President Donald Trump on Monday went off on an angry tirade against the New York Times for reporting that officials at Deutsche Bank had flagged his accounts for potentially suspicious activity potentially related to money laundering.
New York Times columnist Charles Blow has subsequently published a column relishing the way Trump has started telling panicky lies about multiple reports that have called his reputation as an astute businessman into serious question.
"In all those moments, he simply reeks of dread and trepidation," Blow writes. "In those moments, we are reminded that Trump knows what other thinking people know: In a world not blinded and numbed by racial tribalism, demographic fears and cultural panic, these issues that barely nick him would cut him smooth and deep."
Blow also zeroes in on Trump's recent lie about disgraced former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who was flagged by multiple government officials as being a dangerous hire. Trump subsequently ignored their advice, however, and falsely claimed that no one told him Flynn was being investigated for unethical conduct.
"Trump knows his statement is off, but he also knows that the truth has the capacity to harm when one operates in an arena beyond it," Blow writes. "That tweet, unlike lying about his wall of hate already being under construction, is born of fear. I can just imagine the beads of sweat forming on the philtrum above his upper lip as his thumbs tap this falsehood on this phone. He grimaces; I smile."
