The Washington Post has been recording lies and misleading statements, which President Donald Trump has claimed were true, since he was first inaugurated President of the United States, in January of 2017, to when he left office in January of 2021. The Post’s final tally amounted to 30,523. If an average of 21 lies per day, during his first term wasn’t enough, his lie meter continues to run, clicking out the lies, since he first took office for his second term in 2025.
I remember watching the movie, Shooter, a film produced in 2007. My interest in the film for the context of my present argument concerns a statement Senator Charles Meachum (played by Ned Beatty) said near the end of the film. There was a lot of lies and double-crosses made during the movie up to this point, and senator Meachum is laughing and drinking with Colonel Isaac Johnson (played by Danny Glover) in a secluded cabin. They were speaking about evidence and truth and how to get away with a lie. After the video clip cuts out an expletive made by Colonel Johnson, Senator Meachum laughingly declares: “The truth is what I say it is!” The point being, in our present context, it seems this is what Trump really believes about truth. It makes no difference what he says, as long as he continues to say it, it’s the truth, and his constituency take in his lies, hook, line and sinker.[1]
President Trump lies as a matter of policy. If it is done often enough about the same things, people believe it, and it becomes “truth” – Trump’s truth. It’s all a matter of what he says… it becomes truth, as far as policy is concerned.
In a recent interview with ABC’s Terry Moran, President Trump, in a contentious exchange about his immigration policy, doubled down that Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whom Trump deported to El Salvador’s prison camp, had “M, S, 1, 3” tattooed above his knuckles, proving he was a notorious gang member and terrorist. When Moran told Trump “M, S, 1, 3” was photo-shopped onto Garcia’s knuckles to identify the tattoos on his four fingers, Trump repeatedly claimed it wasn’t true; it was the real deal, and he asked Moran, if he wanted to see the photo of Garcia’s fingers. Trump’s repeated and contentious denials of the photo-shop affair seemed like he was playing to his television audience, his constituency, rather than trying to convince Moran.[2]
The word of God commands God’s people saying, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor (Exodus 20:16). It is wrong to trouble one’s neighbor with a false report against him. Once the thing is done, it is extremely difficult to right the wrong, but Trump, according to his interview with Terry Moran has the power to right this wrong, but refuses to do so, even in the face of a Supreme Court order. Apparently, according to President Trump, not only is the truth what he says it is, but also the LAW is what he says it is.
The word of God continues, saying his people are not to raise a false report by putting their hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness; it is imperative to keep far from a false matter, because the Lord will not justify the wicked (Exodus 23:1, 7). Yet, God’s people, especially white Evangelicals, continue to support unrighteousness in the Trump administration. Keep in mind what Jesus said about two masters, no matter how hard you try, no matter how much you want to, you cannot serve two Masters. If Trump’s your master, you’ll serve him. If Christ is your Master, you’ll serve him. Trump is a proven liar; he believes, if he says something often enough, he’ll be believed, and the truth will be what he says it is. On the other hand, “Every word of God is pure; he is a shield for them who put their trust in him,” but we must not “add to his words lest he reprove us and we are found liars” ourselves (cp. Proverbs 30:5-6).
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[1] Trump’s former press secretary, Stephanie Grisham says Trump told her, “As long as you keep repeating something, it doesn’t matter what you say.” In a speech Trump gave July 3, 2021, Trump said, “If you say it enough and keep saying it, they’ll start to believe you.”
[2] Trump’s claims about Garcia haven’t been proved. There is no apparent evidence that Garcia was a gang member or a murder. He has never been charged with or convicted of a crime in either the US or El Salvador. Yet, he was deported to El Salvador to be imprisoned without trial in a maximum-security Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT).
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