Share this Story : National Post Copy Link Email X Reddit Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr

Letters: Are we falling prisoner to Trumped-up falsehoods?

Readers weigh in on tariff tirades, Canada's baby bust, insults to Gordie Howe, the dark irony of MAID, stultifying soccer, and more

You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account.

‘No longer merely a dispute over tariffs or trade’

Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.

Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.

Unlimited online access to National Post.

National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.

Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.

Support local journalism.

Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.

Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.

Unlimited online access to National Post.

National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.

Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.

Support local journalism.

Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.

Access articles from across Canada with one account.

Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.

Enjoy additional articles per month.

Get email updates from your favourite authors.

Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.

Access articles from across Canada with one account

Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments

Enjoy additional articles per month

Get email updates from your favourite authors

Sign In or Create an Account

Re: U.S. hits Canada, 59 other countries with new tariffs just days after 50% levy on Canadian goods announced — Tracy Moran, July 23

Letters: Are we falling prisoner to Trumped-up falsehoods? Back to video

Tracy Moran’s report on President Donald Trump’s tariff tantrums against Canada, forced-labour imports one day, wildfire smoke the next, reads like governance by make-believe: evidence optional, belief mandatory. Believe his reality or pay for doubting it. The world is becoming a prisoner to his lies.

Consequently, Trump’s strategy has created a global prisoner’s dilemma. He bets that no democracy can afford to break with America first, that each will quietly accommodate his fictions rather than risk standing alone. Individually, appeasement looks rational. Collectively, it is ruinous. Every government that swallows one falsehood to preserve the relationship makes the next falsehood easier to swallow. That is why this is no longer merely a dispute over tariffs or trade. It is an existential test of whether democracies can defend a shared reality without destroying themselves in the process.

The National Post newsletter that doesn’t hold back, giving readers the unvarnished truth on media, politics and culture.

There was an error, please provide a valid email address.

By signing up, you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.

A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.

The next issue of Right? will soon be in your inbox.

We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again

Interested in more newsletters? Browse here.

When Trump tells prime-time America he has proof the 2020 election was stolen, the lie becomes a loyalty test: accept his reality or risk political exile. His apprentices — Musk, Vance, Rubio, Hegseth and Fox News — have learned the lesson. Lie fluently or become irrelevant.

The danger is not simply that Trump lies. It is that lying becomes cheaper than resisting him. A chain of command built on fiction eventually collapses because no one knows which orders, promises or treaties can be trusted. His lies are reducing the world order to chaos.

Charles Mackay, in “Extraordinary Popular Delusions and The Madness of Crowds” (1841), wrote that crowds lose their senses together and recover them one by one. One hopes he is right. Defections are how prisoner’s dilemmas are broken: not necessarily by everyone at once, but by enough people refusing........

© National Post