President Trump boasted in a fundraising speech Wednesday that he made up information in a meeting with the leader of a top U.S. ally, saying he insisted to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that the United States runs a trade deficit with its neighbor to the north without knowing whether that was true.
Trudeau came to see me. Hes 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. Hes very proud because everybody else, you know, were getting killed.
... So, hes proud. I said, Wrong, Justin, you do. I didnt even know. ... I had no idea. I just said, Youre wrong. You know why? Because were so stupid.
And I thought they were smart. I said, Youre wrong, Justin. He said, Nope, we have no trade deficit. I said, Well, in that case, I feel differently, I said, but I dont believe it. I sent one of our guys out, his guy, my guy, they went out, I said, Check, because I cant believe it.
Well, sir, youre actually right. We have no deficit, but that doesnt include energy and timber.
And when you do, we lose $17 billion a year. Its incredible.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2018/03/14/in-fundraising-speech-trump-says-he-made-up-facts-in-meeting-with-justin-trudeau/?utm_term=.8560556049cc