTv

— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) March 15, 2018

The Washington Post reported Wednesday that Trump told donors in a fundraising speech that he claimed in a meeting with Trudeau that the U.S. has a trade deficit with Canada, despite not knowing if that claim was true.

{mosads}

Trudeau reportedly pushed back on that assertion, but Trump said he continued to make the assertion.

“I said, ‘Wrong, Justin, you do.’ I didn’t even know. … I had no idea,” Trump said, according to the Post. 

According to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the U.S. actually has a trade surplus with Canada. 

Trump has routinely decried what he calls unfair trade practices that put the U.S. at a competitive disadvantage. The U.S., Canada and Mexico are in the process of renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement at Trump’s request.

The president also moved last week to impose stiff tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. He granted Canada and Mexico temporary exemptions from those duties, however, amid concerns of retaliatory trade measures.