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The leader of the free lunch

Donald Trump built his reputation thanks on the keen understanding that there’s always a bigger sucker.

No grand innovator, his greatest contribution to the centuries-long history of American hucksterdom was a novel amount of brazenness. Never before had a con man skated by so publicly for so long, drawing ever more attention to himself as he stiffed a sea of contractors and ex-partners. Trump took the businessman as shark metaphor to newfound levels of exactitude, knowing that if he ever stopped moving and allowed his creditors to catch up, he would die.

Trump’s old age and status as the president of the United States have slowed the grifter down to a crawl, and his life of flim-flamming has caught up to him in a way that would make O. Henry beam. The once grand swindler can now seemingly be taken in by anything and anyone, so long as they flatter him in the process. First term Trump would gladly pay us Tuesday for several hundred Big Macs today. Second term Trump is purchasing data centers on swampland.

Trump’s credulity has stuck out like the stiff peak of a folded Queen of Hearts in recent weeks, with the president showing publicly that he believes any image placed before him to be real. Earlier this month, the man who holds the nuclear launch codes showed he clearly believed that photoshopped characters spelling M-S-1-3 over Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s knuckle tattoos were actually on his skin, pointing to them in interviews as proof of the deported Maryland man’s guilt.

On Wednesday, he fell for another con. Seemingly influenced by his adviser Elon Musk, Trump insisted that there was a genocide of white farmers in South Africa while speaking to that country’s president. When pushed on the topic by a world leader who knows better, Trump threw a tantrum. That age-old distraction tactic of found-out four-flushers might have worked in his old life, but trapped in front of the press pool’s cameras, it just came off sad.

What is the most egregious lie that Trump has believed? What will he fall for next? Sound off in the comments.

Make me smarter…

Donald Trump is revealed as a billion-dollar fraud: That probably won't hurt him

Trump was the stand-in for “impossibly rich guy” in American culture for decades. It matters not a whit that his reputation was built on nothing. Read more.

They said what?

• “Sorry, I don’t have a plane to give you”

  South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, ribbing Trump over a recent bribe given to the POTUS by the government of Qatar.

• “You worry about that instead of the dyin' kids in Gaza”

  Neil Young, taking Trump to task for his petty feuds with Bruce Springsteen and Taylor Swift.

• "F**k you! F**k you! F**k you!”

  Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, berating Trump adviser Elon Musk in the White House. New details emerged about a previously reported altercation between the two Trump confidants in a piece from The Atlantic detailing Musk’s waning influence.

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Before you go …

"Wasting our time": Democrats dismiss Trump impeachment — revealing their cynicism

Donald Trump may be a unique danger to the American experiment, but that doesn’t mean you should expect the Democratic Party to do anything about it. Read more.