Tod MaffinCanadian Commentator, From Far and Wide · Emotional Support Canadian

Sometimes, lies do the job

6 Mar 2025 · 3 min

Watch on YouTube

2:30

In this monologue, the speaker critiques Donald Trump’s habit of using falsehoods and staged deceptions to achieve short‑term political or business goals. He cites three historical examples: (1) a construction‑site stunt where bulldozers repeatedly moved dirt piles to create the illusion of activity and impress investors; (2) a 1990s advertising campaign that portrayed Mohawk people as drug‑using and violent to undermine competing Native‑American casinos near Trump’s Atlantic City property; and (3) the recent 30‑day pause on tariffs against Canada, which the speaker predicts will be framed as a Trump victory even though it is a concession forced by market pressure. The speaker argues that each lie “did the job” by serving Trump’s immediate objectives, but ultimately they mask deeper failures. He warns that when the trade war ends, Canadian leaders will likely praise Trump’s “negotiation” to save face, creating another convenient false narrative. The overall message is that Trump’s reliance on deception is a strategic tool, not a sign of competence, and that such lies ultimately harm the country while benefiting his ego.

Chapters

So Donald Trump has paused the tariffs against Canada for 30 days. This might be a good time for us all to remember how much Donald Trump has always liked holes. Logical holes, of course, but I'm talking big holes. The kind that buildings fill. In the book that he hired some guy to write for him, he talks about a construction project for some of his towers. One day a bunch of visitors showed up. They were investors, and he knew they were coming, so he hired an army of bulldozers to move dirt piles like this one from one side of the site to the other and then back again over and over. Now all that activity of course impressed the investors who walked away thinking, well, it's very busy, I guess it's going great. It was a lie, but it did the job. In the early '90s, he was mad that some Native American casinos around his Atlantic City property were stealing business away from his failing casinos. He actually said they probably weren't indigenous because, quote, they don't They don't look like Indians to me. He ran ads implying that Mohawk people used cocaine and brought violence. One of the ads ended with the phrase, "Are these the new neighbors we want?" But it was when he started suggesting that the mob was somehow involved that it started to have an effect on those competing properties. It was a lie, but it did the job. Now Trump is already backing away from his trade war with Canada. Today, predictably, like a feral cat with a furball, he coughed up a 30-day pause. Amazing what a stock market crash can do to someone's confidence. I suspect sooner than later this trade war will be over. Trump will announce that he got what he wanted, and he'll move on to the next thing— deporting transgender cutlery or something. And when that happens, remember this: it will not be a victory for Donald Trump. It will be a gift given to him by Canada. A way to dig himself out of the hole that he dug for his country. A way to save face after his country's stock market, political leaders, farmers, millions of his own base told him to fix what he broke. All this time wasted. But we're Canadian, and so when that day comes, you'll hear our leaders saying some very nice things about Donald Trump. They'll stroke his ego, they'll tell Fox News how impressed they were with his masterful negotiating, and talk about how this was just a blip in diplomacy and how our two countries will go right back to being partners and best friends again. It'll be a lie, but it'll do the job.